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4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

4 Times a Cringey 2000s Hit Was Actually a Perfect Pop Song

What perfections are these 2000s hits hiding underneath all our tainted memories of overplayed cringe?

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The 2000s were the premier decade for cheesy, cringey pop songs. Specifically, the early 2000s had some of the best. These four songs saturated the airwaves, the malls, and the charts. But underneath all that cheese, they had real potential.

“Wherever You Will Go” by The Calling

“Wherever You Will Go” was the lead single on The Calling’s debut album, Camino Palermo, released in 2001. This was their biggest hit single, and it played everywhere for a while in the early 2000s. “Wherever You Will Go” saturated the mall food court with cheesy light-rock sentiment. But underneath all that, it was a touching rumination on losing a partner after a long relationship.

The lyrics were inspired by a moment in songwriter Aaron Kamin’s real life, where his grandmother’s best friend died and left behind her husband of 50 years. Unfortunately, the heartfelt core of “Wherever You Will Go” was smothered by its........

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