Say Say Say and other tracks you like that get universally panned by the critics and/or fans

So this post in inspired by reading the Rolling Stone review of the Pipes of Peace (and Tug of War) remaster--when I went to their site to check out the Lennon 75th celebration (that is invisible in the mobile version).

Anyway, in the Pipes of Peace review they again took a pot shot at Say Say Say, and I routinely hear that...

I just don't get it....

I really like Say Say Say (I didn't know the Beatles or Macca etc as a kid--I found them in the 90s--but I remember this tune as a kid and I liked it then too.

I think it's catchy, has an interesting melody, and blends the Macca and Michael Jackson styles well.

It's one of the highlights from Paul's rather difficult to love 1980's decade, and to me far better than the corny schmaltzy "the [doggone] girl is mine" or "ebony and ivory".

Of course the original 1980's video is ridiculously cheesy, but I didn't see that until maybe the 2000's...

I'll leave you with this remastered version from YouTube....

But why don't you say say say nominate another song that gets universally derided but you can't fathom why--or chat about say say say....

 

It's a bland, pandering, bit of tripe conceived and executed to cash in -- and it's made even more cynical by how its release was timed to hitch a ride on Michael Jackson's rising star. So I guess I can fathom why people think this record is sort of gross.

 

It's a terrific single compared to The Girl Is Mine!

 

Actually, 'The Girl is Mine" is my pick for this thread.

 

I wish I could like that post more than once.

Abso-*******lutely!

 

A few others that I've listed in threads like this one:

Hungry Heart
Dancing in the Dark
Shiny Happy People
Radio Song
Island Girl
My Name is Prince

 

I like Say Say Say. Great classic video.

 

I was never a fan of Michael Jackson (I did like Beat It and Billie Jean) and I didn't give a rat's ass about McCartney in the 80's but I've always liked this song.

 

While I'm a huge Macca fanboy, Say3 was near the bottom of my list of his catalog. Having listened/watched the new video, I thought it sounded fresh and surprisingly undated. Still near the bottom of the pile for me, but it's better than I remembered it.

 

whine whine whine

 

Say, Say,Say is still a great song and record production. Talented players, and the lot. Creative video and huge success as a single. They hate us cuz they ain't us!

 

F*** the haters, song kicks ass.

Now the rest of the album......

 

I can watch the video if it happens to come on, would never listen to it on it's own.

 

And The Girl is Mine is Michael Jackson trying to hitch a ride on a Beatle. Say, Say, Say was payback

 

Michael & Paul - The Girl Is Mine
Beatles - Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Coldplay - Clocks
David Bowie - Too Dizzy
Radiohead - Creep
Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
Rolling Stones - Miss You
The Who - Squeeze Box

 

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

 

Song blows whether you **** the haters or not. Pipes of Peace was the first time I was embarrassed to be a McCartney fan (but not the last)

 

You like 'em or you don't like it. Other than that, who cares? You are not in High School anymore. I'll check the reviews to see what type of steak and / or beer I'll have tonight. I hope "they" approve of my taste or I won't be able to sleep tonight.

 

I loved "Say Say Say" when it came out. I listed to it over and over. Pipes of Peace was the first McCartney album I was fully aware of when it was happening. I picked up "Say Say Say" in October 1983. I liked Michael Jackson as well, but I was a far bigger Beatles and McCartney fan.

All these years later, I still like "Say Say Say". It's not fine art, but it's certainly the type of pop-songwriting that made Paul rich, and which largely abandoned him in later years. I think "Say Say Say" follows in the tradition of songs going as far back as "Hello Goodbye"; songs that mean nothing, aren't particularly artful, but are clever and great hooks, with all of the hallmarks of great pop songwriting. I'd throw stuff like "Come And Get It", "Another Day", "Listen To What The Man Said", "With A Little Luck" in the same group. Clever, even intoxicating, but mostly the work of a great craftsman. I wish Paul had not lost this element in his writing. He never hit on anything as catchy as "Say Say Say" again, IMO.

 

That's about the only Springsteen song I really like. I dig the early '60s vibe.

 

I absolutely love this song, but I was born in 1987, well after the song was a hit. It is my favorite on this album by far, but when it came on at a beach party, normal 80s music fans said it was the worst song on the playlist. Not sure why, it was a huge hit and to me, is Paul's 2nd greatest single of the 80s after No More Lonely Nights.

 

Would've been a shame if he gave it away like originally planned until Little Stevie & Jon Landau stepped in and said NO. I would recommend listening to Sherry Darling as well from the same album.

 

Rolling In The Deep

 

I like Obladi-Oblada, Afternoon Delight, We Built This City, Wildfire, even Disco Duck (eventually), and a few other popular un-favourites. I'm surprised to see Radiohead's Creep listed in the thread ...

The only song I've seen here thus far that I really hate is Squeeze Box.