Musical triggers: Why do certain songs annoy us?

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There is no universal standard for what constitutes good music. One person’s favourite song might irritate the hell out of somebody else.

Exploring the topic of songs that trigger us in his latest blog, radio writer and consultant Sean Ross admits he personally wasn’t keen on the ‘trap pop’ which he says made it tough sledding for Contemporary Hit Radio, specifically “Busy midtempo-to-slow songs that were sonically aggressive, but not much fun.”

 “I was long out of the CHR demo, so I would have happily conceded that Top 40 just wasn’t for me anymore if this was a sound people loved.”

“But Top 40’s ratings were plummeting in that era, so I wasn’t willing to attribute it to being merely out of touch.”

For Ross, the ‘bottoming out’ moment might have been Never Be the Same by Camila Cabello.

Whilst he likes her as an artist, Ross says he found the song’s top-of-the-range squeaky vocal irritating.

“I didn’t just dislike Never Be the Same. I found it annoying. I had a hard time sitting through it even if I had made a specific choice to listen to whatever station was playing it, particularly while working.”

But he says it’s hard to know what will trigger other people the same way. And if we do already dislike a song, there are certain provocations that can push us over the edge.

“If you don’t like Don’t Bring Me Down by Electric Light Orchestra, whatever the hell they’re trilling on the bridge (Bruce? The made-up word ‘groose’ that they claimed?) makes it unbearable.”

“I like Don’t Bring Me Down. The bridge isn’t my favourite part, but it’s not a stopper either.”

Ross’s readers shared the songs they found annoying – not just songs they didn’t like.

One said they were irked by the global chart topper Dance Monkey by Australia’s Tones & I, citing “the tone of her voice.”

Another mentions register of Mariah Carey as well as the “breathiness” of Billie Eilish.

Over-processing and general noisiness are also cited as irritations.

One reader feels Radioactive by Imagine Dragons is “clipped to the max” to the point where “the whole song sounds dirty.”

Ross says the fact these songs are generating conversation indicates that their provocations worked to some extent.

“So maybe what radio needs now is bouncy, uptempo songs that a lot of people like, but which are just polarising enough to propel them into the national conversation.”

Which song triggers you for all the wrong reasons?