Vic Wettner recently posted a blog about and article in a corporate magazine, who shall remain nameless. They listed Sting as the worst lyricist in music history. Somehow, that flies in the face of decades and decades of disposable pop songs who are more about melody and meter than lyrics and meaning.

I will attempt to provide two examples per decade starting from the 60's. Granted there are many many bad examples, I just came up with two per decade.

1960-1969

The Beatles - I want to Hold Your Hand                           The Archies - Sugar, Sugar

I wanna hold your hand                                                     And you got me wanting you

                                      

1970-1979

The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo (Hearbreaker)   KISS - I was Made For Lovin' You

She stuck the pins right in her heart                             Oh, can't get enough, oh, oh
Heart breaker, pain maker                                             I can't get enough, oh, oh
Stole the love right out of your heart                             I can't get enough
Heart breaker, heart breaker                                         Yeah, ha
You stole the love right out of my heart                        Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do
Heart breaker, heart breaker                                        Do, do, do, do, do, do, do
I wanna tear your world apart                                      Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo                           Do, do, do, do, do, do, do
                                                                                  I was made for lovin' you baby
                                                                                  You were made for lovin' me
                                                                                  And I can't get enough of you baby
                                                                                  Can you get enough of me?

                                

1980-1989

White Lion - When Children Cry                             A Flock of Seagulls - I ran

Little Child                                                               I walked along the avenue
Dry your cryin' eyes                                                I never thought I'd meet a girl like you
How can I explain the fear you feel inside                Meet a girl like you
Cause you were born into this evil world                 With auburn hair and tawny eyes
Where man is killin man but no one knows             The kind of eyes that hypnotize me through
What have we become                                           Hypnotize me through
Just look what we have done                                 And I ran, I ran so far away
All that we destroyed you must build again            I just ran, I ran all night and day
When the children cry                                           I couldn't get away
Let them know we tried

                          

1990-1999

Los Del Rio - Macarena                                         Spice Girls - Wannabe

Now don't you worry about my boyfriend                Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want

He's a boy whose name is Vittorino                        So tell me what you want, what you really really want

I don't want him, couldn't stand him                      I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want

He was no good so I ... ha ha ha                           So tell me what you want, what you really really want

Now come on, what was I supposed to do?           I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I really

He was out of town and                                       Really really wanna zigazig ha
His two friends were sooo fine

                                     

2000-2007

Fall Out Boy - Sugar We're Going Down Swinging                  Black Eyed Peas - My Humps

Drop a heart, break a name                                                     What you gon' do with all that junk?
We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team      All that junk inside your trunk?
We're going down, down in an earlier round                             I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk
And Sugar, we're going down swinging                                    Get you love drunk off my hump
I'll be your number one with a bullet                                       My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it                                 My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps