Three artists created the worst song of all time, which is almost impossible to endure until the end… and it’s (almost) scientific.
Created to be hated. If musicians set about composing songs to please the public, which is already, in itself, a challenge given the subjectivity of the thing, this trio of artists has decided to bring together all the most hated elements in music. In 1997, painters Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, helped by American composer Dave Soldier, created a piece aptly named The Most Unwanted Song.
To do this, they based themselves on a panel of 500 people, questioned on the most repulsive elements of a musical composition, including, among others, bagpipes, country music, a mix of opera singing and rap , or a children’s choir, a tuba, commercial or elevator music and a drum machine. The result ? A 22-minute long “song”, designed to displease as many listeners as possible, as objectively as possible.
Before creating this famous The Most Unwanted Song, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid had produced a series of “worst paintings” and “best paintings”, bringing together the most hated and most loved elements from a panel of people interviewed for this experience. After The Most Unwanted Song, the two artists tried their hand at its opposite, The Most Wanted Song, which, ironically, was less successful than the supposedly most hateful song in the world.
It must be said that musical tastes remain completely subjective, although Vitaly Komar, Alexander Melamid and Dave Soldier have conceived The Most Unwanted Song in an almost scientific manner. Depending on individual tastes, other songs may appear inaudible to some, adored by others. What may intensely move one person may leave another indifferent, thus illustrating the subjective and personal nature of musical appreciation.
