As much as we, the audience, might love a song, the musicians who made it could HATE it! That won’t keep us from listening, but it’s interesting to learn how an artist feels about their own music.
Loudwire has a list of 15 artists who hated their own hit songs. Here are some highlights…
“Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses. Slash hated it for years, but he came to appreciate it because it always got such a huge reaction from the fans. So you have yourself to thank for bringing the guitarist around!
“Shiny Happy People”, R.E.M. Michael Stipe called it, quote, “a fruity pop song written for children.” The band even refused to put it on their 2003 greatest hits album. They’re definitely not alone in holding negative feelings toward this song…
“All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You”, Heart. Ann Wilson says they were pressured to do the song, and it represented a low point in their career.
‘Walk This Way‘ Run DMC & Aerosmith. Rev. Run and DMC of Run DMC HATED the idea of turning Aerosmith’s classic hit into a hip-hop song. They thought of the original as “hillbilly gibberish,” but would come to appreciate it as the collaboration allowed them to make music history.
“Pinball Wizard”, The Who. Pete Townshend once called it, quote, “The most clumsy piece of writing I’ve ever done.”
“Stairway to Heaven”, Led Zeppelin. Over time, Robert Plant came to hate the lyrics. He said, quote, “I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show.”
“Cherry Pie”, Warrant. In the words of the late Jani Lane, quote, “I could shoot myself in the head for writing that song.”
“Fight for Your Right to Party”, The Beastie Boys. The “jockish” vibe of the song was the exact opposite of what the band wanted to project.
