Nobody else wants to play them.
You can play whatever you want, you'll get drowned out in the mix anyway.
Nobody cares what the bass guitar is playing.
Tune low enough and turn the amp high enough and you can injure small animals.
All the best bass parts are played on the synthesizer anyway.
The lower you go, the cooler you sound.
Go low enough, and dogs start barking in rhythem
Buy a fretless bass, and you never have to tune it.
Turn the treble way up on your amp, play on the high strings with heavy distortion and wha, and you almost don't sound like a bassist trying to imitate a guitarist.
Break a bass string, and you *know* you're a man.
Nobody remembers your name.
You get to explain to people what that "funny looking four-string guitar" is.
Only Paul McCartney could play one of those Beatle-basses and make it sound good.
Two words: Cliff Burton