Title Fight: "We Were Wrong"

Photo of wallpaper designer Vera Newman by Yale Joel from the LIFE magazine collection, c. 1965

Admitting that you've been wrong can be a hard thing to do, so it's not surprising that few bands have chosen to do so in the form of a song. But kudos to Boyracer and the Bonzo Dog Band for their willingness to put a painful admission out there for everyone to see. But the question remains - who does a better job of presenting such an admission in song?

The Bonzos' "We Were Wrong" comes from 1969's Keynsham, their last album before their breakup in 1970. It's a fun mix of doo-wop style and lounge-y vocals composed by Vivian Stanshall, an oddball in a band of oddballs. Stanshall's chorus seems very sincere: "We were wrong - we were wrong - but so young and so frightfully in love." But this sentiment is very much undercut by the verses, which describe such incidents as a blowing-up skirt frightening the horses at the track and wiping free champagne off of a hired DJ. The song's organ riffing in the outro is goofy and fun, and Stanshall's voice, as always, drips with mock sincerity and gravitas. Quite a good entry overall.

Indie band Boyracer's "We Were Wrong" comes from 1996's In Full Colour, their last album before their breakup in 1997. Are we seeing a pattern here? Maybe admitting you were wrong is a pre-breakup thing, although I continue to doubt the sincerity of the sentiment (both the Bonzos and Boyracer reunited within a few years of breaking up). Boyracer's "We Were Wrong" is a pretty piece of fuzz-pop, built on a bed of static, feedback, drum machine, and spidery guitar lines. However, the song's lyrics are all but incomprehensible except for the line, "We were wrong." What were you wrong about? How am I supposed to know if I should be magnanimous and forgive you if I can't even make out the details of your so-called apology? I'm going to have to disqualify Boyracer on the basis on non-intelligibility and give the win to the Bonzos.

Winner: THE BONZO DOG BAND

"We Were Wrong" by the Bonzo Dog Band

"We Were Wrong" by Boyracer