Hideous vocalists are also usually barred from studio microphones, so the masses are mostly spared the torment of truly bad singers. Occasionally, a novelty voice will be paired with an infectious tune, and the chemical reaction is very often a stink bomb. Federal criminal law and Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit a voice like Tim's from playing over the public airwaves, but somehow he slipped through the cracks. Now he's a tune on Hell's Jukebox. The element of a song most likely to send it straight to Hades' turntable is the lyrics.
Lyrics can take wrong turns several ways.
Sometimes passion, intensity and a social sensibility can blind one to the utter banality of the lyrics. Go ahead and cheat a friend. I hope we've learned from history that peace requires a mighty big stick. Other times, lyrics go bad due to schlock, psychopathic sentimentality. And finally, if sometimes when you touch the honesty's too much, and you have to hide your eyes and cry, you need therapy, not a recording contract.