Soothing the Savage Breast With Music

Harry Chapin

Paul Sacco probably does not think of himself as a Renaissance man, and I doubt if he's ever read "The Mourning Bride" written by William Congreve in 1697, but he is certainly doing his musical best to "soften rocks or bend a knotted oak" as Congreve put it. Just to clarify, the first line of that poem is read correctly as " Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast" NOT "beast" as is commonly thought. So much for erudition. Back to Sacco...
Paul Sacco is a municipal court judge in Ft. Lupton, Colorado, and his credo must go something like "Let the punishment fit the crime." (tough love, Dr. Phil might say.) Anyway, he has arrived at an interesting punishment for miscreants hauled before him cited with disturbance of the peace via thumping subwoofers and incredibly loud music emanating from their automobiles as they cruise the streets of Ft. Lupton. The traditional punishment was a $95 fine, but Sacco realized that parents were simply anteing up the cash, and the offenders were not rehabilitated in any way. Not to stereotype these youthful offenders, but I have yet to hear somebody blasting a Toots and the Maytals or Flogging Molly tune from his or her slow-moving boombox on wheels. It's always been something I really didn't care to hear. Sacco felt this way as well. An instrument-playing music lover himself, he decided that music immersion was a novel way to punish offenders.
So, every Friday night, when the modern-day maestros would rather be out socializing and doing immeasurable damage to their inner ears, people convicted of disturbing the peace by way of loud music are ushered into a room in the courthouse and subjected to music of the judge's choice for one hour...at high decibel levels. Musical choices range from the theme from Barney and "All in the Family" (Edith can wreck ANY song), Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs",Bing Crosby, and even Beethoven, whose 9th Symphony is a favorite...but not among those sentenced to hear it. By the end of the hour, the prisoners are almost pleading to be set free, vowing NEVER to be in court again. Apparently, listening to music they don't like at levels not usually heard in elevators CAN be a crime deterrent.
The recidivism rate in Sacco's court is a mere 5%, and the number of disturbance from loud music cases he hears dropped from 56 in 2007 to 20 in all of 2008. That is not to say that all are reformed, but they DO know when loud music is unacceptable.
So, here's your challenge for the day. At about 3 minutes per song, try to pick the 20 songs you'd most HATE to hear played while being forced to listen.
I'll start:
I absolutely cannot stand Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle." I will immediately cross any station off my "favorites" list if I ever hear it. I don't know why, but I hate that song, even at a moderate level. Loud? It would destroy my will to live.
Now it's your turn. Let's hear from you; I'll compile a list from suggestions over the next week or so and let you know.
And remember, it's "sooth the savage breast."

AND, just in case you LIKE that song, here's the url for the video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlHdjjHNEC8