As a male in my mid 30s there can be a lot of shame associated with liking certain songs. Nobody wants to be the guy busting at the seams when Cher’s “Believe” comes on the radio (that’s not me) but that guy is probably out there. There are songs that I’ll simply never be ashamed to say I like that may get me a little grief at the bar or the water cooler so I’ve compiled a list of 5 shameless songs along with a little reasoning.

5. Hootie & The Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be With You”

Why this song sucks: Everybody loved Hootie for about 3 months then wanted them to go away forever. The very sound of Darius Rucker’s voice on this overplayed hit makes most people’s stomach turn now. The band instantly became the punchline to tons of jokes and I still don’t really see why.

Why this song doesn’t suck: It’s a very well written song, it’s what pop-rock should be. Rucker also references Bob Dylan multiple times which is always cool. The lyric “Ain’t Bobby so cool?” gives me a sinister smile every time. I’m not ashamed, I’ll sing along to this one if it ever gets out of radio play purgatory.

4. Cumbawamba – “Tubthumping”

Why this song sucks: It’s a gimmick, although an unintentional one. The big hookey chorus that gets repeated over and over and the sweet female vocals as a refrain are nice and gentle on the ears. It can be annoying for sure, hearing it in it’s prime when it got played on the radio a lot was probably torture looking back.

Why this song doesn’t suck: It’s fun. Chumbawamba isn’t a shitty flash in the pan either, they are a cool punkish band that are heavy on politics and have put together a career spanning 4 decades. Their big hit seems to almost be an accident and it’s a cool song when played at minimally.

3. Garth Brooks – “If Tomorrow Never Comes”

Why this song sucks: Garth Brooks sings it. As Waylon Jennings once said: “Garth Brooks did for country music what panty hoes did for finger fucking.” I think that sums up Garth and his music for the most part. He sings with little feeling and seems to concentrate on “sounding country” rather than being genuine.

Why this song doesn’t suck: Garth didn’t really write it and it’s a kick ass song. Sure Brooks gets a writing credit but that seems shady to me, I think the “idea” was his and and someone else wrote the words. It was really written by a guy named Kent Blazy and it is a flat out beautiful song. The words are heavy and true, plus… it’s gotten a lot of guys laid.

2. Limp Bizkit – “Break Stuff”

Why this song sucks: It’s Limp Bizkit, the most butt of all of the butt-rock bands ever. The pompous attitude, the backwards hat, the whole image of the group was just disgusting. The song’s lyrics aren’t very good (no surprise there) and singer Fred Durst likes dropping in cuss words as often as possible to show how cool he is.

Why this song doesn’t suck: The guitar riff to start the song is straight-up sick. The songs is a good aggression song, when you’re having a bad day just crank up this shitty early 2000s butt rock and let it go.

1. Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”

Why this song sucks: It doesn’t.

Why this song doesn’t suck: I don’t care if it is by the American Idol girl or whatever, I know a great song when I hear it. The lyrics are good, the hook is phenomenal, it even rocks. I don’t view it as that far from a punk song actually. I love pointing out to unbelievers how good this song actually is. Turn it up, it’s killer.