I’m sitting at an old mahogany desk in Pushkar, India, beside a beautiful sacred lake. According to legend, Brahma’s wife was late for a ceremony here, so he married someone else. Most of us would have checked our watches.
And I can’t get this song out of my head. One of my best friends absolutely loves it. So do 22 million other people, apparently.
I find it incredibly inspiring.
Because it’s awful.
Click play and listen for yourself.
Hackneyed lyrics. Bad playing. Verses that plod along like they’ve been sent out to buy something they resent paying for. Then a plea to his mother, which is never edifying coming from a grown man. We came for rock and roll and got a mummy’s boy requiring assistance.
Obviously, that’s just my opinion. You’re perfectly entitled to yours. You’d be flat-out wrong, but that’s your freedom.
And yet: 22 million views. 296,000 likes.
I’ve just presented about YouTube at WordCamp Rajasthan, and so many people came up to me afterwards to say they were afraid to hit publish. Worried about what people would think.
Well, this song found millions of people who love it, despite being scientifically, empirically horrible on multiple levels. I conducted the research myself, so there’s no need for peer review.
Now I’ve embedded it on my website. Even its critics are working for it.
You don’t need everyone’s approval. Hit publish.
P.S. For my full list of things people are wrong to enjoy, drop a comment below. I have a slightly unstable stomach, so I’m staying close to my bathroom for the rest of the day. Plenty of time to deal with your incorrect opinions.
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