Weirdest Songs Ever + Playlist

SongsBrew Editorial

Always space for the weird

weirder; weirdest

Synonyms of weird

1 : of strange or extraordinary character: ODD, FANTASTIC

In this case, we are going with the fantastic, peculiar, remarkable, and curious, ‘cause in a sea of cookie-cutter pop, weird is awesome.

What would the world of music be without a full spectrum of sound? Boring. Painfully so. Beyond the polished gloss of mainstream pop, past even the gravel-choked growls of the heaviest metal, and well past Weird Al or The Wurzels… lies something else. A realm where the line between genius and garbage is thin, slippery, and we’re going to jump in.

Sometimes it's art. Sometimes it's... a crime on the ears. The difference between weird and bad becomes nothing, and in some cases, these songs are proudly both.

But that’s exactly what makes them unforgettable. Or at least, shareable in their oddness.

Perhaps a nice reminder that music doesn’t have to be likable to be fascinating. In some cases, it can just be creation for the love of it. Or at least, we hope they enjoyed making it, cause listening to it is a different matter.

So this week, we’re venturing into the strange, from the deeply experimental to the delightfully odd.

If you press play on this playlist and ask yourself, ‘What on earth is this?’ that is the point.

What is weird music?

Like everything in music, it is subjective. What is odd to you, or us, might be someone else’s most-played track of the year. Odd music sits in an interesting place; it can purposely break every ‘rule’ of what makes something listenable, or stick to them with such precision, but have something off-key, out of time, or notiably unsettling to your ear. Does it mean there is no skill? No.

While there are planty of impressive things about music designed to make you feel off-balance, it isn’t the lack of skill… usually. Although a listen through D.O.A., the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle might leave you wondering if any skill was involved.

We’ve spoken about The Shaggs being so bad they loop right back around into good in the Worst Albums Ever article, so enjoy My Pal Foot Foot on our playlist. Scott Walker started in the commercially successful Walker Brothers, and slid to the opposite side of commercial and produced unconventional (mild way of putting it) albums. Corps de Blah is on the playlist; much of his work was described as polarizing and difficult.

Then we have 4.33, John Cage - a purposeful silence (of sorts). Critics discuss this track at length. Interesting in its oddness, because the point of it is that while hitting play may only give silence, you have sound around you, in this case, a range of coughing and audience sounds, and clapping at the end, which is then classed as the music. Genius? Pretentious? Weird? The same John Cage created As Slow As Possible. Already playing for over 20 years, the final note is due to chime in 2640.

All for the love of it

But here’s the thing about weird music: it exists simply because someone thought it up and went with it. Not to please the algorithm that we feed off all the time. Not to climb charts, unless there are ones for odd music. Viral probably wasn’t even a thought.

Just to be is enough.

There’s something quite radical about that, in a numbers world. About making something for the love of it, just the doing of it. For the thrill of creating, even if it ends up confusing, confronting, and only getting one stream a month.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway?

In a world salivating over crisp, polished playlists and predictability, weird music reminds us that expression doesn’t have to be perfect to matter. Maybe we should be actively seeking out stuff that feels awkward or odd and challenging our listening.

Some (most) of these artists will never play Wembley Stadium. Their songs might never go viral unless they become a meme or a cult favorite. But they made something, it is out there. And that is pretty cool.

So, whether you love it, hate it, or still don’t know what to feel (same here for some of these songs), there’s value in listening and trying something odd. In remembering that music, like people, is at its best when it’s allowed to be a little strange. And we’re at our best when we let that weirdness be.

At the very least, when you have finished with the weird playlist, your ears will be begging for the stuff you love the most - a nice refresh for you.

A Final Note

Until next time,