Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs
by Dave Barry

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Book Reviews of Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs

Book Review: One of Dave's funniest books.
Summary: 5 Stars

First, let's define "Bad song": according to Dave, novelty songs don't count, because they're not SUPPOSED to be good, they're supposed to be funny (and even if they fail in that, they don't count for our purposes). So, for instance, "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Ha!" by Napoleon XIV doesn't count, nor does "Mr. Custer" by Larry Verne. For much the same reason, (and here I disagree with him) Dave discounts all country music on the grounds that historically, the genre has tended not to take itself too seriously, having songs such as "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goalposts Of Life", and thus as far as he's considered, he's willing to give the entire genre some slack and assume that any song with really dumb lyrics must be kidding. (I maintain that "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." by Tammy Wynette, and "Your Cheatin' Heart" by, I think, Hank Williams, are examples of country songs that certainly take themselves overly seriously and which are also sufficiently appalling that I'd rather listen to fingernails on a blackboard than listen to them.)

Another requirement for a song to qualify for the bad song survey & book is that it has to have had a LOT of airplay, and it also has to have that indescribable quality that forces your mind to remember it, against your every intention; it has to be the kind of song that if you had a lobotomy, or some other form of brain damage, sufficient that you could barely remember your own name, if this song came on the radio, you could still sing along with it, the kind of quality that causes you, if you hear it on the radio, to not be able to get it out of your head for WEEKS.

Granted, as Dave is quick to point out, this is a very subjective subject; many songs that have a strong showing in the survey, he actually enjoys, and there are those that I like as well. Undoubtedly, there will be songs that you actually like that show up in this book. Sometimes, however, even for the songs you like, you'll be forced to admit that the comments are justified, and in other cases, you'll just have to decide that some of the respondants to the survey have no taste. But the book is still a scream, and an absolute must for any fan of either Dave Barry's writing, and any fan of pop music.

Summary of Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs

Barry's style is so effortless that you can't resist quoting him. This bit is from his mock-hortatory introduction: "If you keep reading, you're going to have all kinds of bad songs waking up and creeping around inside your brain, refusing to die, just like the corpses in the movie The Night of the Living Dead ..."

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