Welcome to the Ultimate Rejection Playlist!

May 12, 2026May 15, 2026admin 1 Comment

Bessie Smith, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (1929)

Lotte Lenya, “Pirate Jenny” (role created 1928, 1966 recording)

1930s

Louis Armstrong, “You Rascal You (I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead)” (1932)

Ethel Waters, “Stormy Weather” (1933)

Georgia White, “I’ll Keep Sittin’ On It” (1936)

Billie Holiday, “God Bless the Child” (1939)

1940s

Édith Piaf, “Tu es partout” (1943)

Lefty Frizzell, “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time” (1950)

Maria Callas, Madama Butterfly, Act 2: “Un bel dì vedremo” (1956)

Little Richard, “Lucille” (1957)

11.
Elvis Presley, “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)

Ritchie Valens, “Donna” (1958)

1960s

13.
Ray Charles & The Raelettes, “Hit The Road Jack” (1961)

Patsy Cline, “Crazy” (1961)

The Shirelles, “Mama Said” (1961)

Ben E. King, “Don’t Play That Song” (1962)

Danielle Licari, Les parapluies de Cherbourg, “Devant le garage/I Will Wait For You” (1964)

Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam” (1964)

Lesley Gore, “You Don’t Own Me” (1964)

Bob Dylan, “It Ain’t Me Babe” (1964)

Otis Redding, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (1965)

The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)

24.
Chuck Berry, “Lonely School Days” (1966)

Dusty Springfield, “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” (1966)

26.
Joni Mitchell, “Just Like Me” (1966)

June Carter Cash & Johnny Cash, “Jackson” (1967)

Loretta Lynn, “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin'” (1967)

Jefferson Airplane, “Somebody to Love” (1967)

Aretha Franklin, “Chain of Fools” (1967)

The Velvet Underground, “Pale Blue Eyes” (1969)

John Lennon, “God” (1970)

The Temptations, “War” (1970)

Carole King, “It’s Too Late” (1971)

Hildegard Knef, “Holiday Time” (1971)

Harry Nilsson, “Without You” (1971)

Carly Simon, “You’re So Vain” (1972)

The Supremes, “Bad Weather” (1973)

Jeanette, “Porque te vas” (1974)

Linda Ronstadt, “When Will I Be Loved” (1974)

Dolly Parton, “I Will Always Love You” (1974)

Eric Carmen, “All By Myself” (1975)

Patti Smith, “Gloria” (1975)

Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time” (1983)

Grandmaster Melle Mel, “White Lines” (1983)

Sonic Youth, “Protect Me You” (1983)

Air Supply, “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” (1983)

74.
Tina Turner, “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (1984)

Wham!, “Last Christmas” (1984)

Prince & the Revolution, “When Doves Cry” (1984)

The Smiths, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” (1984)

Phil Collins, “Against All Odds” (1984)

Menudo, “If You’re Not Here” (1984)

Sun Ra & his Arkestra, “Nuclear War” (1984)

Depeche Mode, “Shake the Disease” (1985)

Fishbone, “Ugly” (1985)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (1985)

85.
Kavita Krishnamurthy & Shabbir Kumar, “Tumse Milkar Na Jane” (1985)

86.
‘Til Tuesday, “Voices Carry” (1985)

Salt ‘N’ Pepa, ‘Tramp (Remix)” (1986)

R.E.M., “Cuyahoga” (1986)

Bon Jovi, “You Give Love A Bad Name” (1986)

Janet Jackson, “Nasty” (1986)

Frances Ruffelle, Les Misèrables, “On My Own” (1987)

Suzanne Vega, “Luka” (1987)

Indigo Girls, “Walk Away” (1987)

U2, “With Or Without You” (1987)

Madonna, “Papa Don’t Preach” (1987)

Public Enemy, “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos” (1988)

Pixies, “Something Against You” (1988)

Queen Latifah, “Wrath of My Madness” (1988)

Tracy Chapman, “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” (1988)

De La Soul, “Me Myself and I (With Intro)” (1989)

Cher, “If I Could Turn Back Time” (1989)

LL COOL J, “Big Ole Butt” (1989)

Biz Markie, “Just A Friend” (1989)

The Cure, “Pictures Of You” (1989)

1990s

Wu-Tang Clan, “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit” (1993)

Ludacris, ft. Mystikal, I-20, “Move Bitch” (2001)

Keke Palmer, “Sorry To This Man” (2019)

2020s

GAME RULES!

Would you like to play the game? You may nominate your own Rejection & Acceptance songs to be added to the Ultimate Rejection Playlist! BUT… In order to nominate a song, you MUST simultaneously reject one already on the list, then win FOUR votes for your nomination to be voted into the playlist!

RULES:
1. Gameplay happens in the comments/discussion at the bottom of this post. You may up- or down-vote other choices and/or comment.

2. The playlist may include only one song from each principal artist, because some people just specialize in rejection (I’m looking at you, PJ Harvey). Who counts as principal artist: e.g., Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child may each appear separately, AND Beyoncé can be a featured artist on a different principal’s song. You may vote laterally, though, to bounce “Flawless” in favor of “Hold Up.”

3. Your nomination will automatically earn 2 out of the 4 votes necessary for installation in the list! But you must earn 2 more points from at least two more upvotes!

AND…

4. You can win a bonus vote by identifying a song from the book that isn’t already on the list! You can win a bonus vote by including any song that has a relevant permutation of the word “reject”!

5. But…you’ll receive one downvote each time your nomination + rejection combo:

makes the list whiter and/or more male and/or brings in more S.A.!
eliminates a 21st-century song for a song 20+ years older but less than 67 years older!
rejects a song that I’ve alluded to in my book! or a song with the word “reject”!

Now you know what you shouldn’t reject. But what should you accept here? Who knows?! Good luck!

THE CITY OF THIS LADY: A BOOK BLOG

July 23, 2015admin