Ten Pop Songs That Make Me Cringe: Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) (#6)

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It's time for another one of those songs that just make me reach for the barf bag. I started listing my least favorites on the heels of a great series by @JohnRoberts who posted his 12 songs he loves to hate (all classic rock staples, as were my first ten). Now I'm going for the more "pop" songs (and country music is yet to come). Here's the next song. #6: Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) - Rod Stewart If you check your calendar you'll see today is national "pick on Rod Stewart day." Not really, but @teamfreak16 's entry today on songs he can't stand is the grossly overplayed "Maggie May," which wasn't even the best song on that 45 (the B-side was the great Tim Hardin song "Reason to Believe"). I'd listen to a 24/7 loop of that song before ever having to get past the opening notes of this song again. In fact, this song was so immensely popular in 1976-77 (when it was number one for eight weeks) that I got to recognize that opening riff and could get the station changed before the fifth note. I'd be a wiz at "Name That Tune," because I could sure name that one quickly...and get rid of it! Why was this filthy song so popular? Part of it was just that: it was filthy. Lines like "spread your wings and let me come inside" and "don't say a word, my virgin child" (the latter of which was particularly disgusting....I mean, this isn't "I took her love at 17, a little late these days it seems" from Led Zeppelin's "Hot Dog"!) made a lot of radio stations decide they weren't going to play it. And, as they say, there's nothing like a protest or a ban to give something a lot of attention. According to Picky Wedia, one of the things the female voice says at the end is, "What will mama say?," reinforcing the implication that he meant it when he said "virgin child." But beyond the feeling that you need a shower after listening to this, it's just a horrid song. If he'd been singing about the weather ("It's spring today, gonna be okay") I still wouldn't like it. I don't necessarily dislike Stewart, although (as both John and Scott pointed out in their separate discussions on "Maggie May") his gravely voice is an acquired taste. I think Stewart has done some good music his career (I love "The Killing of Georgie," a true story song about a man who was stabbed to death in New York). This isn't one of his highlights. This is too low to even be a "lowlight." Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) Written by Rod Stewart Recorded by Rod Stewart From A Night on the Town, 1976 Also from that album is the great "The Killing of Georgie," which echoes Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" as it tells about a gay man who left home for New York and was murdered (based on a true story):