Annoying Songs That Shouldn’t Be Played at a Wedding
Music is essential at a wedding, especially at a reception. But some songs are too commonplace or boring and people are tired of listening to them. These are the songs.
This data-driven list from the folks at FiveThirtyEight is populated with common suspects and compiled from the general ban requests filed with wedding DJs. The tasteless tunes you’d expect to hear such as YMCA, Macarena, and Cottoneye Joe. If a song has a stupid dance that somehow makes everyone do it under the pressure of drunken peers, then it is there. However, there are some things you might not expect. “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, for example, is on my personal “don’t play” list, but I didn’t expect to see it here. Here are the 20 most forbidden wedding songs:
- “Chicken Dance”
- “Cha-Cha Slide” – DJ Casper
- Macarena – Los Del Rio
- “Stirring Cupid” – Cupid
- “YMCA” – Villagers
- Electric Boogie – Marcia Griffiths
- “Hockey Pokey”
- “Oscillation” – VIC
- Happy – Pharrell Williams
- The Scream – Isley Brothers
- “Hut of Love” – B-52
- “We are family” – Sister Sanya
- Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke
- “Holiday” – Kool & The Gang
- Joe’s Cotton Eye – Rednex
- The Dancing Queen – ABBA
- “Don’t Stop Believing” – Travel
- “Single Ladies” – Beyoncé
- Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
- “Turn Down for What” – DJ Snake, Lil Jon
Come on, who plays the Hawkeye Pokey at their wedding? Stop it. Whether you are going to get married, want your friend or family member to avoid the trivial reception, or you are a DJ yourself, take note. You can check out FiveThirtyEight’s full list of nearly 50 banned songs here .