What’s the Worst Song Ever? You Decide

(This article appeared previously on twincities.com.)

Bad songs spew from the radio, infect your ears in stores and dampen evenings at the corner bar. But what elevates a song from merely bad to truly the worst?

The worst songs are like an infection you can't quite shake. They burrow into a corner of your brain and set up shop, looping idiotic choruses and inane lyrics endlessly through your skull. Sometimes, you don't even have to hear the song at all, just reading the title will get it stuck in your head on repeat.

In honor of March Madness, Twincities.com launched a contest to find the Worst. Song. Ever. And it's up to you to decide which one takes the title: Vote here.

The 64 contenders in the bracket were compiled with a few rules in mind. We tried to avoid blatant novelty songs like Disco Duck and steered clear of numbers specifically aimed at children. We focused on actual hit songs that still get aired. And we limited the selections from the 21st century.

There have been plenty of bad songs in the past 16 years, for sure. We just wanted to make sure we picked ones with staying power.

The first round pitted American Pie by Don McLean (1972) against Feelings by Morris Albert (1973); Old Time Rock and Roll (1979) by Bob Seger against Sailing by Christopher Cross (1980) and Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band (1976) against Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille (1976). To see which of these made it to Round 2 and to cast your vote and make your own suggestions for worst song, click here. The voting ends at noon CT March 30, with the "winner" announced on April Fool's Day.

Sailing by Christopher Cross

Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band

Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille