Somewhat inspired by David Schmader’s post about “squick songs,” I want to discuss those inexplicably adorable tunes by artists on whom you normally wouldn’t piss if they were on fire. I’m talking about musicians who stir up irrational bile in you just by the mere mention of their name, but who somehow created that one song you secretly dig the shit out of. File it under shameful pleasures (this goes beyond guilty—and yes, I know some of you scorn the entire concept of guilty pleasures with regard to music; just play along for now, okay?).

Mine is below. I have no use for Styx. Their overblown stadium nerf-rock for poodleheaded fules was anathema to me during the band's heyday and life's too short to revisit them for a revision. However, hearing "Lorelei" by chance in the old Cha Cha in 2006 stunned me into appreciation for a song I'd probably heard and quickly clicked off on the radio dozens of times.

But I had an epiphany that night. Styx wowed me with the way "Lorelei" builds anticipation with those plinky Phil Glass for Dummies synths and then accelerates into that damnably catchy, uproarious chorus, finally zooming into the stratosphere with the realization that you've found the person with whom you want to live forever.

"Lorelei" is trite ("Her eyes become a paradise"—blech), yeah, and I feel as if I've eaten an entire wedding cake after hearing it, but, damn, the layered vocals and ascending chord progression erode my long-simmering Styx hatred and force me to put this shit on repeat.

Which song by a band whom you loathe do you love, against your better judgment?