During a recent interview with Kerrang!, Grammy-winning artist St. Vincent, known off-stage as Annie Clark, didn’t mince words when discussing what she considers the “worst song ever written.”
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Her choice? John Mayer’s 2003 hit, “Daughters.”
“It’s just so hideously sexist, but it pretends to be a love song,” St. Vincent told the British heavy music title. “It’s really, really retrograde and really sexist. And I hate it… It’s so deeply misogynistic, which would be fine if you owned that, but it pretends like it’s sweet.”
St. Vincent’s critique seems to zero in on the song’s lyrics, which advise fathers to “be good to your daughters” to ensure smoother relationships for men in the future.
Despite St. Vincent’s critique, it’s worth noting that “Daughters” was well-received at the time of its release.
The song earned Mayer a Grammy Award for song of the year in 2005, beating out the likes of Alicia Keys and Kanye West. It also topped Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart and reached No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
In the same interview, St. Vincent spoke far more warmly about other songs that shaped her musical journey.
She fondly mentioned Steely Dan’s “Fire in the Hole,” reminiscing about long car rides filled with their music. She also praised Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ “Into My Arms,” calling it a “perfect love song.” But when it came to Mayer’s “Daughters,” there was no such nostalgia or admiration.
The revelation comes amid the release of St. Vincent’s latest album, All Born Screaming, which dropped in April.
“It’s about life and death and love,” she told Billboard in June. “And that’s it.”
“Every record I’ve ever made has been so personal about what’s going on in my life at any given time. I’m queer. I know how to code-switch. The idea of identity as performance has been very clear to me since I was a child… I’m queer, I’m living in multitudes, but this record in particular is not about persona or deconstruction.”
