4 Embarrassing Hit Songs That You (Might) Catch Me Jamming to Today

There are some songs out there that are such a product of their time that they’ve become embarrassing to listen to. For me, mostly they’re songs from the early 2010s that remind me of being in high school. Sometimes, though, I’ll put these songs on just to feel something, even if it’s pure embarrassment. Here’s a list of four embarrassing songs that you just might catch me listening to.

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Embarrassing Songs That I’ll Still Jam Out To

“Timber” — Pitbull ft. Kesha

Pitbull released “Timber” in 2013, and it became an instant club banger, especially with Kesha featured on the track. She debuted three years earlier with her album Animal, which ushered in an era of hypersexual, glittery, drunk club songs (Kesha walked so Charli XCX could run and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on). “Timber” is a quintessential early 2010s track that’s a little embarrassing in hindsight, but what song during that time wasn’t cringe?

“Life is a Highway” — Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts covered Tom Cochrane’s 1991 track “Life is a Highway” for their 2006 album Me and My Gang, and it was also the feature song for the Pixar movie Cars. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit that I’ll jam to this song, only because I’m not typically a Rascal Flatts fan. However, “Life is a Highway” was an undeniable cultural touchstone and remains a great banger for screaming down the highway with the windows down.

“Dynamite” — Taio Cruz

Released in 2010, “Dynamite” was definitely on the soundtrack to so many high school experiences. Being a teenager when this song came out meant that it played incessantly during homecoming and prom, and blared from car windows in the senior parking lot after school. It’s a pretty embarrassing song with not much going on, but it does bring up an unusually delightful sense of nostalgia for a time I typically avoid thinking about.

“Radioactive” — Imagine Dragons

“Radioactive” is an embarrassing song for me because it’s Imagine Dragons, who were a meme when they came out and remain a meme to this day. It’s funny, however, because of the rumor that went around that “Radioactive” was written for the Spider-Man musical. Whichever way you slice it, “Radioactive” is such a product of its time (2012) that it’s almost hard to listen to it in this day and age. Still, I’ll jam out to a little Imagine Dragons if no one is around. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.

Featured Image by Steve Sykes