The 2010s produced some well-loved pop standards, there’s no denying that. However, there are a handful of these beloved pop songs that I just can’t stand. If you’ve been tuning in, you’ll know that these are strictly my (very strong) opinions. More power to you if you love these songs, but I just can’t do it. Here are three pop songs that I can’t stand, and the three that I like instead.
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Pop Songs I Can’t Stand
“Teenage Dream” — Katy Perry
Released in 2010, “Teenage Dream” kicked off the decade with an insufferable bang. Co-written with singer Bonnie McKee, “Teenage Dream”—and really the entirety of Perry’s previous album One Of The Boys—was the result of the two songwriters being fascinated by Lolita when they first met in 2004, according to a 2010 interview with McKee. Now, the 1955 novel is an important piece of literature, but it is often misunderstood. Personally, I’m usually wary of projects that are inspired by Lolita. Nine times out of ten, they’re inspired by the wrong things.
“Teenage Dream” is kind of a flat out weird pop song. I didn’t like it when it came out, and I like it even less now. The album Teenage Dream featured a lot of tracks like that, including “Last Friday Night” and “California Gurls”. The title track attempts to be a sweet exploration of a teenage girl’s sexual awakening, but it comes across as a little weird and a lot irritating.
“Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” — Ariana Grande
While I recognize that Ariana Grande has been through a lot (a bombing at her concert in 2017, Mac Miller’s death in 2018, surviving Dan Schneider), that’s not really an excuse for her music. “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” is one of those pop songs that get an instant skip from me, but that can be applied to Grande’s entire discography.
Maybe it’s personal bias against pop music, but there’s so much not to like. Grande’s brand of pop may be empowering for some, and really, there’s nothing heinously wrong with her music. However, it does something that is almost worse: it’s annoying.
“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift
Honestly, I could write an entire piece featuring things I can’t stand about Taylor Swift, but I’ll keep it to one pop song. “Blank Space” was released in 2014 on 1989 and, at the very least, its themes are trite, overdone, and trivializing. Once again, Swift demonstrated her penchant for being a jilted lover, an underdog, a “not like other girls” girl.
Not to quote Courtney Love, but she once said “Taylor Swift is not important. […] She’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.” The crucial part of this quote, however, is when Love adds that Swift is “a safe space for girls.” I absolutely won’t deny that Taylor Swift is important for girls between the ages of 12 and 25 (and sometimes 35). She’s a savvy businesswoman, she knows her audience, and she gives them exactly what they want. However, her music is uninspired and not really artistically important in my opinion. It’s pop music at its most sterilized.
Pop Songs I’ll Listen to Instead
“Run Away With Me” — Carly Rae Jepsen
The distorted saxophone riff in the opening of “Run Away With Me” lives rent-free in my head, and I like it there. Released in 2015 on Carly Rae Jepsen’s album Emotion, this song is an undeniable club banger. Charli XCX who? I put Carly Rae Jepsen up on a pedestal with Kesha and Lady Gaga when it comes to my 2010s icons.
“Poker Face” — Lady Gaga
Speaking of Mother Monster, Lady Gaga’s track “Poker Face” was released on her debut album The Fame. Another banger in a long line of bangers from that album, “Poker Face” features a great hook and the genius lines “Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun / And baby when it’s love if it’s not rough it isn’t fun.”
“Cool For The Summer” — Demi Lovato
This 2015 song was an awakening for a lot of people in a lot of different ways. Most notably, this was more or less Demi Lovato coming out before she actually came out. It’s also kind of funny, as Lovato escalates the pre-chorus to an intense degree. “Don’t tell your mother / Kiss one another / Die for each other / We’re cool for the summer.”
In the rock version, released in 2023, Lovato changed the line “don’t tell your mother” to “go tell your mother.” Allegedly, this change was to make it clearer that the song was for another woman. Besides being a gay anthem, it’s also a really catchy tune.
Featured Image by Tyler Golden/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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