Facing the Music

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
-Victor Hugo

Sorry Victor, but I just don't think it's that complicated anymore.

A thought struck me the other day--and I'm sure I'm not the first. Lately I've been incredibly disappointed in music. I love music; I love music so much I can't say "I love music" enough to get my point across. But I'm kinda bored with it right now and I'm constantly changing the station because it's the same crap day after day.

And then I began to consider that maybe today's music doesn't necessarily suck, it's just the music that the radio stations choose to play. If someone was completely ignorant and listened to the same station every day, I firmly believe they would think that the world only has 100 songs in it at any given time. We hear the same music every few hours and even if it was good music to begin with, it wouldn't take many cycles to get bored of it.

Unfortunately, most music on these radios stations is already bad, and there are a few relatively new groups/artists I'm already sick of. On top of that list are:

1. Nicki Minaj

2. LMFAO

3. Karmin

The first two should be self-explanatory, so I'm not going to insult my readers with a lengthy paragraph about why Nicki Minaj and LMFAO have no musical talent whatsoever.

"Say whaaaaaaaaat?!"

However, I'm really disappointed in Karmin. I was a big follower of theirs when they were just a cute little duo on YouTube. Now their song, "Broken Hearted," is on the radio constantly and I hate it. The lead singer, Amy, sounds exactly like Nicki Minaj with the way she goes back and forth between singing and rapping. That tactic is fine, really, but there can't be two artists getting more famous by the minute off the same schtick.

I've never done this before, but I do want to shout out to this blog I found, because I think this quote is amazing: "The rapping. It's like an Internet joke gone retroviral, a train flying off the tracks to the delight of people who think every tragedy is an opportunity for LOLZ." Click here to check out the full article.

And I know this may come as a shock, but Amy is actually NOT British. Even though she says "Cheerio!" five times throughout the song. Stop. It.

Another thing I want to talk about is something that I simply find funny. When I first saw it in an Internet advertisement, I thought it was "sooooo true." But when I thought just a wee bit harder, I realized this is probably not just a problem of modern-day music. What I'm talking about is the lyrics of today versus the lyrics of yesterday. Take the song, "Bohemian Rhapsody" for example:

"Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes, 
Look up to the skies and see,
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I'm easy come, easy go, 
Little high, little low,
Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to 
me, to me."

Pretty heavy shit, right? Now, do you remember in high school English when your teacher asked you, "What do these lyrics mean?" I just don't think you can try that with most of today's music. For example, let's look at the first modern-day song that came to mind:

"I like that boom boom pow
Them chickens jackin' my style
They try copy my swagger
I'm on that next shit now

I'm so 3008
You so 2000 and late
I got that boom, boom, boom
That future boom, boom, boom
Let me get it now

Boom boom boom, gotta get-get
Boom boom boom, gotta get-get
Boom boom boom, gotta get-get
Boom boom boom, gotta get-get"

Wait, I'm sorry, what? There are chickens jackin' your style, or is that supposed to be slang for something? Simple fix: if a chicken jacks you, jack it back and eat it! And what does it mean to be "3008?" This is in no way metaphorical, and you can't be a number. Silly Black Eyed Peas. Also, your name should technically be "Black-Eyed Peas." This, children, is called a compound modifier. Both "black" and "eyed" are acting together to modify the noun, and this requires a hyphen. Just saying.

I wouldn't mess with this chicken if he were jackin' my style.

Back to business: As I stated, I'm sure there are plenty of songs from earlier generations with awful lyrics. I just think that bad lyrics are in much higher abundance these days, but there are also a lot more songs to choose from, too.

Well, it started off as a valiant effort on my part, but it spiraled downwards as I realized I simply can't justify the music and lyrics of today. And I don't care how much you like "Bohemian Rhapsody." At least Queen completed their thoughts, and used words that make sense next to each other.