Album: Knee Deep In The Hoopla
Video: From YouTube.
Twenty years after their original formation as Jefferson Airplane, the band Starship ascended to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “We Built This City”. Nearly thirty years following that, confusion surrounds the song: is it awesome or horrible?
In 1985, I was firmly in the “awesome” camp. I heartily enjoyed Starship’s bold architectural claim. I delighted in the triumphant chorus, the brazenly ridiculous lyrics, the nonsensical video, and the cheerful radio DJ insert. Americans at large held a similar point of view, if the lofty #2 position on the MTV video countdown can be believed.
But popular opinion turned against this song over the years. In 2011, a Rolling Stone reader’s poll voted it as the worst song of the 80s by a landslide. And in 2004, the now-defunct Blender magazine ranked it as the worst song EVER.
If you google "we built this city worst song", many relevant websites will be returned. The vehement hatred expressed by many posters on message boards is alarming. I will admit that the song is difficult to listen to today. I guess some things just don't stand up to the test of time.
The video is sheer madness. Huge dice chasing people through the streets of Las Vegas, paying tribute at the Lincoln Memorial, plenty of mugging by Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick. It ends with the band and assorted hangers on rejoicing atop a huge scaffold overlooking a mashup of major American city skylines.
In the final analysis, “We Built This City” has my respect. Sure it’s kitsch, but Jefferson Starship (or whatever they’re called) really went for it. You gotta admire that.
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