It Ain't Stairway to Heaven

My idol Julia Smillie recently put up a post on her Read Julia forum about the worst songs made. There were some excellent choices such as, You're Having My Baby and You Light Up My Life. I cast votes for Kodachrome and Sky Rockets In Flight.

In a personal effort to be a more positive person, I gave some thought to what I would choose as the best song ever recorded. It took me all of forty-two seconds to come up with the definitive answer. Drum roll, please.

Baby Got Back.

Wasn't it a scandal at the time? A man singing about big butts? Of course, by today's standards the song is positively tame and even the video, which featured enormous sculptures of the female buttocks, freshly baked yeast rolls and one white woman lacking trunk junk, is nothing compared to the currently rampant misogyny of MTVJams.

I like that the lyrics are clear and easy to sing. I like the message of strong curves being more desirable than a skinny, unhealthy body. It's upbeat and energetic. It was recorded by a man called Sir Mix-A-Lot for chrissakes!

If you can rap, "L.A. face with an Oakland booty" without smiling, well, you're a much more sophisticated and cultured person than I am. Oh yeah, and you'd also be a humorless bore.