No, it’s not just you. I also attribute it to age.
I would say it’s more of a “how long have you been playing?” thing than an age thing. It seems like once you’ve been playing for 20 years or so (at a guess), most of the tunes kind of just stick. Otherwise I’d have no hope. 
Speaking of the Kesh and of session playing. Here’s a great little clip talking about developing variations for the Kesh. And overall great video if you haven’t seen it. Starts at about 17:30. https://vimeo.com/131638804
There are tunes I would never start but there are no tunes I know that I would sit out. That’s a pretty arrogant thing to do in my opinion.
Ok…what if someone starts a tune that you enjoy playing but they play it way too fast!. Like, they are just murdering it with speed. Are you going to blister through that tune with them, chucking your hard-earned piping technique to the curb for the sake of keeping up? I’d prefer to just sit out and let them tear it off. Sometimes you just have to sit out. I try to maintain a benign continence until its over.
To be fair Tommy, the question was “Are there tunes you will not play anymore?”. There are tunes I’d skip if the playing’s too poor to play along with, but that not fault of the tune.
Aye. I digress…
For me it is an almost physical, visceral feeling when these tunes come around and around and around. Beyond thought or attitude.
There are times when I try to make a go of it mind you. Like when everyone is blasting a way at Cooley’s I might take the opportunity to see if I can Andy Conroy the tune, for my own, tight, education. It’s unobtrusive and keeps me in good social standing as a team player and a good sport.
Aye, the dementor style soul draining can be testing at times!
I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a situation (*at a session) where a tune I really don’t like has been played really well… it seems like they usually go hand in hand with being played less well. After which I can say “Oh I didn’t recognize that” or “Oh, it was too fast for me” or, actually what’s most common is that the session is also really big and people don’t notice if I sit out. Or I’ll just play it anyway, and try to add something.
Bottom line for me is that if I’m not adding to the music, I would rather sit out.
Beats benign incontinence, I guess. 
I’m trying to learn to let go, especially when I’m not adding to the general quality. It’s hard! Especially when I sit there and am reminded that often, the music does just fine without me … many times I’m surprised to see even not-so-great music find its way to something kind of lovely, or at least unique. Other times, it doesn’t … but there we are, I’m just a passenger.
And not having everyone playing all at once all the time is so much nicer for the listener. Otherwise it’s like two hours of shouting.
Sometimes, if the tunes have been rushy and shouty for two or three sets and I’ve used the downtime to re-hemp every joint, I’ll toss out a hornpipe that nobody knows to break things up a bit and make people return to their heads – and with luck, some semblance of rhythm. I’m continually amazed by the awesome restorative power of a hornpipe.
That’s when it’s great to be a piper. You can do stuff like that and get away with it because by God, you’re a piper. 
Nearly all of the done-to-death tunes appeal to me in some way. It might be the challenge of trying a new and (hopefully) interesting way of phrasing/ornamentation/variation, or the sense of “paying it forward” to the less-experienced folks at a session, or because it reminds me of the friend from whom I first learned it – or simply because it’s a damn great tune that became a cliché through no fault of its own.
Having said that, I have given up on the Lurgadán because I find it absolutely cringeworthy on the pipes, at least in the key of D.
A hornpipe nobody knows? You mean every hornpipe I play. 
I did have a nice experience last week at a session where I played a couple hornpipes only accompanied by a harpist. Added a really nice element to the tune.
And probably to the session as well!