In HateSong, we ask our favorite musicians, writers, comedians, actors, and so forth to expound on the one song they hate most in the world.
The hater: As Sadie Saxton, Molly Tarlov brings the hate to MTV’s Awkward., a sweet but biting comedy about high-school life. In real life, Tarlov isn’t quite so cutting, but with Awkward.’s third season premièring Tuesday, April 16, it seemed appropriate to talk to her about what she personally abhors, plus which tunes Sadie wouldn’t stand for.
The hated: Christina Perri’s “Jar Of Hearts” (2010)
The A.V. Club: What’s your least favorite song of all time?
Molly Tarlov: It feels a little apocalyptic to say “of all time,” but I’ll go with it. So this is really bad. And I will not turn it off if it starts playing, which says something about me, probably, but “Jar Of Hearts” by Christina Perri.
AVC: Why?
MT: I don’t know. Something about it. I mean, I love it. I’m addicted to it, but I hate it at the same time. It’s so intense. It’s become something very big in my life. Jillian [Rose Reed, who plays Tamara on Awkward.] and I sing it to each other. We sing it in this really, really strange way, which Desi [Lydic], who plays Valerie, gets very upset by. So it’s kind of like an inside joke. It’s not really the song itself, but what it’s become in my life.
AVC: It sounds like you like it. Or rather that you like to hate it?
MT: Yeah, definitely. Does that count?
AVC: Sure. Do you like other Christina Perri songs?
MT: Yeah, I do. But “Jar Of Hearts” is all I’ve really heard. I mean, she says, “You’re going to catch a cold from the ice inside your soul.” That’s truly right up my alley, because I love a pun. But it’s just something there. It’s like I’m obsessed with it.
AVC: How do you sing it that bugs Jillian?
MT: With a really smarmy kind of look.
AVC: Why is this the song you started singing?
MT: Jillian and I would drive a lot together, because she’s kind of scared to drive. She can’t drive on freeways, and we live in Los Angeles. So a lot of times when we had to go somewhere, she would drive to my house, and then I would drive her. So we’d be in the car together, and we’d listen to music. It was probably a year and a half ago when that song was playing a lot.
AVC: Your character on Awkward. is a big hater. She doesn’t like much. Do you think she would have a least favorite song?
MT: I feel like Sadie would hate Taylor Swift. Just because Taylor Swift is probably everything Sadie would want to be. So she would just hate her instead of being a good fan. Instead of having [Taylor Swift] as someone you look up to, she would hate her for having what she wanted.
AVC: But she would maybe secretly like it. She’d be like, “Oh, I hate this. Turn it off.” But on the inside, she’d be seething and jealous.
MT: Because Taylor Swift is so blonde and bubbly and, you know, she gets dark, but not as dark as Sadie likes to go. [Laughs.] I had such a hard time thinking of a song I hate. Even songs that are annoying, I still really love them. I guess, when it comes down to it, I really love Christina Perri’s “Jar Of Hearts.”