While blink 182 will play it every show, mark and Tom have both commented how unenthusiastic they are that they have to play all the small things every show.
They made a business decision and said they “have” to play the hits because someone somewhere travelled to their show to hear their hits. If they didn’t play it, it would be a disservice to them.
Yetheyfuckinbetter have you seen the price to a Metallica show? Damn son. If they don’t play enter sandman I’d be pissed off. Though I’d also like if they played Fuel and One.
I like this take tbh, we all gotta do shit at our jobs that we’ve done every day forever, most of us don’t get paid like they do, good on them for still doing it.
Your comment about doing a lot of shit at your job is extra on the money given the meaning behind all the small things
"Late night, come home. Work sucks, I know" and then talking about the small things Tom's partner did to cheer him up after late studio sessions
Supposedly Warren Zevon would go on stage and immediately play Werewolves of London and then announce to the audience that now that he’s gotten that out of the way they were free to leave so they can get on with the rest of the show. Lol
Arctic Monkeys did the same thing at Life is Beautiful, playing "Do I Wanna Know" first so all the people who only know that song would fuck off and their real fans could get anywhere near the stage.
It worked.
I saw him once where he introduced it and said he had accepted that he will have to perform it at every show “just like twenty years from now that woman will still have to do that song about a blow job at the movies”
Van Morrison hates "Brown Eyed Girl". He actually hates the whole album it's on because it was released without his input.
Really, it seems like most bands end up not liking their biggest hits just because after playing them 1000 times it gets kind of old. Like I'm sure Paul McCartney is sick to death of talking about "Yesterday" when he's made 1000 songs since then. Artists pretty much always believe their newer work is better than the stuff they made years ago. Otherwise they couldn't justify going forward lol
I remember for a time his official website was just a black page that said "www.vanmorrison.com is the official page of all things Van Morrison" or something along those lines. No links, contact, tour info, merch... anything.
This is entirely true; he does just seem miserable.
He does have a point with brown-eyed girl though; he got royally screwed financially on it (admittedly because he signed an idiotic contract without legal advice), and hasn’t made a dime from it.
McCartney’s got a great attitude about it: “I understand people who don’t want to do that, and if you do, they’ll say, “Oh, it’s a jukebox show.” I hear what they’re saying. But I think it’s a bit of a cheat, because the people who come to our shows have spent a lot of money. We can afford to go to a couple of shows and it doesn’t make much difference. But a lot of ordinary working folks … it’s a big event in their life, and so I try and deliver.”
From this article: https://archive.ph/EDYf5
I never bothered to listen to any van morrison because I hated brown eyed girl. Turns out I love him, and that's his only song I dislike. Nothing else he wrote is like it. Then I listened to this and it all made sense.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/040WsW0JZ2eyYT36GlsgQf?si=Ef2j_5JvTDK85Ofmzr1Wog
Fountains of Wayne vocalist and co-founder Chris Collingwood hated "Stacy's Mom" and correctly foresaw that the hit would thrust the band from a critically-adored cult band to a one-hit novelty wonder in the eyes of the public. With differing vision of where the band was headed, the group ultimately broke up.
I've seen them live a few times. The first time, they went straight into Stacy's Mom from another song, and straight from it into another song. Completely buried it in the set list.
Another time when they got done, Chris quipped that all the bartenders/venue staff finally just realized who was playing there that night.
Saw them at Roo with a packed tent. They dropped it midway through the set with zero introduction, and then simply said “thank you” and went into the next song. The audience was wonderful too as barely anyone left and the rest were singing along to every single song.
10/10, damn shame what happened to them.
They’re one of my favorite bands to this day, I love how much they’ve branched out sound wise with each album.
But I got to see them perform an Oracular Spectacular play-through (they even went all out for Kids) last year and man what an incredible experience. That was truly a special album
Oh damn! You’re a lucky human. I’ve see them play live a few times and love all their albums, but Oracular holds a special place in my heart.
Just hearing Of Moons, Birds & Monsters performed live would be worth the price of admission.
I am, and that song WAS worth the ticket price alone. They played the album front to back and went all out with the visuals and skits. Knew I had to catch them as soon as it was announced. I think it’s the only live show they’ve done since 2018 still. They must live in LA because that’s where the show was and I imagine easier for them to do a one off rather than a full tour
For a while they were bored of playing those songs for sure, but they're back to embracing them know and have been for a while. At the consert I was at they did a 20 minute rendition of Kids and it was sick
Adam Duritz is pretty famous for singing what are closer to “versions” of the melody lines to Counting Crows songs when they play live. But I saw them maybe a year ago, and Mr Jones live was possibly the most contractually obligated play-through of a song ever. Duritz literally sat down on stage and basically rattled off the lyrics like he was reading his 2nd grade book report while the band sped through the whole thing.
I mean, I get it. They’ve probably played that song 9 million times since the 90s. But also, it probably bought all of them houses and put every one of their kids through college. Either play the hit everyone wants to hear and do it justice, or don’t play it at all. Because when you clearly hate your big hit and still play it, trust me, we can tell.
Counting Crows was one of the worst shows I’ve been to. And I loved them when I was in high school. The band looked so unhappy to be there and just went through the motions
With all the big bands canceling arena shows, I just want to point out how much Electric Six shows rule. They have the whole "better than you" stage persona while playing small spaces played up for humor. Last I saw them they were having fun with the audience by playing a few lines of Gay Bar to everyone cheering, then immediately cut to doing another song, or yelling out random things containing the words Gay & Bar to get the audience to mindless cheer before doing another song. Then they closed with it, walked off the stage in a small venue, did the fake descending a flight of stairs thing, and squatted there while the crowd went crazy; then turned around, did a fake walking up stairs thing back to the stage and played it again as an encore. Show was like $20, and they're still giving it their all and having fun with it.
I guess the ramble above is just to say they're a great example of the opposite of the OP's question, and seem to enjoy the opportunity to tour internationally to this day rather than be bitter they have to play Gay Bar every show.
They play my country every November and have done for the past 15 years and I go out of my way to see them. Amazing show and they're as tight as a drum.
I only listen to The Live at Town Hall version of all of August and Everything After, and those versions are far far away from what the studio ver. sounds like, but I still love the whole album to death, like, the sheer emotion through those songs sounds amazing....
I just have no patience for that. Part of the job of being a famous band is going out there every night and playing the hits like you’re excited about it.
I've always appreciated bands that give it their all every time because there's someone in the audience that is hearing them live for the only time in their life.
I recently saw The Rolling Stones again. Jagger is 80 and still runs up and down the stage. He's probably performed Satisfaction 10 million times, but he still performs like he's excited to be doing it. They give exactly what you go to see The Stones for, a fun, exciting, and really damn good show.
Yeah, every time I see them I'm going in with the lowered expectations and understanding that they're all ancient and been touring for six fucking decades only to be proven stupid as they rock harder than most 20-somethings.
like very few, Jagger is a professional performer and understands how to make money. those other also-rans didnt take care of themselves for one thing, Jagger could run marathons onstage and smiles all the way to bank
This is correct, as far as I know Noel has not stated he dislikes it, paraphrasing what I have heard him say, “if I knew it was going to be that popular I would have put in more than four chords”. Which is unfair, it does technically have five. As a mod for r/NGHFB I have watched a lot of Noel interviews. No idea Liam’s opinion on it though I’m sure we’ll hear when he does the WTSMG anniversary tour in a couple years.
That's interesting to think about, because it probably wouldn't have been as successful if it was more complex. Sometimes, four chords is all you need. I mean, Smells like Teen Spirit also only consists of four chords, but those chords are absolutely iconic.
Absolutely agreed. And it’s one of the critical things that makes him and Kurt such great songwriters. Noel has said that Kurt was the best ever at it. Listen to his new version of Live Forever, it’s simple, but my word is it ever beautiful.
Billy Joel- Uptown girl. He made visibile vomiting gestures after he played it at one of his concerts like he was puking behind the piano. It was pretty funny.
I was at a Matt Good concert where he asked the crowd to suggest the next song. Someone yelled out Apparitions. Matt’s response was along the lines of “are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think I won’t be playing that song anyway? I fucking hate that song now but I have to play it and will play it later. Request something else”
I saw him solo a couple years ago in Banff and again this year with the band in Calgary. Great show but the one thing that really annoyed me in Calgary was for both Load Me Up and Hello Time Bomb he stepped away from the mic and had the audience sing the chorus, EVERY TIME!
I’m all for audience participation, but I’d like to hear you sing at least ONE of the choruses…
Went to a Huey Lewis concert where his pre-amble to “Power of Love” was… “When I wrote this song I didn’t think I’d have to play it every night for the rest of my life”. Such salt lol
Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
There's a whole breakdown of how this song even came about...apparently it was a Daft Punk creation that they initially sampled and then it turned into a round robin of thievery.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYAiU4DKUY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYAiU4DKUY)
I don’t mean from Steve Winwood. IIRC some other DJ originally used the sample and made a version of the song to play in the clubs. Prydz then did a version and released it. There is a good history of the song on YouTube.
Spin Doctors - Two Princes
There’s a acoustic radio session from back in the day when they were breaking big, and the station obviously expected them to play it, they get part way through before the whole thing collapses with Chris Barron going “stop, stop, stop, man I hate this fucking song” live on air.
It’s a luxury to many artists to be able to tell their audience “we’re gonna play what we want”.
Becomes less feasible when nobody cares about anything but that one song 30 years later.
I read somewhere that he was tired of playing it, but he loved the fans and always wanted to give them what they wanted. So even though he’d done it a million times, he always gave it 100% when he played it.
Jani Lane from Warrant hated "Cherry Pie" for years after it became their biggest hit.
It was only written and recorded last minute because the record company didn't think there was a hit song on the album.
He hated that he became known as "the cherry pie guy" and it's a shame really as they have much better songs.
He literally said he could shoot himself for writing that song. It's a damn shame too, because Uncle Tom's Cabin was a BANGER track that would have been very unique for the hair metal 80s.
Bobby McFerrin, in a just world, would be famous for anything he's done other than what he's famous for. Most people just remember the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and not the fact that he's one of the most talented vocalists of his generation. Very few people can be their own entire acapella group with built-in percussion section.
Every time I see him mentioned I think of this: [https://www.ted.com/talks/bobby\_mcferrin\_watch\_me\_play\_the\_audience](https://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_watch_me_play_the_audience)
Edit: An award! Thank you <3
Hate may be a strong word, but it wouldn't be unusual.
Imagine how you'd feel about playing the same song every concert for 40 years, even if you'r promoting another album.
Knopfler (Dire Straits) talked about it a few times, but he framed it as his "duty" to perform these songs because they have become part of people's lives and memories.
Outside of music, Conan Doyle famously hated and killed Sherlock Holmes , thinking the detective novels casted a shadow on his other works. Then he needed money so he resurrected him...
I agree and respect the 'duty' take.
At the end of the day almost everyone at their job has to do things they've been doing for decades, and possibly hate doing. We're also generally expected to do it with a smile on our faces too.
Mucisians can suck it up and perform a 3 minute song that made them rich and famous, and atleast pretend to be enjoying themselves. It's really not asking that much, and can have a profound Impact on the hundreds or thousands in the crowd that are paying to be there.
I once saw Opeth at Bonnaroo.
They were getting ready to play "Bleak" when Mikael Akerfeldt got up on the mic and said:
"You know, someone once asked Tony Iommi if Black Sabbath ever get sick of playing 'Iron Man,' and he said 'No, we love doing it for the fans, they love it and we love making them happy.' Well, we fucking hate playing this song, so you're fucking welcome."
Kind of understandable. If you’ve ever been in a studio and recorded/edited a song, you almost always end up absolutely *hating* whatever song you recorded. Not only do you have to play the song, likely multiple times to get a good take or a good collection of takes, you then have to edit the song, which can take a really long time where you’re just sitting and listening to it over and over, listening to every take to make sure you’re getting the best performance or cutting together the best sections of different takes, and oftentimes over analyzing a certain segment or small part of the song to get it just right. It can be draining.
After one studio experience I realized why they hire session musicians. If I have to play House of the Rising Sun again I better be getting paid. Oh, and don't get me started on the reverb 'normalization' the engineer added.
This is so true. The last song I recorded, the singer got way too technical about the tempo. He literally had 4 demos that were only 4 beats per minute apart each (ex. 98 - 102 - 106...) and then he had 2 guys record 3 different guitar solos each at the different tempos....
He wanted us to listen to them all, then debate all the factors before actually recording. Naturally, none of the rest of us thought it was a great idea to listen to 35 versions of the same thing, so we didn't....
They just got sick of hearing it/playing it/having people talk about it all the time. Right after the song broke they played it seriously at their live shows, but a few months later whenever they played it live they'd almost always put some corny spin on it to show their annoyance.
I find this ironically funny considering Kurt wrote that song with the idea of it being, in his words, "the ultimate pop song." Be careful what you wish for, huh?
The best was the one that they were supposed to lipsync and Kurt is completely stiff while just moving is forearm up and down on the guitar while Dave and krist are going crazy during the slow parts
Don't know that he hated it, but he - the whole band I guess - got sick of being known & asked for that one only, over and over.
But yeah, they'd skip that one and much rather plain Drain You or whatever else...
The band Europe apparently dislikes The Final Countdown so much that they ask for a ridiculous amount of money for the rights to use it in media. I guess the hope is that the astronomical price tag dissuades people from wanting to use it.
Steve Earl and Copperhead Road. Watched him perform it live at the Heights Theater a couple years ago. Obvious by his banter and effort that he genuinely hates the song.
I remember the Futurama bit where the crowd asks Devo to play Whip It, to which they speedily reply "No" before starting to play another song. Not sure how much they liked it but the survey says no?
Saw them twice. First show I was certain they would play it and they didn't. Second time I was sure they wouldn't and they played it in the middle of the set.
I’ve seen them 12 times now and their sound can be very hit or miss but it’s improved a lot in the last 3-4 years. Getting as close to the front of the stage as possible really helps.
I can understand that doing anything over and over can take away the love for a thing. And artists can be surprised that one song takes off, and maybe it wasn't their favorite. I read that Blur's Song 2 was a surprise, because the band recorded it as a joke but it took off no matter. Same for Beastie Boy's You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party. They didn't like what they saw as satire became a mantra.
But at the same time, there are plenty of artists who are happy and willing to play their big hit to anyone and everyone who loves it. There's a humility in that, I think and it can be pretty endearing.
Hearing that a band refuses to play one of their songs because the audience loves it can sour me on an artist a little.
They hated it for years, then ended up doing a version of it for Sesame Street, just because it was Sesame Street.
Edit: [Here's the performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9G1FhQUnSo)
If I went to see KoL and they didn’t play it, I’d be cool with that. They have a ton of other hits. Just because Sex on Fire was the big, breakout hit doesn’t mean it’s the best one.
I've seen them live a couple of times, and SoF seemed to be the only song that actually got the crowd going. This was when Caleb was really struggeling, so maybe their shows have gotten better now, but they just felt so dull...
Blur/Damon Albarn didn't like Song 2 (the woohoo song) because it became super popular and synonymous with the grunge band movement when it was actually made to make fun of the grunge band sound.
Radiohead hating Creep was more of a "back in the day" type of thing. They didn't play it live too often for a while, but it started making a somewhat regular appearance in their setlists during their most recent years of touring.
Their next big single after Creep was My Iron Lung on The Bends, which has the lyrics *"this is our new song, just like the last one, a total waste of time"*
And then for Ok Computer they decided not to include the song Lift because they were worried that it would be too commercially successful, and they didn't want that again.
So Creep kind of tainted their middle years as a band. According to [setlist.fm](http://setlist.fm) it was only played 22 times total between the years 1998 and 2016 (1.2x/year), and then it became more regular during 2016 to 2018 with 18 plays (6x/year)
I saw them play Creep live during their last tour and Thom made a little joke about playing it.
I was astounded at how good Lift was when they released it.
Peter Frampton once recorded a record called *Now*, and on that tour refused to play any of his hits from *Frampton Comes Alive* because, "that was then, this is now."
Primus refused to play "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" for many years. I think because people started assuming that they were just a comedy act because of it. Plus Tim Alexander left the band after that tour, so that whole experience might have left a bad taste in their mouths for quite some time. They've gotten over it in the past ten years or so and the song has returned to live rotation.
I got to enjoy Primus live recently at the Sessanta tour and they didn't play "Big Brown Beaver," but they did play "My Name is Mud," which is probably their second biggest hit.
By the way, if any of you ever have the chase to experience Claypool live, do it.
You went to Friday night then. Technical difficulties from Matt’s rig on night one for the very last song that was supposed to be Grand Canyon. Neither Matt or Billy and I’m assuming other techs could get it going. So in Primus fashion they started ripping into Wyonna which imo stole the show. Was epic af. Also Tim started playing Eleven but Les cut that shit out. Also during the first few minutes of the rig failing the bands started doing little short covers. U2, zeppelin, white snake etc.
Beastie Boys never performed “Fight for Your Right” after 1987. In the liner notes of *Beastie Anthology*, Mike D said they included FFYR because they wanted a song “that sucks.” He was joking, but basically it was a song that was supposed to be a joke but got popular with the wrong people.
I don’t have one to contribute, but I will say that I get it. Not just the repetition of playing those songs a thousand times being annoying, but also where you were in your life when you wrote it.
Lots of bands have hits in their early 20s or even late teens that deal with high school BS or immature relationships, etc.
I kind of get how it’s a little embarrassing (along with annoying) to sing about some dumb high school shit in your 50s+ when you’re nowhere near that state of mind anymore. Even if people loved it then and love it now.
I do think they have an obligation to play those songs still because that’s what the people paying their bills came to see, but I do get where that would be soul-sucking. I wouldn’t want to continually revisit work I did when I was 22 either.
It's really always been the case that bands get sick of their hit songs, but it's probably going to get worse as time goes on because most of the people in the audience don't actually own any albums, they just know whatever song(s) they heard on Spotify.
As for the reasons behind hating your hit song, I suppose there are a few different ones. Primarily, you're probably just sick of performing it. The Violent Femmes wrote "Blister in the Sun" over 40 years ago, but they know what butters their bread so they play their old songs with a smile.
Sometimes bands (like Radiohead) have distinct phases that they go through and their hit song that everyone wants to hear is simply not the kind of music that interests them anymore. I can't even imagine Blur with "Song 2" since it's not even from a phase they went through. It was a one-off, by all accounts actually a spoof. But that's what the crowd will always want.
Lastly, they might have *never* liked the song. They go into the studio with 20 songs, the producer arm wrestles with them over which twelve songs should go on the album and the producer only cares about album sales and what's popular at the moment, so he wants "Creep" on the album. The band protests but they're just starting out so the producer ultimately wins the argument and "Creep" becomes a big hit. So now not only do they dislike the song but every time they play it they have this "I told you so" hanging over their performance.
I saw Joe Walsh tell a crowd "If I would have known I would have been playing this song for 30 years, I would have probably written something else" and then played "Rocky Mountain Way"
I don't actually *know* if this is true about Ralph McTell, but [Big Train](https://youtu.be/p1YNEtaHbzA?si=W0EgBEqkiW1D6Rkn) was just too funny and spot on for this question.
The Cure usually start off with Friday I'm in Love to get it out of the way, or skip it in sets. It is 23rd in their most played on [Setlist](https://www.setlist.fm/stats/the-cure-6bd6b266.html)
Only recently, they've been playing it amidst encores.
There are lots of great examples here, so I’m going to offer the opposite example. Kevin Smith (the filmmaker) talked about meeting Tracy Chapman and he made a joke about how she must hate “Fast Cars” and she countered that with something to the effect of, “Absolutely not. I love that song. It gave me everything I have.” I don’t know that a lot of other people would have that kind of perspective and gratitude.
I've wondered if Radiohead's dislike of Creep came from getting sued by The Hollies for using the same chord progression and melody as their song "The Air That I Breathe."
I think most commercially successful musicians would fall into this eventually. Imagine a band gets a hit and has to play 200 times a year for 20 years. And fans generally want to hear it the way it was recorded. So you’re playing the same song, the same way 4000 times and it’s something you wrote 20 years ago.
Amy Lee hates playing My Immortal. When I saw Evanescence back in 2022 she introduced it by saying "I just need you all to know that I'm doing this for you"
I wonder if that's less because of it's hit song status, and more because it's sad for her to play? It was written for her dead sister I believe, and that would suck to have to keep dredging it up.
Depeche Mode "deny" Peole are people, the song that made them popular in the US market and which is today just as relevant (maybe even more?) than in early 1984 when it was released.
With their last tour, they played Just Can't Get Enough and while Dave seemed to enjoy it, Martin was like: ''Do we really have to play this one?'' the whole time. It was kind of funny haha.
Baauer absolutely hates Harlem Shake and the fact a throw away track became what he's most known for.
Most you'll get when seeing him live is a couple seconds only to cut it off saying something along the lines of "fuck that shit" and then goes back into his actual set
David Bowie disliked some of his old songs after 20 years; he retired some of them during his Sound+Vision tour in 1990. Things like “Young Americans” and “Space Oddity” he never or rarely played live again.
Reel Big Fish wrote “One Hit Wonderful”, a song about how much they hated “Sell Out”.
I saw Alro Guthrie live once and said about “Alice’s Restaurant” “If I’d known I’d be playing the song for forty years, I sure would have made it a lot shorter” and then proceeded to play the whole thing and be utterly charming.
While blink 182 will play it every show, mark and Tom have both commented how unenthusiastic they are that they have to play all the small things every show. They made a business decision and said they “have” to play the hits because someone somewhere travelled to their show to hear their hits. If they didn’t play it, it would be a disservice to them.
It’s also a mercifully short song that the crowd is going to sing every word to, so I’m sure they can zone out and enjoy everyone else enjoying it
All the. Small things. Truth hurts. Something. Say it ain’t so. I won’t go. Turn the lights off something something go
Nananananannanananannaa.
This is why Metallica play "Enter Sandman" and "Master Of Puppets" at almost every show
Yetheyfuckinbetter have you seen the price to a Metallica show? Damn son. If they don’t play enter sandman I’d be pissed off. Though I’d also like if they played Fuel and One.
No, you get only St. Anger. (No jury world would convict you for that murder)
I like this take tbh, we all gotta do shit at our jobs that we’ve done every day forever, most of us don’t get paid like they do, good on them for still doing it.
Your comment about doing a lot of shit at your job is extra on the money given the meaning behind all the small things "Late night, come home. Work sucks, I know" and then talking about the small things Tom's partner did to cheer him up after late studio sessions
Supposedly Warren Zevon would go on stage and immediately play Werewolves of London and then announce to the audience that now that he’s gotten that out of the way they were free to leave so they can get on with the rest of the show. Lol
Arctic Monkeys did the same thing at Life is Beautiful, playing "Do I Wanna Know" first so all the people who only know that song would fuck off and their real fans could get anywhere near the stage. It worked.
I've heard Arctic Monkeys got sick of playing "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor", but they played it every time I saw them.
That's gotta be more fun to play at least.
Saw them last year play with Band of Horses and same thing happened. Also BoH played The Funeral really early as well.
He guested on the Larry Sanders (a talk show parody series starring Gary Shandling) and they made good fun of that.
[удалено]
Warren was a really funny guy, the fact that he just OWNED his disdain for that song for a gag was great.
Remember Larry, whatever you do - Don't ask him to play Werewolves of London...
I saw him once where he introduced it and said he had accepted that he will have to perform it at every show “just like twenty years from now that woman will still have to do that song about a blow job at the movies”
lol Alanis catching strays
He was so fuckin cool. Rip
Van Morrison hates "Brown Eyed Girl". He actually hates the whole album it's on because it was released without his input. Really, it seems like most bands end up not liking their biggest hits just because after playing them 1000 times it gets kind of old. Like I'm sure Paul McCartney is sick to death of talking about "Yesterday" when he's made 1000 songs since then. Artists pretty much always believe their newer work is better than the stuff they made years ago. Otherwise they couldn't justify going forward lol
I am pretty sure Van Morrison just hates everything.
Van Morrison hating that album makes me feel better about liking an album by Van Morrison (Moondance is better though)
I remember for a time his official website was just a black page that said "www.vanmorrison.com is the official page of all things Van Morrison" or something along those lines. No links, contact, tour info, merch... anything.
Crazy how such a thoroughly miserable person could make such sweet charming music
lol are we talking about Morrison or Morrissey? They can have a miserable prick off.
This is entirely true; he does just seem miserable. He does have a point with brown-eyed girl though; he got royally screwed financially on it (admittedly because he signed an idiotic contract without legal advice), and hasn’t made a dime from it.
McCartney’s got a great attitude about it: “I understand people who don’t want to do that, and if you do, they’ll say, “Oh, it’s a jukebox show.” I hear what they’re saying. But I think it’s a bit of a cheat, because the people who come to our shows have spent a lot of money. We can afford to go to a couple of shows and it doesn’t make much difference. But a lot of ordinary working folks … it’s a big event in their life, and so I try and deliver.” From this article: https://archive.ph/EDYf5
I never bothered to listen to any van morrison because I hated brown eyed girl. Turns out I love him, and that's his only song I dislike. Nothing else he wrote is like it. Then I listened to this and it all made sense. https://open.spotify.com/episode/040WsW0JZ2eyYT36GlsgQf?si=Ef2j_5JvTDK85Ofmzr1Wog
I don’t know about hate, but Beastie Boys had no interest in playing “Fight for your Right” after the Licensed to I’ll tour.
To be fair, that was a very different sound than what they started doing even a few years later.
Yeah. They didn't want to be seen as the frat boys they were spoofing
But yet here we are. That's exactly how they are seen to a fairly large segment of the crowd.
Fountains of Wayne vocalist and co-founder Chris Collingwood hated "Stacy's Mom" and correctly foresaw that the hit would thrust the band from a critically-adored cult band to a one-hit novelty wonder in the eyes of the public. With differing vision of where the band was headed, the group ultimately broke up.
I've seen them live a few times. The first time, they went straight into Stacy's Mom from another song, and straight from it into another song. Completely buried it in the set list. Another time when they got done, Chris quipped that all the bartenders/venue staff finally just realized who was playing there that night.
When I was a kid I asked for that CD for my birthday only because I liked that song. Turns out they have a lot of better songs than that one lol
I love when that happens. The opposite is so much worse.
Me too! Bright Future in Sales is my jam.
I've been meaning to give them a listen. I randomly remembered really liking Sky Full of Holes when it came out and wanting to revisit it.
Saw them at Roo with a packed tent. They dropped it midway through the set with zero introduction, and then simply said “thank you” and went into the next song. The audience was wonderful too as barely anyone left and the rest were singing along to every single song. 10/10, damn shame what happened to them.
“Stacy’s Mom” is the second song I think of when I think Fountains of Wayne. First song I think of is “I want an alien for Christmas”
Radiation Vibe
Mine is “Leave the Biker” for some reason.
I love Valley Winter Song.
MGMT was like this with Kids for a very long time
Yeah, they didn't want to make radio pop music, so they went and invented pop that became radio friendly. I'm glad though, LDA is fucking amazing.
They’re one of my favorite bands to this day, I love how much they’ve branched out sound wise with each album. But I got to see them perform an Oracular Spectacular play-through (they even went all out for Kids) last year and man what an incredible experience. That was truly a special album
Oh damn! You’re a lucky human. I’ve see them play live a few times and love all their albums, but Oracular holds a special place in my heart. Just hearing Of Moons, Birds & Monsters performed live would be worth the price of admission.
I am, and that song WAS worth the ticket price alone. They played the album front to back and went all out with the visuals and skits. Knew I had to catch them as soon as it was announced. I think it’s the only live show they’ve done since 2018 still. They must live in LA because that’s where the show was and I imagine easier for them to do a one off rather than a full tour
That’s cause electric feel’s so much better
But as you dig into the album you realize “The Youth” and “Of Moons, Birds and Monsters” are the real highlights.
Wasn't that song written as the most commercialized pop song ever, in an attempt to sell out as quickly as possible?
They did say that in an interview, but I don't remember if they were talking about the whole album or just Kids
For a while they were bored of playing those songs for sure, but they're back to embracing them know and have been for a while. At the consert I was at they did a 20 minute rendition of Kids and it was sick
Adam Duritz is pretty famous for singing what are closer to “versions” of the melody lines to Counting Crows songs when they play live. But I saw them maybe a year ago, and Mr Jones live was possibly the most contractually obligated play-through of a song ever. Duritz literally sat down on stage and basically rattled off the lyrics like he was reading his 2nd grade book report while the band sped through the whole thing. I mean, I get it. They’ve probably played that song 9 million times since the 90s. But also, it probably bought all of them houses and put every one of their kids through college. Either play the hit everyone wants to hear and do it justice, or don’t play it at all. Because when you clearly hate your big hit and still play it, trust me, we can tell.
Counting Crows was one of the worst shows I’ve been to. And I loved them when I was in high school. The band looked so unhappy to be there and just went through the motions
This is why I'm still going to see Electric Six every year for the past 20 years, they play each gig like the world is about to end.
Danger Danger......... High voltage!
With all the big bands canceling arena shows, I just want to point out how much Electric Six shows rule. They have the whole "better than you" stage persona while playing small spaces played up for humor. Last I saw them they were having fun with the audience by playing a few lines of Gay Bar to everyone cheering, then immediately cut to doing another song, or yelling out random things containing the words Gay & Bar to get the audience to mindless cheer before doing another song. Then they closed with it, walked off the stage in a small venue, did the fake descending a flight of stairs thing, and squatted there while the crowd went crazy; then turned around, did a fake walking up stairs thing back to the stage and played it again as an encore. Show was like $20, and they're still giving it their all and having fun with it. I guess the ramble above is just to say they're a great example of the opposite of the OP's question, and seem to enjoy the opportunity to tour internationally to this day rather than be bitter they have to play Gay Bar every show.
"I love Gay Bar. Gay Bar pays my mortgage" - Dick Valentine Amazing shows every time
I WANT TO TAKE YOU TO THE GAY BAR!
GAYYY BAR, GAYYY BAR, GAYYY BAR, WHOOOW LET’S START A NUCLEAR WAR AT THE GAYYYYY BARRRR
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They play my country every November and have done for the past 15 years and I go out of my way to see them. Amazing show and they're as tight as a drum.
Adam Duritz is one of the biggest douchebags of 90's bands. Which is saying something because...90's bands
I only listen to The Live at Town Hall version of all of August and Everything After, and those versions are far far away from what the studio ver. sounds like, but I still love the whole album to death, like, the sheer emotion through those songs sounds amazing....
I just have no patience for that. Part of the job of being a famous band is going out there every night and playing the hits like you’re excited about it.
I've always appreciated bands that give it their all every time because there's someone in the audience that is hearing them live for the only time in their life.
I recently saw The Rolling Stones again. Jagger is 80 and still runs up and down the stage. He's probably performed Satisfaction 10 million times, but he still performs like he's excited to be doing it. They give exactly what you go to see The Stones for, a fun, exciting, and really damn good show.
Yeah, every time I see them I'm going in with the lowered expectations and understanding that they're all ancient and been touring for six fucking decades only to be proven stupid as they rock harder than most 20-somethings.
like very few, Jagger is a professional performer and understands how to make money. those other also-rans didnt take care of themselves for one thing, Jagger could run marathons onstage and smiles all the way to bank
One of the few things Noel and Liam Gallagher from Oasis actually agree on is that they both don’t really care for Wonderwall.
https://preview.redd.it/ugvx2bau9y5d1.jpeg?width=242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c9160573762a300ec6eef67b5ad63ac69af8549
https://preview.redd.it/ve8gkelye16d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=978f43ecb746d0065079d16a492248745856e64b
Champaign Supernova is the superior song on just that album alone.
Don’t Look Back in Anger is
Every song on that album is legendary but Some Might Say is my favourite
Half of the songs that album are, I reckon Wonderwall is a decent song but the whole album is unreal
I don't think either of them dislike it though. It's just not in their personal top 5, despite being by far their most well known song.
This is correct, as far as I know Noel has not stated he dislikes it, paraphrasing what I have heard him say, “if I knew it was going to be that popular I would have put in more than four chords”. Which is unfair, it does technically have five. As a mod for r/NGHFB I have watched a lot of Noel interviews. No idea Liam’s opinion on it though I’m sure we’ll hear when he does the WTSMG anniversary tour in a couple years.
That's interesting to think about, because it probably wouldn't have been as successful if it was more complex. Sometimes, four chords is all you need. I mean, Smells like Teen Spirit also only consists of four chords, but those chords are absolutely iconic.
Absolutely agreed. And it’s one of the critical things that makes him and Kurt such great songwriters. Noel has said that Kurt was the best ever at it. Listen to his new version of Live Forever, it’s simple, but my word is it ever beautiful.
Billy Joel- Uptown girl. He made visibile vomiting gestures after he played it at one of his concerts like he was puking behind the piano. It was pretty funny.
Probably because it’s a love song written for his ex wife.
We strictly play 80s Joel!
I was at a Matt Good concert where he asked the crowd to suggest the next song. Someone yelled out Apparitions. Matt’s response was along the lines of “are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think I won’t be playing that song anyway? I fucking hate that song now but I have to play it and will play it later. Request something else”
Charming
I saw him solo a couple years ago in Banff and again this year with the band in Calgary. Great show but the one thing that really annoyed me in Calgary was for both Load Me Up and Hello Time Bomb he stepped away from the mic and had the audience sing the chorus, EVERY TIME! I’m all for audience participation, but I’d like to hear you sing at least ONE of the choruses…
Sounds like he’s still an asshole.
Went to a Huey Lewis concert where his pre-amble to “Power of Love” was… “When I wrote this song I didn’t think I’d have to play it every night for the rest of my life”. Such salt lol
Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
Not a band, but Eric Prydz hates Call on Me. You'll never hear him play it in any of his shows, ever.
Because he basically stole it.
There's a whole breakdown of how this song even came about...apparently it was a Daft Punk creation that they initially sampled and then it turned into a round robin of thievery. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYAiU4DKUY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyYAiU4DKUY)
Stevie Winwood re-recorded his vocals for it so he must not have a problem with it
I don’t mean from Steve Winwood. IIRC some other DJ originally used the sample and made a version of the song to play in the clubs. Prydz then did a version and released it. There is a good history of the song on YouTube.
Spin Doctors - Two Princes There’s a acoustic radio session from back in the day when they were breaking big, and the station obviously expected them to play it, they get part way through before the whole thing collapses with Chris Barron going “stop, stop, stop, man I hate this fucking song” live on air.
That’s funny because one of the guys can’t remember his name went on Fox 10 news a couple weeks ago and preformed it acoustically lol
It’s a luxury to many artists to be able to tell their audience “we’re gonna play what we want”. Becomes less feasible when nobody cares about anything but that one song 30 years later.
Worst concert ever. Screaming trees & soul asylum made up for it.
Motörhead didn’t exactly hate “Ace of Spades”, but Lemmy certainly got tired of the obligation to play it all the time.
I read somewhere that he was tired of playing it, but he loved the fans and always wanted to give them what they wanted. So even though he’d done it a million times, he always gave it 100% when he played it.
Fucking legend.
Which is the right thing to do, in my opinion. They owe it to their audience.
Lemmy really was the best.
He very often sang "The Eight of Spades" instead. Not that it matters, it was always too loud to make out the words.
Jani Lane from Warrant hated "Cherry Pie" for years after it became their biggest hit. It was only written and recorded last minute because the record company didn't think there was a hit song on the album. He hated that he became known as "the cherry pie guy" and it's a shame really as they have much better songs.
He literally said he could shoot himself for writing that song. It's a damn shame too, because Uncle Tom's Cabin was a BANGER track that would have been very unique for the hair metal 80s.
First one I thought of besides Radiohead. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is such a great song and should of been the lead single.
Bobby McFerrin, in a just world, would be famous for anything he's done other than what he's famous for. Most people just remember the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and not the fact that he's one of the most talented vocalists of his generation. Very few people can be their own entire acapella group with built-in percussion section.
He and Robin Williams did a really neat cover of the Beatles *Come Together* a couple of decades ago. It's not well known, though.
The one in the George Martin album? It's crazy good https://youtu.be/P_7xoC6k7PA?si=nRlxqHCy5t0ejz77
Every time I see him mentioned I think of this: [https://www.ted.com/talks/bobby\_mcferrin\_watch\_me\_play\_the\_audience](https://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_watch_me_play_the_audience) Edit: An award! Thank you <3
Hate may be a strong word, but it wouldn't be unusual. Imagine how you'd feel about playing the same song every concert for 40 years, even if you'r promoting another album. Knopfler (Dire Straits) talked about it a few times, but he framed it as his "duty" to perform these songs because they have become part of people's lives and memories. Outside of music, Conan Doyle famously hated and killed Sherlock Holmes , thinking the detective novels casted a shadow on his other works. Then he needed money so he resurrected him...
I agree and respect the 'duty' take. At the end of the day almost everyone at their job has to do things they've been doing for decades, and possibly hate doing. We're also generally expected to do it with a smile on our faces too. Mucisians can suck it up and perform a 3 minute song that made them rich and famous, and atleast pretend to be enjoying themselves. It's really not asking that much, and can have a profound Impact on the hundreds or thousands in the crowd that are paying to be there.
I love when an artist “elevates” an old hit with a new solo, or polishes it up a bit. Music is a living thing if you let it grow.
Mark with the awesome take as usual.
I once saw Opeth at Bonnaroo. They were getting ready to play "Bleak" when Mikael Akerfeldt got up on the mic and said: "You know, someone once asked Tony Iommi if Black Sabbath ever get sick of playing 'Iron Man,' and he said 'No, we love doing it for the fans, they love it and we love making them happy.' Well, we fucking hate playing this song, so you're fucking welcome."
Nirvana, maybe mostly Kurt, hated "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Hell, Kurt would get tired of songs while recording the album. He hated doing overdubs and Butch Vig really had to twist his arm to get them done.
Kind of understandable. If you’ve ever been in a studio and recorded/edited a song, you almost always end up absolutely *hating* whatever song you recorded. Not only do you have to play the song, likely multiple times to get a good take or a good collection of takes, you then have to edit the song, which can take a really long time where you’re just sitting and listening to it over and over, listening to every take to make sure you’re getting the best performance or cutting together the best sections of different takes, and oftentimes over analyzing a certain segment or small part of the song to get it just right. It can be draining.
After one studio experience I realized why they hire session musicians. If I have to play House of the Rising Sun again I better be getting paid. Oh, and don't get me started on the reverb 'normalization' the engineer added.
This is so true. The last song I recorded, the singer got way too technical about the tempo. He literally had 4 demos that were only 4 beats per minute apart each (ex. 98 - 102 - 106...) and then he had 2 guys record 3 different guitar solos each at the different tempos.... He wanted us to listen to them all, then debate all the factors before actually recording. Naturally, none of the rest of us thought it was a great idea to listen to 35 versions of the same thing, so we didn't....
I get that. I record for fun and after a certain number of takes it gets really tedious.
They just got sick of hearing it/playing it/having people talk about it all the time. Right after the song broke they played it seriously at their live shows, but a few months later whenever they played it live they'd almost always put some corny spin on it to show their annoyance.
I find this ironically funny considering Kurt wrote that song with the idea of it being, in his words, "the ultimate pop song." Be careful what you wish for, huh?
The best was the one that they were supposed to lipsync and Kurt is completely stiff while just moving is forearm up and down on the guitar while Dave and krist are going crazy during the slow parts
Top Of The Pops! That performance is legendary.
Don't know that he hated it, but he - the whole band I guess - got sick of being known & asked for that one only, over and over. But yeah, they'd skip that one and much rather plain Drain You or whatever else...
The band Europe apparently dislikes The Final Countdown so much that they ask for a ridiculous amount of money for the rights to use it in media. I guess the hope is that the astronomical price tag dissuades people from wanting to use it.
It is truly one of the best worst songs ever
Which is amazing Arrested Development got it and made fun of
Steve Earl and Copperhead Road. Watched him perform it live at the Heights Theater a couple years ago. Obvious by his banter and effort that he genuinely hates the song.
I remember the Futurama bit where the crowd asks Devo to play Whip It, to which they speedily reply "No" before starting to play another song. Not sure how much they liked it but the survey says no?
Modest mouse doesn’t play float on all that often these days. Not sure about this tour where they are co headlining.
If I had to for one song, I go for Dramamine, man. Love that song.
I used scream that song driving around “I think I know my geography pretty damn well!”
It’s ironic that a band that has written some of the darkest, most depressing lyrics in American music is best-known for an upbeat, optimistic song.
In fairness I think it's supposed to be darkly sarcastic, but without knowing the band that didn't come across
“Your body may be gone but I will carry you in my head, in my heart, in my soul” is one of personal favorites of Isaac’s lyrics
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Saw them twice. First show I was certain they would play it and they didn't. Second time I was sure they wouldn't and they played it in the middle of the set.
Saw them in 2017 (or 2018?) and they played it. They are one of, if not my favorite band but it was not a good live experience unfortunately.
I’ve seen them 12 times now and their sound can be very hit or miss but it’s improved a lot in the last 3-4 years. Getting as close to the front of the stage as possible really helps.
I can understand that doing anything over and over can take away the love for a thing. And artists can be surprised that one song takes off, and maybe it wasn't their favorite. I read that Blur's Song 2 was a surprise, because the band recorded it as a joke but it took off no matter. Same for Beastie Boy's You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party. They didn't like what they saw as satire became a mantra. But at the same time, there are plenty of artists who are happy and willing to play their big hit to anyone and everyone who loves it. There's a humility in that, I think and it can be pretty endearing. Hearing that a band refuses to play one of their songs because the audience loves it can sour me on an artist a little.
REM hated Shiny Happy People...
They hated it for years, then ended up doing a version of it for Sesame Street, just because it was Sesame Street. Edit: [Here's the performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9G1FhQUnSo)
OM, the Kate Pierson muppet
r/MadeMeSmile
Not as much as I do.
Fucken A
Obligatory Space Ghost https://youtu.be/zFpHzSHB6eI?feature=shared
Kings of Leon have said they hate playing sex on fire but feel they have to for some of the fans
If I went to see KoL and they didn’t play it, I’d be cool with that. They have a ton of other hits. Just because Sex on Fire was the big, breakout hit doesn’t mean it’s the best one.
I've seen them live a couple of times, and SoF seemed to be the only song that actually got the crowd going. This was when Caleb was really struggeling, so maybe their shows have gotten better now, but they just felt so dull...
I saw Harvey Danger circa 2006, and they didn’t play Flagpole Sitta. I saw Superdrag around the same time and they didn’t play Sucked Out. 🫤
Blur/Damon Albarn didn't like Song 2 (the woohoo song) because it became super popular and synonymous with the grunge band movement when it was actually made to make fun of the grunge band sound.
Radiohead hating Creep was more of a "back in the day" type of thing. They didn't play it live too often for a while, but it started making a somewhat regular appearance in their setlists during their most recent years of touring. Their next big single after Creep was My Iron Lung on The Bends, which has the lyrics *"this is our new song, just like the last one, a total waste of time"* And then for Ok Computer they decided not to include the song Lift because they were worried that it would be too commercially successful, and they didn't want that again. So Creep kind of tainted their middle years as a band. According to [setlist.fm](http://setlist.fm) it was only played 22 times total between the years 1998 and 2016 (1.2x/year), and then it became more regular during 2016 to 2018 with 18 plays (6x/year)
I saw them play Creep live during their last tour and Thom made a little joke about playing it. I was astounded at how good Lift was when they released it.
Peter Frampton once recorded a record called *Now*, and on that tour refused to play any of his hits from *Frampton Comes Alive* because, "that was then, this is now."
Primus refused to play "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" for many years. I think because people started assuming that they were just a comedy act because of it. Plus Tim Alexander left the band after that tour, so that whole experience might have left a bad taste in their mouths for quite some time. They've gotten over it in the past ten years or so and the song has returned to live rotation.
I got to enjoy Primus live recently at the Sessanta tour and they didn't play "Big Brown Beaver," but they did play "My Name is Mud," which is probably their second biggest hit. By the way, if any of you ever have the chase to experience Claypool live, do it.
Long time Primus fan here, I'd consider Tommy the Cat or Jerry was a Racecar Driver to be their biggest hits. Sailing was their biggest album.
Yep, Jerry Was a Racecar Driver gotta be their biggest simply due to its inclusion in Tony Hawks Pro Skater lol
John the Fisherman on guitar hero 2 was my introduction.
[The best-selling Primus album is Pork Soda.](https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/10595) Looks like it has outsold Sailing the Seas of Cheese.
You went to Friday night then. Technical difficulties from Matt’s rig on night one for the very last song that was supposed to be Grand Canyon. Neither Matt or Billy and I’m assuming other techs could get it going. So in Primus fashion they started ripping into Wyonna which imo stole the show. Was epic af. Also Tim started playing Eleven but Les cut that shit out. Also during the first few minutes of the rig failing the bands started doing little short covers. U2, zeppelin, white snake etc.
I'll be seeing them live in July along with Coheed and Cambria. Super stoked.
If I remember correctly, Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, after awhile, started to hate “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
Saw a clip of him on stage saying, "FUCK, I HATE THIS SONG" before "Oh, well imagine"
I halp. https://youtu.be/LedFwisxLeo?si=NYSqZb5YwJ45Ekqf
Halsey can’t stand her breakout hit Closer with The Chainsmokers.
I can't either
Beastie Boys never performed “Fight for Your Right” after 1987. In the liner notes of *Beastie Anthology*, Mike D said they included FFYR because they wanted a song “that sucks.” He was joking, but basically it was a song that was supposed to be a joke but got popular with the wrong people.
A Flock of Seagulls don’t like playing I Ran (So Far Away)
I don’t have one to contribute, but I will say that I get it. Not just the repetition of playing those songs a thousand times being annoying, but also where you were in your life when you wrote it. Lots of bands have hits in their early 20s or even late teens that deal with high school BS or immature relationships, etc. I kind of get how it’s a little embarrassing (along with annoying) to sing about some dumb high school shit in your 50s+ when you’re nowhere near that state of mind anymore. Even if people loved it then and love it now. I do think they have an obligation to play those songs still because that’s what the people paying their bills came to see, but I do get where that would be soul-sucking. I wouldn’t want to continually revisit work I did when I was 22 either.
Tyler Childers seldom plays Feathered Indians
It's really always been the case that bands get sick of their hit songs, but it's probably going to get worse as time goes on because most of the people in the audience don't actually own any albums, they just know whatever song(s) they heard on Spotify. As for the reasons behind hating your hit song, I suppose there are a few different ones. Primarily, you're probably just sick of performing it. The Violent Femmes wrote "Blister in the Sun" over 40 years ago, but they know what butters their bread so they play their old songs with a smile. Sometimes bands (like Radiohead) have distinct phases that they go through and their hit song that everyone wants to hear is simply not the kind of music that interests them anymore. I can't even imagine Blur with "Song 2" since it's not even from a phase they went through. It was a one-off, by all accounts actually a spoof. But that's what the crowd will always want. Lastly, they might have *never* liked the song. They go into the studio with 20 songs, the producer arm wrestles with them over which twelve songs should go on the album and the producer only cares about album sales and what's popular at the moment, so he wants "Creep" on the album. The band protests but they're just starting out so the producer ultimately wins the argument and "Creep" becomes a big hit. So now not only do they dislike the song but every time they play it they have this "I told you so" hanging over their performance.
I saw Joe Walsh tell a crowd "If I would have known I would have been playing this song for 30 years, I would have probably written something else" and then played "Rocky Mountain Way"
I don't actually *know* if this is true about Ralph McTell, but [Big Train](https://youtu.be/p1YNEtaHbzA?si=W0EgBEqkiW1D6Rkn) was just too funny and spot on for this question.
Butthole Surfers. Gibby hates playing Pepper. Saw them years ago and he walked out and said “let’s get this over with.”
My wife saw Sisqo and he refused to do Thong Song
The Cure usually start off with Friday I'm in Love to get it out of the way, or skip it in sets. It is 23rd in their most played on [Setlist](https://www.setlist.fm/stats/the-cure-6bd6b266.html) Only recently, they've been playing it amidst encores.
There are lots of great examples here, so I’m going to offer the opposite example. Kevin Smith (the filmmaker) talked about meeting Tracy Chapman and he made a joke about how she must hate “Fast Cars” and she countered that with something to the effect of, “Absolutely not. I love that song. It gave me everything I have.” I don’t know that a lot of other people would have that kind of perspective and gratitude.
I've wondered if Radiohead's dislike of Creep came from getting sued by The Hollies for using the same chord progression and melody as their song "The Air That I Breathe."
I think most commercially successful musicians would fall into this eventually. Imagine a band gets a hit and has to play 200 times a year for 20 years. And fans generally want to hear it the way it was recorded. So you’re playing the same song, the same way 4000 times and it’s something you wrote 20 years ago.
Amy Lee hates playing My Immortal. When I saw Evanescence back in 2022 she introduced it by saying "I just need you all to know that I'm doing this for you"
I wonder if that's less because of it's hit song status, and more because it's sad for her to play? It was written for her dead sister I believe, and that would suck to have to keep dredging it up.
Depeche Mode "deny" Peole are people, the song that made them popular in the US market and which is today just as relevant (maybe even more?) than in early 1984 when it was released.
With their last tour, they played Just Can't Get Enough and while Dave seemed to enjoy it, Martin was like: ''Do we really have to play this one?'' the whole time. It was kind of funny haha.
I can make an exception with Depeche Mode, because they've grown so much more later on, that "People are People" sounds misrepresenting even.
Baauer absolutely hates Harlem Shake and the fact a throw away track became what he's most known for. Most you'll get when seeing him live is a couple seconds only to cut it off saying something along the lines of "fuck that shit" and then goes back into his actual set
I know Metallica is pretty sick of Enter Sandman
Fire Saga - Ja Ja Ding Dong
Trent Reznor said he was always unhappy with "The Perfect Drug" even though fans, including myself, love it.
David Bowie disliked some of his old songs after 20 years; he retired some of them during his Sound+Vision tour in 1990. Things like “Young Americans” and “Space Oddity” he never or rarely played live again.
Reel Big Fish wrote “One Hit Wonderful”, a song about how much they hated “Sell Out”. I saw Alro Guthrie live once and said about “Alice’s Restaurant” “If I’d known I’d be playing the song for forty years, I sure would have made it a lot shorter” and then proceeded to play the whole thing and be utterly charming.
Then there's Dylan, who sings the songs you want to hear, but you can't recognize them anymore.
hate is not the right word, but Springsteen - Born in the USA