3 Overplayed 60s Pop Songs You Probably Used To Hate (But Now Kind of Love)

Depending on your age, you might not be able to separate how you first experienced an overplayed pop song from the way you feel about it now. Culture appears to be much more Balkanized these days than it once was when a handful of TV and radio stations were the primary sources of shared entertainment. But often a little distance might make one appreciate an overplayed pop song when it’s no longer unavoidable. Let’s see how you feel about these indelible 60s hits.

Videos by American Songwriter

“Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies

I wasn’t around yet when “Sugar, Sugar” first topped the charts. But it’s the kind of bubblegum track (literally) too sweet to tolerate for some. However, even Michael Stipe admired The Archies as a child, and perhaps those earworms subconsciously crept into R.E.M.’s jangly alt-pop hit “Shiny Happy People”. If I were a 60s kid, Jughead Jones might have been my favorite fictional drummer. And look at how much fun those cartoon characters are having in the video.

Sugar,
Oh, honey, honey,
You are my candy girl,
And you got me wanting you.

“I’m A Believer” by The Monkees

The Monkees began as a made-for-TV fictional band before fighting to gain more creative control over their recordings. Still, one of the group’s defining hits was written by Neil Diamond and backed by session musicians. Now, this lesser-Beatles track might not make you a believer, but I think it’s a good tune. Diamond recorded his own version in 1967, and his take sounds less like a parody of the Fab Four.

I thought love was only true in fairy tales,
Meant for someone else, but not for me.
Love was out to get me,
That’s the way it seemed,
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.

“I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher

In Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Be Babe”, he sings: “I’m not the one you want, babe / I’m not the one you need.” Then Sonny Bono answered Dylan’s cynicism with a tender tune that Cher initially disliked. Though Bono matched the syllables of the original’s title, he opted for Phil Spector’s densely layered Wall of Sound instead of Dylan’s folk minimalism. I think my favorite part of the recording is Cher’s ambivalence. A touch of emotional anxiety to offset Bono’s earnest love song.   

I got flowers in the spring,
I got you to wear my ring.
And when I’m sad, you’re a clown,
And if I get scared, you’re always around.

Photo by CA/Redferns