A Tragedy of Conceit
The more I look at pop music, the more ridiculous it seems to me. Perhaps that seems like a judgmental statement, especially from one whose stylistic tastes aren’t exactly mainstream, but right now I’m not even referring to anything stylistic. It really seems that almost every top pop song of late has been unabashedly self-aggrandising and conceited to the point that it would be funny if it wasn’t serious.
Take, for example, the song “Hips Don’t Lie”, by Shakira, the record-holding song for most radio plays in a week (9637). Shakira and Wyclef Jean sing back and forth to each other for 3:40 about the sexiness of the other on the dance floor. Now they aren’t singing about themselves, but the sections were certainly not written exclusively by their respective singer.
Yet, this isn’t even as bad as it gets. Even the title of MIMS’ “This Is Why I’m Hot” seems so over-the-top that it would be a mocking the feeling that it’s actually displaying. Or how about Paris Hilton’s (perhaps the epitome of conceitedness) entire new album, with such gems as “Fightin Over Me” and “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”. Or Justin Timberlake’s iconic lyric “I’m bringing sexy back”? The level of self-absorbtion displayed in these songs is as stunning as it is disgusting.
But what’s even more surprising than the fact that tripe like this succeeds is that it succeeds to the detriment of everything else. These are the songs that enter our collective consciousness as a society - the songs that make it onto the radio, into movies, and onto CD and MP3 players. Pop culture is a disease - a gruesome yet all too sweet inevitable product and continual propagator of the consumerist mindset of entitlement and luxury that will eventually rot our already frighteningly gluttonous society from the inside out if it continues on its current course.
I can only hope that with the increasing irrelevance of the record labels that encourage this sort of behavior, we will look back on this time as a dark era for pop music.
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5 Responses
Apr 16 at 12:07 am
I agree with your comments. I know many people our age who listen to this music all the time.
If it’s any consolation, there ARE artists out there today (even in the mainstream, on the radio, on TV) that are truly singing with a purpose.
Brandi Carlisle and Augustana come immediately to mind. I recommend everyone check out these artists’ amazing music.
Apr 18 at 12:10 am
Does this propogate culture, or is it a reflection of culture?
(The answer I have found is both)
Apr 18 at 7:52 am
Ben:
That is a very good point. Music is definitely a reflection of the current culture of a people.
Apr 19 at 4:35 pm
Yet another reason why I hate 99.9% of all that is “pop”.
Jun 02 at 9:52 am
Totally agree with ya!