Unearth The Voyage
Some songs just never seem to go away, no matter how many years pass. They pop up at weddings, grocery stores, kids’ birthday parties, and holiday playlists like they own the place.
Whether they were once catchy or just impossible to escape, these tracks have officially worn out their welcome. Here are 20 songs the world is collectively ready to put to rest.
1. ‘Baby Shark’ – Pinkfong
Somewhere right now, a parent is staring into the void after hearing this song for the 400th time today. ‘Baby Shark’ became a global phenomenon when it hit YouTube, eventually racking up the most views of any video in the platform’s history. That’s both impressive and deeply unsettling.
The repetitive melody was designed to stick in young children’s minds, and boy, does it work. Unfortunately, it also sticks in the minds of every adult within earshot.
Parents worldwide have reported involuntarily humming it in the shower, at work, and during serious meetings.
Kids love it, sure. But there’s a strong argument that once a song triggers a stress response in grown adults, it has officially served its purpose and earned a permanent retirement.
2. ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ – Mariah Carey
Every year, the moment Halloween ends, this song materializes out of thin air like a glittery holiday ghost. Mariah Carey released ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ in 1994, and somehow it gets more inescapable with every passing decade.
Retail workers across the globe shudder when November rolls around.
The song is undeniably well-crafted. Carey’s vocals are powerful, the production is festive, and the emotion feels genuine.
But hearing it seventeen times in a single shopping trip tends to erode even the most generous goodwill.
Christmas music has a two-month window, and this track dominates every second of it. At some point, giving it a long winter’s nap might actually make the holidays feel magical again.
3. ‘Happy’ – Pharrell Williams
Clap along if you feel like happiness is something you want, but maybe not from this song anymore. Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ was practically intravenously injected into every office party, school assembly, and feel-good commercial from 2013 onward.
It became the universal soundtrack for manufactured cheerfulness.
The track won an Oscar, topped charts in dozens of countries, and inspired hundreds of copycat ‘happy dance’ videos. That’s a remarkable run.
But somewhere between the third kindergarten graduation performance and the fifteenth motivational workplace video, the joy started to feel a little forced.
Happiness is a wonderful thing. This song just might not be the most effective delivery method anymore, especially when a single listen now triggers mild eye-twitching in otherwise cheerful adults.
4. ‘Dance Monkey’ – Tones and I
Few songs went from fresh and exciting to completely exhausting quite as fast as ‘Dance Monkey.’ Tones and I’s breakout hit dominated 2019 radio with her distinctive vocal style and an irresistibly catchy hook. Within weeks, it was everywhere, and within months, it felt like it had always been everywhere.
‘Dance Monkey’ broke records across multiple countries and held the top spot on charts for an almost uncomfortably long time. That kind of overexposure comes with a cost.
The very qualities that made it stand out started feeling grating through sheer repetition.
The song deserves credit for launching a genuinely unique artist into the spotlight. But the track itself has been played enough times to last several lifetimes, and most listeners would agree it’s earned a very long break.
5. ‘Let It Go’ – Idina Menzel (Frozen)
No animated movie song has ever colonized a household quite like this one. ‘Let It Go’ hit theaters in 2013 with Frozen, and within weeks, children everywhere were belting it at maximum volume with zero regard for anyone’s sanity. Parents learned every word not by choice, but by sheer osmosis.
Idina Menzel’s performance is genuinely stunning, and the song carries real emotional weight about self-acceptance. That message matters.
But after thousands of school talent show performances and roughly one million car singalongs, even the most patient adults feel a familiar tension building at the first piano note.
Frozen 2 arrived years later and tried to move things along. Yet somehow, ‘Let It Go’ refused to do the very thing it sang about, and here we all are, still waiting.
6. ‘Shape of You’ – Ed Sheeran
At its peak, ‘Shape of You’ was playing in every gym, every coffee shop, and every rideshare vehicle simultaneously. Ed Sheeran released the track in January 2017, and it immediately became one of the best-selling singles of all time.
That kind of success comes with a serious price tag on listener patience.
The song is catchy in a very deliberate, almost mathematical way. Every hook is engineered to lodge itself in your brain and stay there indefinitely.
Which is impressive as a songwriting feat, but deeply annoying as a daily lived experience.
Ed Sheeran has a catalog full of genuinely moving songs that deserve more airplay. Letting this particular track finally fade into the background might actually do his reputation a quiet favor at this point.
7. ‘Uptown Funk’ – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
When ‘Uptown Funk’ dropped in 2014, it felt like a genuine party. Bruno Mars brought the energy, Mark Ronson brought the production, and together they created something that made even reluctant dancers move.
It was on every playlist, every commercial, and every sports highlight reel for what felt like three consecutive years.
The problem with being that universally beloved is that overexposure is almost guaranteed. Radio stations leaned in hard, DJs spun it at every possible event, and the song became the default choice whenever someone needed to signal fun without any real creative effort.
The funk is still technically there. But after a decade of being the go-to track for everything from weddings to insurance ads, ‘Uptown Funk’ has officially funked its last funk for many exhausted ears.
8. ‘Old Town Road’ – Lil Nas X
Country trap was not a genre anyone predicted, but ‘Old Town Road’ made it happen anyway. Lil Nas X turned a viral TikTok moment into a record-breaking chart run, holding the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 consecutive weeks.
That record still stands, and so does the collective fatigue.
The song’s rise was genuinely exciting, especially the cultural conversation it sparked around genre, race, and belonging in country music. But a 19-week number one run means a 19-week period of hearing the same 113-second song on constant rotation everywhere you go.
Lil Nas X went on to prove himself as a bold and creative artist. ‘Old Town Road’ served its historic purpose beautifully, and now it can peacefully ride off into that sunset it kept singing about.
9. ‘Blurred Lines’ – Robin Thicke ft. T.I., Pharrell
Few songs have had quite the complicated legacy of ‘Blurred Lines.’ It dominated the summer of 2013, topping charts in multiple countries and becoming one of the best-selling singles of the decade. It also sparked major controversy over its lyrics and a high-profile copyright lawsuit over its similarity to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up.’
The legal battle alone kept it in headlines for years. Robin Thicke and Pharrell eventually lost the case, paying millions in damages.
The song’s cultural footprint became as much about its baggage as its beat.
At this point, ‘Blurred Lines’ carries enough controversy, legal drama, and overexposure to fill its own documentary. Retiring it entirely would be a kindness to music history and to anyone who still flinches at those opening notes.
10. ‘Call Me Maybe’ – Carly Rae Jepsen
Hey, this song just met us, and this is crazy, but it has been played approximately one billion times since 2012, so retire it maybe? Carly Rae Jepsen’s debut hit became the earworm of the year, spreading through celebrity covers, lip-sync videos, and relentless radio play at a speed that felt almost viral before viral was even a mainstream concept.
Justin Bieber helped amplify it, and soon every corner of pop culture had adopted the song as its unofficial soundtrack. The melody is genuinely irresistible, which is exactly what makes it so dangerous after repeat exposure.
Jepsen has released critically acclaimed music since then that many fans argue is far superior. Giving ‘Call Me Maybe’ a well-deserved rest might finally let her newer work get the attention it actually deserves.
11. ‘Despacito’ – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee
The summer of 2017 belonged entirely to ‘Despacito,’ whether you wanted it to or not. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee delivered a reggaeton-pop fusion that became the most-streamed song in history at the time, breaking records that seemed unbreakable.
Even the Justin Bieber remix couldn’t slow it down.
For a few glorious weeks, it sounded fresh and exciting, bringing Latin music to mainstream audiences in a genuinely meaningful way. Then the radio stations got hold of it, and the magic slowly dissolved under the weight of relentless repetition.
The song opened doors for Latin artists worldwide, and that cultural impact deserves recognition. But the actual track has been played enough times to last multiple generations, and letting it rest quietly would be a respectful send-off.
12. ‘We Built This City’ – Starship
Rolling Stone once named ‘We Built This City’ the worst song ever recorded, which is a bold claim but not entirely without merit. Starship released the track in 1985, and it became a massive hit, topping charts across the US and UK.
Somehow that didn’t stop it from aging like forgotten leftovers.
The song was already considered cheesy by the late 1980s, a relic of corporate rock excess that tried too hard to sound rebellious while being anything but. Its lyrics about rock and roll feel particularly hollow when you consider the song was engineered entirely for commercial appeal.
Decades of classic rock radio have kept it stubbornly alive. At this point, the city it built deserves to be quietly demolished and replaced with literally any other song in the catalog.
13. ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ – Billy Ray Cyrus
Before Miley, there was the mullet. Billy Ray Cyrus stormed onto the country music scene in 1992 with ‘Achy Breaky Heart,’ a line-dance anthem that launched a nationwide two-step craze and made the word ‘achy’ part of everyday vocabulary.
It was inescapable, unavoidable, and absolutely everywhere.
The line dance it inspired became a staple of every country bar, school gym, and family reunion for years. That cultural footprint is undeniable.
But the song itself, with its relentless repetition and cheerfully simple lyrics, has a way of burrowing into your skull and refusing to leave under any circumstances.
Country music has produced some genuinely timeless classics. ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ is not among them, and most listeners would be perfectly happy to never hear that distinctive twang intro ever again.
14. ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ – Rednex
WHERE DID YOU COME FROM, WHERE DID YOU GO? Honestly, the real question is why Cotton Eye Joe keeps showing up at every sports event, school dance, and wedding reception like an uninvited guest who knows he’s annoying but doesn’t care.
Rednex released this Swedish country-techno hybrid in 1994, and it somehow never fully left.
The song is built on a traditional American folk melody, filtered through a very specific brand of 90s European club music that should not work but absolutely does in the worst possible way. It’s impossible to ignore and nearly impossible to enjoy with dignity.
Stadium DJs treat it as a reliable crowd-rouser, but at this point the crowd has been roused enough. Cotton Eye Joe has had a very long run and deserves a permanent seat on the bench.
15. ‘Macarena’ – Los del Río
Arms out, hips swivel, hands on hips, and suddenly everyone at the party has transformed into a synchronized dance robot. ‘Macarena’ by Los del Río became the defining party song of 1996, spending 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and teaching an entire generation the same four moves.
The dance was the real product here. The song functioned mostly as instructions, and once people learned the routine, they were committed for life.
Decades later, the opening bars still trigger an involuntary arm lift in anyone who lived through the 90s.
Party DJs keep it in rotation as a guaranteed floor-filler, which is exactly the problem. Some songs retire gracefully. ‘Macarena’ refuses, and at this point, forcible retirement seems like the only option.
16. ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – Celine Dion
Near, far, wherever you are, this song has found you at a school talent show, a karaoke bar, an elevator, and probably at least one awkward slow dance. Celine Dion’s iconic Titanic theme became one of the best-selling singles in history when it dropped in 1997, and it has never once taken a hint to quiet down.
The orchestral swell, the recorder intro, the way Dion holds that final note as though the ship is actively sinking beneath her feet, it’s undeniably dramatic and technically impressive. But familiarity has a way of turning drama into background noise.
Titanic was a remarkable film, and Dion’s vocal performance is legitimately extraordinary. The song just might be more powerful if it were saved for genuinely rare occasions rather than deployed at every possible emotional moment.
17. ‘Yummy’ – Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber returned from a years-long hiatus in 2020 with ‘Yummy,’ a track so aggressively simple that it practically dared listeners to find something to like about it. The word ‘yummy’ appears approximately forty times, which is about thirty-nine times more than most adults can comfortably tolerate in a single sitting.
Bieber’s team launched an unusual promotional campaign asking fans to stream the song on repeat to boost its chart position, which somehow made the experience feel even more mechanical than the song itself. The strategy generated headlines but didn’t exactly win over critics.
Bieber has proven he can make genuinely compelling music. ‘Yummy’ just isn’t the supporting evidence for that argument. Most listeners would happily let this particular chapter of his comeback story disappear quietly into the streaming algorithm forever.
18. ‘Friday’ – Rebecca Black
It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday, and gotta find a way to get this song out of your head, which is unfortunately impossible. Rebecca Black released ‘Friday’ in 2011 as a self-funded pop video, and the internet immediately turned it into the most mocked song of the year.
Somehow that made it more famous, not less.
The song became a cultural lightning rod, racking up millions of views largely from people watching it in disbelief. The lyrics, which dedicate entire verses to deciding where to sit in a car and listing the days of the week, became legendary for their breathtaking simplicity.
Black has spoken openly about the difficult experience of going viral for the wrong reasons. The song deserves retirement not out of cruelty, but out of mercy for everyone involved, including her.
19. ‘The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)’ – Ylvis
Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding. If those words just activated something deep in your memory that you had successfully suppressed for years, sincerest apologies.
Ylvis released ‘The Fox’ as a joke in 2013, fully expecting it to disappear within days. Instead, it became a global phenomenon that haunted the internet for far longer than any comedy bit should.
The Norwegian comedy duo created the song specifically to be bad in a funny way, which makes its massive success both hilarious and deeply ironic. It racked up hundreds of millions of YouTube views and spawned merchandise, parodies, and Halloween costumes worldwide.
As a one-time novelty, it served its purpose beautifully. But novelty songs have a very short shelf life by design, and ‘The Fox’ has been living well past its expiration date for over a decade now.
20. ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ – Baha Men
Nobody has ever satisfactorily answered this question, and at this point, nobody needs to. Baha Men released ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ in 2000, and it immediately became the go-to chant at sports stadiums, birthday parties, and any event where someone needed to generate noise without much thought.
The song won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording, which remains one of the more surprising moments in Grammy history. Its bark-along chorus was engineered for crowd participation, making it the perfect brainless anthem for large gatherings of enthusiastic people.
Over twenty years later, stadium DJs still reach for it when the energy dips, which says more about a lack of imagination than the song’s actual staying power. The dogs have been out long enough.
It’s time to bring them home and close the gate for good.
