We’ve all done it. I mean, really. We’ve all said, “Thus-and-so is incredibly overrated.” I know I have. A partial personal list contains everything from singers and bands to ideas and events:
- Janis Joplin
- Billie Holiday (I know: strange, coming from a jazz singer, but…)
- Celine Dion
- Cher
- KISS
- The Super Bowl (unless the Browns are in it, so…yeah, I’m safe)
- Partisan politics
- Graduate degrees
- Channing Tatum
- Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Yep, I said it.)
- Ohio State University
Of course, all of the above are based solely on subjective interpretation. Who’s to say Janis Joplin is overrated? Why should you care what I think — especially if you own every one of her albums and listen to her every day? It’s not that I’m saying she was a bad singer (although her voice on “Piece of My Heart” reminds me of someone screaming, “Get out! The building’s on fire!”); rather, I’m saying that assigning world-changing importance to her voice and her accomplishments is stretching it a bit.
And I should clarify #11. Everyone who knows me knows how I feel about the Fabs. But that doesn’t mean I swoon over everything they did. In fact, they wrote bad music on occasion. I could name 10 Beatles tunes I hate. Sergeant Pepper’s LHCB was an innovative project for its time. Lots of “firsts” on that record, for sure. But the music…with the possible exception of “She’s Leaving Home,” there’s not a single song from that album that I’d put on “repeat” on my playlist. If you ask me — and by “me,” I mean a Beatles fanatic — I’d point to Revolver or Rubber Soul as far more deserving of mountain-top status than SPLHCB.
What’s on your “overrated” list? Anything we should know about? Fire away in the comments.
Cher? Cher…the only reason I got a color TV…Cher? I jest.
Is Twitter, the microphone for morons, even rated? I will say you surprised me a bit with SPLHCB, though it was never my fav either.
My “overrated” list on no particular order:
1. Sun tea
2. Colin Kaepernick
3. Weather people (in my neck of the woods)
4. Starbuck’s
5. Cruise Ships
6. Mick Jagger
7. Any and all Mega Churches
8. Greek Yogurt
9. Sen John McCain
10. edamame
I could go on
Your post did make me think of a “music I would need on a desert island” list; I would be curious as to what your “could not survive without” list would be. Going to work on my list cause that’s what pensioners do on Tuesdays.
Peace Ms Fink
I could totally comment on all of these as well! (#7 is my fave.)
The frozen veggies I buy for soup have edamame in them, and I wish they didn’t, because I don’t like soy anything. So I guess I should just buy fresh and do it the “right” way. And I know many people who love cruises, but none of them is me.
I will tell you that I have a weakness for black cherry Greek yogurt, and it’s a guilty pleasure, because every time I eat it, I think about the terrible story behind its manufacture. GY and artificial sweeteners are still addictions I need to address…
And you know, it might surprise you to learn that my “desert island” music list would be incredibly small. In fact, if I had to choose between pastimes, I’d choose books over music any day. Do you believe that insanity???
Really? You wouldn’t put A Day in the Life on repeat?? At least John’s parts?? That opening line is one of his best lyrics. You, Fink, are nuts.
Overrated:
1. Las Vegas
2. Sports journalism
3. Tamiflu
4. Money
5. Drake
Off the top that’s all I’ve got.
Haha — hence, my statement about things being completely subjective.
John’s opening of ADITL is clever, and I love his voice. The song would go on my playlist; just not on repeat.
I’ve never taken Tamiflu, but I’ve yet to find something that beats NyQuil for helping with symptoms that you generally just have to wait out anyway. #1 and #2, totally agree.
Do you believe I teach high school and haven’t heard Drake yet?