Not necessarily a song but a whole sub-genre: Eurobeat. It started with Running in the 90s and I just went from there to listening and thoroughly enjoying pretty much the whole Initial D soundtrack.
I will still champion “That’s Not My Name” by Ting Tings. It’s a well-crafted pop song that most people miss the “subtlety” (for lack of a better word) of the message. It’s about a woman wanting to be social, but hating all of the poor flirtation in the pick-up scene.
And I never knew it until I had it on an exercise mix and was able to hyper focus on it while trying to zone out in my cadence run. It usually just glossed by as a chippy beat.
Although it's not a comedic song in itself, when the chorus kicks in, the cognitive dissonance of that mismatching voice is funny. But then after 5 listens you are just impressed because it sounds good. And that made me unironically listen to it more and I put it in my playlist, recognizing the depth of the lyrics and that unique feeling of the song.
That's btw 1 of 2 songs from jinjer that are considered outliers and those are the only two that I like by jinjer which is very weird.
I have none that I listened to ironically, I think that's a next generation thing.. but I have plenty that were unavoidably on the radio that I can listen to now with warm nostalgia at the distinct lack of twerking, large asses, and shallow(er) lyrics.
It's not quite what you're asking, but I have had my perspective on a lot of songs changed once I actually looked up their lyrics.
My listening comprehension for music lyrics is piss poor. For any given pop or rock song I'd hear on the radio, maybe 70% of the time I find lyrics unintelligible. Clearly it's skill issue on my part, as the body of music listeners at large seem to have no problems understanding what they're hearing. I don't know how people do it.
Sometimes I'll catch enough words to throw into a search engine and get the song's title and lyrics, and maybe even a short blurb of context. That knowledge alone can make a song go from irritating noise to something I find rather pleasant.
I believe the most recent song I looked up and learned something about was Even Flow by Pearl Jam. It's a song about homelessness. Who knew? Fucking everyone, probably! But not me. For fifteen years all I heard was "FREEEEE-ZIIIIIN'..." and the rest just goes to mush. I also learned Even Flow is a completely different song from Plush by Stone Temple Pilots. The damn radio kept bamboozling me with that similar vocal progression they both have!
Ah well. Better on the bus fifteen years late than never on the bus at all. They say ignorance is bliss, but it's also the source of a lot of undue hatred. I find I hate far fewer songs when I actually understand what they're trying to say (if anything).
Of course, knowing doesn't magically fix all stinkers. I Love It by Icona Pop didn't get any better in my eyes when I found the lyrics for it. I find most pop country songs (which I am unavoidably subject to, living in the American midwest) don't have much novel or interesting to say, either. The closer I look, the more accurate Bo Burnham's Pandering becomes, and I hate it.
I guess the silver lining here is I get to lucky 10,000 my way through many of history's greatest hits. I'm sure many people would give a lot to experience something they like again for the first time. By virtue of my being absurdly late to the party, I get to do it every day.
I'm the same way, most song lyricsare incomprehensible gibberish. So you'll probably recognize this catchy line: "wrapped up like a douche in the middle of the night"
This might be a cop-out, but when I first heard We've Got The Moves, I went into it listening ironically. Was converted before the end of the song, though.
Probably Agenda Suicide by The Faint, because the music belies the dark hopelessness of people working office jobs hoping to achieve the American dream
The theme song from Enterprise (“Where my heart will take me” by Russel Watson). So many Trekkies seem to hate this song but I genuinely love it. I normally skip through the intro songs to most Trek shows but this one I sit through every time (and I have the song in a number of my playlists).
Also Blood and Glitter by Lord of the Lost. Every year I listen to a playlist of Eurovision songs for fun. LOTL have stuck with me (and I’m going to see them live soon!!)
I love the original intro to Enterprise. Is that the one you meant? They changed it to be more "upbeat" or something at some point and I didn't like that version.
People who like to poke fun at things. To make fun of: the music video, the music, the lyrics, how overplayed it is, the fans, the band, etc. Especially when a song bubbles up in the zeitgeist either from lots of radio play or by featuring in some clade of meme.
It's a very stupid song with lyrics that make no sense and are kinda hedonistic, and I hated it when it came out in 2010 because I felt that it somehow "promoted" that lifestyle, but it eventually grew on me and it brings me back to simpler times, now I get the irony of that song.
Because of Fallout New Vegas I got into songs about that like "Blue shadows on the trail" by Roy Rogers and that's like era of cowboy music that fits the theme if that aesthetic, even have a playlist for it, when I Play DayZ
I grew up on hip-hop never thought I'd be hearing this
When I first heard Money Machine by 100 gecs I thought that the intro was funny, but the song was ultimately unlistenable. I'm now a die-hard hyperpop fan.
I dunno, I don't really listen to things I don't enjoy genuinely, unless I'm being polite in someone else's domain
However! There is one specific song that I initially liked because it was so over the top, absurdly silly, but came to enjoy because I like the beat. Muck Sticky, thingy thing
Absolutely absurd song, but the track thumps hard in the car, and I've never lost my love for feeling my organs liquify from bass lol.