The song is number one on Rolling Stone best songs of the past decade.

It's in every top ten list of most magazines...

Was a success, yet, I still don't know why it's regarded as one of the best songs of all time?

Does anyone know?

to answer your question, No, not overrated. it was successsul but if i recall did not top the Hot 100 (#2). it caught on because its extremely catchy yet not cheesy. the lyrics (like lots of Cee-Lo's stuff) are personal, cerebral, observant, yet still somewhat universal. the production was on point, the appeal of Gnarls at the time, an unlikely mash-up of a group had mad buzz & defied genres or sonic expectations. the perfect storm. great pop song indeed.

datdude said:

to answer your question, No, not overrated. it was successsul but if i recall did not top the Hot 100 (#2). it caught on because its extremely catchy yet not cheesy. the lyrics (like lots of Cee-Lo's stuff) are personal, cerebral, observant, yet still somewhat universal. the production was on point, the appeal of Gnarls at the time, an unlikely mash-up of a group had mad buzz & defied genres or sonic expectations. the perfect storm. great pop song indeed.

Are you still mad about him not giving enough credit to Bruno for fuck you?

All joking aside though. This, along with Hey Ya! are the 2 songs of the 00's that everyone loved. It was the mash up of soulful vocals, hip-hop production, and mixing of genres.

No song has come out since Crazy or Hey Ya! that i have seen anyways. That the rock kids love, the pop kids, the country kids, the hipsters, my mom, grandparents etc. I know friends who hate hip-hop and r&B but if this song comes on... they will get down.

This song was an important one in my generation. And for my generation i would say it deserves all the praise it gets.

Gunsnhalen said:

Are you still mad about him not giving enough credit to Bruno for fuck you?

All joking aside though. This, along with Hey Ya! are the 2 songs of the 00's that everyone loved. It was the mash up of soulful vocals, hip-hop production, and mixing of genres.

No song has come out since Crazy or Hey Ya! that i have seen anyways. That the rock kids love, the pop kids, the country kids, the hipsters, my mom, grandparents etc. I know friends who hate hip-hop and r&B but if this song comes on... they will get down.

This song was an important one in my generation. And for my generation i would say it deserves all the praise it gets.

Yep. Its interesting that Crazy and Hey Ya, the two most recognizable pop songs of the 00s came from rap artists.

lrn36 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Are you still mad about him not giving enough credit to Bruno for fuck you?

All joking aside though. This, along with Hey Ya! are the 2 songs of the 00's that everyone loved. It was the mash up of soulful vocals, hip-hop production, and mixing of genres.

No song has come out since Crazy or Hey Ya! that i have seen anyways. That the rock kids love, the pop kids, the country kids, the hipsters, my mom, grandparents etc. I know friends who hate hip-hop and r&B but if this song comes on... they will get down.

This song was an important one in my generation. And for my generation i would say it deserves all the praise it gets.

Yep. Its interesting that Crazy and Hey Ya, the two most recognizable pop songs of the 00s came from rap artists.

True! but idk... i have always seen them both more than rap. Outkast blended lots of genres together and had a unique sound. And Cee-Lo has a strong, soulful voice. I see him more as a singer nowadays... but his time with Goodie Mob is not to be forgotten

Amazing song. Very fond memories.

-----

There are many hip-hop artists that can also make wonderful melodic, soulful music. Outkast and Cee-Lo are among them, but also Frank Ocean... And I'm not a fan of Kanye West, but his album 808 & Heartbreak is really great.

It's not "one of the best songs of all time", but it came out during a period when it seemed like no one was able to come up with melodies like that anymore. It sounded like a classic song from the past decades, but it also managed to sound really modern somehow.

I, and many others, thought It really stood out at the time. I never bought the album, but hearing that song even today still gives some hope that simply writing a good song and tastefully producing it will get it to the top of the charts.

It's an excellent song. "Overrated"? I wouldn't say that.

lrn36 said:

Thanks for responding everybody

Yeah, I see you Gunsnhalen, I think nobody nowadays can write such song, with a crossover appeal, and send it to all formats on radio and gain all audiences, even tho Gotye did it with Somebody That I Used to Know... it was big.

Anywho I just figured out that the Rolling Stone list was mainly based on HITS not actually SONGS in terms of production/lyrics... Like, Crazy In Love which I love was involved in top ten, which is Crazy, the song was big, it's a cultural aspect of Beyoncé's holy moly legacy, but top ten? Even Pitchfork decided to list that... Well, that means that the 2010s best songs according to magazines will be full of "We Found Love"-ish songs, or Call Me Maybe.

novabrkr I think you're def right, It's based on this Spaghetti Western melodie, from a 60's picture, I think Danger Mouse' production made it catchy & modern.. The chorus is also easy to remember.

Well, I had this on my mind all the time, I just thought maybe there is another reason for it to become so popular/praised by critics....

When I read this thread yesterday I immediately thought that this song and Hey Ya are by far the best songs that were huge hits of all hits of that period of time. I sure don't see it as overrated.

Shawy89 said:

Thanks for responding everybody

Yeah, I see you Gunsnhalen, I think nobody nowadays can write such song, with a crossover appeal, and send it to all formats on radio and gain all audiences, even tho Gotye did it with Somebody That I Used to Know... it was big.

Anywho I just figured out that the Rolling Stone list was mainly based on HITS not actually SONGS in terms of production/lyrics... Like, Crazy In Love which I love was involved in top ten, which is Crazy, the song was big, it's a cultural aspect of Beyoncé's holy moly legacy, but top ten? Even Pitchfork decided to list that... Well, that means that the 2010s best songs according to magazines will be full of "We Found Love"-ish songs, or Call Me Maybe.

novabrkr I think you're def right, It's based on this Spaghetti Western melodie, from a 60's picture, I think Danger Mouse' production made it catchy & modern.. The chorus is also easy to remember.

Well, I had this on my mind all the time, I just thought maybe there is another reason for it to become so popular/praised by critics....

ugh i hate Call Me Maybe so damn much. But i sadly can't deny it's impact... that song took the world, youtube, and parodies by storm. Man... that was the most overplayed song of summer 2012

Shawy89 said:

Thanks for responding everybody

Yeah, I see you Gunsnhalen, I think nobody nowadays can write such song, with a crossover appeal, and send it to all formats on radio and gain all audiences, even tho Gotye did it with Somebody That I Used to Know... it was big.

Anywho I just figured out that the Rolling Stone list was mainly based on HITS not actually SONGS in terms of production/lyrics... Like, Crazy In Love which I love was involved in top ten, which is Crazy, the song was big, it's a cultural aspect of Beyoncé's holy moly legacy, but top ten? Even Pitchfork decided to list that... Well, that means that the 2010s best songs according to magazines will be full of "We Found Love"-ish songs, or Call Me Maybe.

novabrkr I think you're def right, It's based on this Spaghetti Western melodie, from a 60's picture, I think Danger Mouse' production made it catchy & modern.. The chorus is also easy to remember.

Well, I had this on my mind all the time, I just thought maybe there is another reason for it to become so popular/praised by critics....

Gotye was popular in mainstream circles. Somebody I used to know was not "crossover" but rather accepted in mainstream circles. Ask hip-hop heads or R&B heads about this song and a lot of them wouldn't know it. That is a classic example of a song overexposed. I liked it. I'm not trashing the song AT ALL. I'm just saying that there was an all out effort to media bomb the public with it. I also think that was the case for Crazy but Crazy was a crossover hit. It was a teaming up of two popular artists from two different genres and it didn't come off as forced or contrived. I think that was part of the success of their musical match up.

Yeah the same goes for Gangam Style, I can't stand these songs, too bad magazines will have to list them years from now, and people will look at those songs as "classics"...

In 80's, the most famous songs were Billie Jean & When Doves Cry, while now all the famous songs are probably EDM-based tracks with no original sound.. see how the value of the term "famous song" is now related to a bad song...

BlaqueKnight said:

Shawy89 said:

Thanks for responding everybody

Yeah, I see you Gunsnhalen, I think nobody nowadays can write such song, with a crossover appeal, and send it to all formats on radio and gain all audiences, even tho Gotye did it with Somebody That I Used to Know... it was big.

Anywho I just figured out that the Rolling Stone list was mainly based on HITS not actually SONGS in terms of production/lyrics... Like, Crazy In Love which I love was involved in top ten, which is Crazy, the song was big, it's a cultural aspect of Beyoncé's holy moly legacy, but top ten? Even Pitchfork decided to list that... Well, that means that the 2010s best songs according to magazines will be full of "We Found Love"-ish songs, or Call Me Maybe.

novabrkr I think you're def right, It's based on this Spaghetti Western melodie, from a 60's picture, I think Danger Mouse' production made it catchy & modern.. The chorus is also easy to remember.

Well, I had this on my mind all the time, I just thought maybe there is another reason for it to become so popular/praised by critics....

Gotye was popular in mainstream circles. Somebody I used to know was not "crossover" but rather accepted in mainstream circles. Ask hip-hop heads or R&B heads about this song and a lot of them wouldn't know it. That is a classic example of a song overexposed. I liked it. I'm not trashing the song AT ALL. I'm just saying that there was an all out effort to media bomb the public with it. I also think that was the case for Crazy but Crazy was a crossover hit. It was a teaming up of two popular artists from two different genres and it didn't come off as forced or contrived. I think that was part of the success of their musical match up.

Never said SIUTK was crossover but It was big that it was sent to all radio formats, which is known nowadays as a crossover hit, but its not a crossover song musically.

And you're right about everything you said.

[Edited 11/18/13 9:06am]

I think the first Gnarls Barkley album is brilliant from start to finish. Crazy is definitely a highlight. Love the strings.

It's just that 2006 is a little too early to be reflecting and appreciating like that. Certainly it was one of the best hits of last decade.

It was probably one of the few 00's tunes that caught on with my parents too!

PoorLonelyComputer said:

Absolutely not, "Crazy" is a timeless classic that will live forever. The entire first album is a classic in fact. I miss Gnarls Barkley and can't wait for their next album.

It's a decent song, but this will never happen.

datdude said:

I kinda think yes because I love the song but on the same album which I love by the way there were better tracks in my opinion..

Gunsnhalen said:

lrn36 said:

Yep. Its interesting that Crazy and Hey Ya, the two most recognizable pop songs of the 00s came from rap artists.

True! but idk... i have always seen them both more than rap. Outkast blended lots of genres together and had a unique sound. And Cee-Lo has a strong, soulful voice. I see him more as a singer nowadays... but his time with Goodie Mob is not to be forgotten

did you listen to the new goodie mob album that was released this year? I don't ..yet ..I heard only the single with Janelle.. I heard around it wasn't bad...

Roses was bigger than Hey Ya

Sandino said:

Roses was bigger than Hey Ya

On what planet?

Empress said:

3rdeyedude said:

datdude said:

to answer your question, No, not overrated. it was successsul but if i recall did not top the Hot 100 (#2). it caught on because its extremely catchy yet not cheesy. the lyrics (like lots of Cee-Lo's stuff) are personal, cerebral, observant, yet still somewhat universal. the production was on point, the appeal of Gnarls at the time, an unlikely mash-up of a group had mad buzz & defied genres or sonic expectations. the perfect storm. great pop song indeed.

Exactly. I dont think its overrated. Yet, both Gnarls albums being great, I think their songs are a bit too short, many of them are merely 3 minutes or less.

By the way, I think their song SMILEY FACES is UNDERRATED.

Gunsnhalen said:

Are you still mad about him not giving enough credit to Bruno for fuck you?

I love rnb, I love soul, I love 60s music, I love doo wop, yet all these references are in that Fuck You song, which I think is veeeeery MEH. It does nothing for me (and I liked the Lady Killer album). Maybe Im not into Bruno, the writer of the song. I think Grenade is cool, but the rest... When I Was Your Man is simply tacky and embarrasing. Cant figure out how it was a success.

[Edited 12/12/13 12:57pm]