Today on Buzzfeed the kids are trying to figure out which was the worst song of the 90s. In any discussion of this sort, you have to start with Rolling Stone. They pretty much locked this up last September with a reader poll list that covers all the hits that everyone loves to hate:

 

However, there are some good entries in that Buzzfeed list, too. There are several reasons why a song becomes hated, but I don't think any of these qualifies to make a song the "worst."

 

"Barbie Girl" definitely qualifies as an annoying song, with its plasticky bright high-pitched squeaky aesthetic. "Ice Ice Baby" is annoying not in and of itself, but because of Vanilla Ice. (Even though the video has a lot of camp appeal at this point.)

 

How many times have you heard "I'm Too Sexy"? All. All the times. Do you want to hear it again? Are you cursing the fact that I even mentioned it? Yeah, me too.

 

"Macarena," for sure. I would put "Tubthumping" in this category, too. It's just too much… itself. Same with "Who Let The Dogs Out?" the gimmick there being everyone in the audience doing the Arsenio Hall "WHO WHO WHO" at the chorus. (Kill me now.)

 

But I'll tell you my vote for Worst Song of the 90s: Cher's mega-hit "Believe." Stick with me on this one, because on the face of it, the song isn't that bad. 

 

Cher is a well-respected artist, and with this song she managed to refresh her look and her repertoire in one fell stroke, all while pandering to gay dance clubs - which at the time was somewhat dangerous territory for a big name star. But Cher knew her audience, and loved her audience, and she sang "Believe" just for them. I respect that.

 

But here is why "Believe" is the worst song of the 90s: AUTOTUNE. This is the song that pioneered the use of Autotune to create robot voice effects. The electronic stutter that makes it sound like it's being sung by an old-school modem: this song is responsible for all that. And so I say, KILL IT WITH FIRE.