The 10 Worst Songs to Be Playing when You Are Trapped in an Elevator with Strangers

Here's the scenario. It is mid-afternoon on a Tuesday after Labor Day. You have a meeting a few floors up so you get on the elevator with five or six other people. You don't know any of them and so you aren't really paying much attention to your temporary roommates. Then the elevator gets stuck between floors. To make matters worse, the music track is also stuck and is playing the last song you ever want to hear while trapped in an elevator with strangers and it's playing over and over and over.

And that song is...

#10 There Goes My Everything - Englebert Humberdinck
A classic of the 1970s Easy Listening variety, There Goes My Everything pretty much sums up the feeling in the room. Listening to this gem over and over effectively turns frustration into depression and leaves one yearning for Mr. Humberdinck's other big hit, Please Release Me to magically take its place. By the way, the singer's real name is Arnold Dorsey. Pretty dull, right?

# 9 Try Not to Breathe - R.E.M.
Michael Stipe is not known for his uplifting personality and this song is a great example of that. Not the best lyrics for anyone who is even slightly claustrophobic, just listening to" I will try not to breathe. This decision is mine. I have lived a full life" once is miserable. Repeated exposure will bring the cheeriest of the cheery to their knees.

#8 Lean On Me - Bill Withers
The song is about true friendship and brotherhood in difficult times. Unfortunately, if the difficult time is being stuck in an elevator with a bunch of strangers, none of whom you want leaning on you and taking up all of your precious personal space, well...you see the problem.

# 7 Stuck in the Middle With You - Stealer's Wheel
If this song were being judged on American Bandstand, the comments would be "It's a catchy tone. Something I can dance to." and they'd be right. It is catchy, you can dance to it, but you can also go a little bit nuts thinking about how long you are going to be stuck in the middle with Random Guy.

#6 Come A Little Bit Closer - Jay & The Americans
Seriously?

# 5 Knocking on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
Beyond the fact that you will be listening to Bob Dylan whine at you for God knows how long, the idea that you will soon be knocking on Heaven's door should be kept way at the back of your mind. No use getting morbid, right?

#4 It's a Small World (After All) - The Disney Corporation
This song is here because of two very specific reasons. First, it is beyond a doubt the most annoying song in the history of music. It regularly makes the "Most Annoying Songs" lists generated since the tune first hit the airways in 1964. Second, drawing attention to the limited amount of space that you and your fellow travelers are trapped in is not helpful. Really not helpful, at all.

# 3 Love the One You're With - Stephen Stills
This party anthem of the 70s easy lovin' era is a great song. The live version on the Crosby, Stills. Nash & Young album Four Way Street is the best version of the classic tune. However, besides the obvious problem with the theme considering the situation you are in, the bridge is a Category 5 ear worm. Do do do do do do do do, do do do do do do do do, do do do do do do do do, do do do, do do do.

# 2 And When I Die - Blood, Sweat & Tears
What an uplifting tune to have playing in the soundtrack of your mind while you patiently wait to be released from the hell of an elevator stuck between floors with a bunch of strangers who are now sweating profusely, crying big buckets of tears, and will soon be bleeding from the nose if they don't stop singing along with the freaking music!

#1 - Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Whether voiced or not, you know that this is the number one fear in everyone's mind right now. But don't worry. If you jump right before the elevator car hits the ground, you won't die. Okay, on three...

Sources: www.songlyrics.com; www.elyrics.net/