Annoying your friends is fun. There is a perverse pleasure in watching them slowly lose their sanity while you subject them to mild forms of torture. As people care a lot about music, one of the best ways to get to them is to force them to sit through a song they hate. From the first notes to the closing chords they'll be cursing your name.
To get you started on this torturous path, here are 10 songs you can find on YouTube that are guaranteed to drive them mad. You can post them on your favorite social network, add them to a party playlist, or just put them on in the car. However your friends hear them, they won't be happy.
Axel F - Crazy Frog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85mRPqvMbE
Back before you could easily make your own ringtone companies made a lot of money selling them. One of the most popular ringtones in the early 2000s was, for some absolutely unknown reason, "Axel F" by the animated artist, Crazy Frog. Every commercial break on TV for (what seemed like) a few years had this computer-generated creature flogging ringtones for ridiculous prices.
The Crazy Frog sound was made by a Swedish teenager who, again for some absolutely unknown reason, sampled himself impersonating an engine. A Swedish animator decided that this awful sound needed an equally awful animated character to accompany it, and thus Crazy Frog was born.
Sharing "Axel F" with your friends will have them all suffering horrible flashbacks to 2003. Surely no one's sanity can handle that.
Friday - Rebecca Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0
Rebecca Black's "Friday" exists in the strange place where something done seriously crosses over into parody. The track has all the trappings of a modern pop hit — the auto-tune, nonsensical lyrics, weird video, unnecessary rap break — but was put together by a 15-year-old girl.
While the hate leveled at Black was a bit much, the song drove a lot of people mad. Even now, when the opening bars come on, anyone with a good taste in music visibly flinches.
Remind your music snob friends of "Friday" and they'll be sure to "thank" you.
Gold - Spandau Ballet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc
While writing this article, "Gold" by Spandau Ballet was the one song that absolutely refused to leave my head. No other earworm has the capacity to burrow so deep. What really cements its place in your head is the perfectly looping chorus:
"Gold (gold)
Always believe in your soul
You've got the power to know
You're indestructible
Always believe in, that you are
Gold (gold)"
And right back to the start. Even seeing the song title can be enough to bury it firmly in your friends' heads. Use this weapon with caution.
Imagine - Anyone but John Lennon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw8CF7IWzy0
John Lennon's "Imagine" is a classic track wishing for an impossible future with a united and peaceful humanity. Unfortunately, every 13-year-old who can hold a recorder is taught to play it.
The only thing that will upset people more than a terrible song is an amazing song performed terribly. From your nephew's guitar cover to CeeLo Green's lyric-changing abomination, no one but Lennon has ever done the track justice.
Drive everyone you know nuts by picking the worst cover you find and proclaiming it "better than your man from The Beatles" all over social media.
Gangnam Style - PSY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
I love "Gangnam Style" — I didn't even want to include it on this list — but when I asked my friends what songs most annoyed them it was among the top contenders.
What's not to love? The awesome beat, catchy lyrics, dance you can do drunk, and trippy video combine into what, to my mind, is an obvious masterpiece. If your friends are, like mine, dead inside, then sharing "Gangnam Style" will upset them for some strange reason.
Barbie Girl - Aqua
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhrYis509A
"I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie world…" Even just reading that line probably has you wanting to hurt me; I know that I had to remove all the sharp objects from my desk to type it. Although some of Aqua's tracks — like "Doctor Jones" — are fantastic [Editor's note: MakeUseOf does not condone these views], "Barbie Girl" firmly crosses the line from being cheesy fun into cheesy gouge-your-ears-out.
Put it on and watch your friends all become amateur audiologists.
Nyan Cat - Someone Who Needs to be Tried for Crimes Against Humanity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4
I don't know how "Nyan Cat" became a "thing", but what I do know is whoever is responsible needs to be hauled in front of the International Criminal Court and be made to answer for what they've done. This aural assault is the musical equivalent of waterboarding; being subjected to it constitutes a cruel and unusual punishment.
Sharing it with your friends then, seems an entirely obvious course of action to take.
Anything - Nickelback
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cQh1ccqu8M
Look, I'm going to be honest: I really like Nickelback and think the hate against them is entirely unwarranted [Editor's note: Nope, it's totally warranted]. On the other hand, commenters have previously questioned my music taste…
Regardless, there are a lot of people out there who think liking Nickelback is tantamount to killing kittens. If you really want to tick them off, share any song of your choosing from Nickelback's oeuvre with a caption that says something like, "Look, I'm going to be honest: I really like Nickelback and think the hate against them is entirely unwarranted."
People will get very upset. Trust me.
Baby - Justin Bieber
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4
It's well established that the Internet hates Justin Bieber so you can be pretty sure that sharing any of his songs will make your friends — unless they're 15 and female — very, very unhappy. I always find it's best with these things to go with the classics: "Baby," the song that started it all back when Bieber still had his good little boy image (and his monkey), is perfect.
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
This list wouldn't be complete without Rick Astley's classic, "Never Gonna Give You Up".
What was once a classic 80s power ballad was ruined by the Internet with the invention of Rickrolling. You can't just share "Never Gonna Give You Up," you have to trick people into believing it's something else. Rickrolling was really annoying a decade ago; doing it to people now is the digital equivalent of setting off stink bombs at the dinner table.
Not only are you hitting them with a bad joke, you're hitting them with a ridiculously old bad joke.
Go Forth and Annoy
So, there are 10 songs that are guaranteed to drive your (soon to be ex-) friends up the wall. There's a good mix to cover everything from mildly irritating all the way up to self-mutilation. They are all powerful tools. Use them with care.
What songs annoy you the most? Do you have any particular favorites that are guaranteed to drive your friends mad? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below — here at MakeUseOf we're always looking for new ways to annoy each other.
Image Credits: Shocked young woman Via Shutterstock