Rant: Songs and Stupid Lyrics

[jhameia]

It bothers me how a lot of songs out there in the world, produced by the music industry, have such great riffs, wonderful melodies, totally absolutely awesome pumping beats -- but their lyrics are objectionable.

This isn't meant to attack people who believe the music comes first. If you think the music's all that matters, good for you. If you think lyrics don't matter, good for you. If you think I'm being an extremist for thinking that all lyrics should matter, good for you. I'm all for pumping beats. I like hip hop because it's great to dance to, and I like metal to headbang too. I like some pop music, don't get me wrong -

But why do so many songs these days have lyrics that don't show any progress with regards to societal progress? Why are songs so marred by the messages that the lyrics pound out? Usually something in regards to, "I've got a big fucking ego" (hip hop and rap are guilty - wtf! What IS it with wanting to inject your name into the song?) "I've got bling" and "the chick is hot, let's get it on".

What started off this rant?

Shakira's Hips Don't Lie. And the fact that I'm on my period. No cramps, but somehow I get crabby at pop culture.

I was watching the music video with closed captioning (I love subtitles, even if I understand English) so I got to watch the ultra-sexy music video with Shakira's AMAZING HIPS (those body movements! That takes mondo skillz! I love her dance moves!) and the gorgeous choreography, and her fabulous dance - it was like belly-dancing.

And I thought the song started out great - the guy's falling in love with the gal, the gal's falling in love with the guy, they both want each other, they both want to get it on, uh-huh, that's pretty awesome and I'm all for spreading love and sex and seeing sexy dance moves.

And those shots where it's just her back with those shiny things? What's up with those shiny things? I don't know, but it's shiny and pretty fucking awesome!

Then, ugh, a cut to Shakira sitting on a chair looking all cute and the most aggravating part of the song which sours my mood:

Oh boy, I can see your body moving
Half animal, half man
I don't, don't really know what I'm doing
But you seem to have a plan
My will and self restraint
Have come to fail now, fail now
See, I am doing what I can, but I can't so you know
That's a bit too hard to explain

Right.

Lady, you are on tonight and your hips definitely show you know how to move that body of yours, but when it comes right down to it, you don't know what you're doing? Coupled with the fact your boy is turning "half-animal, half-man" - do you know what that sounds like to me? "I am making a dog rabid but I don't really know how to handle a rabid dog." You've spent half the dang song coming onto the man, you better know what to do with him! Take some responsibility!

Britney Spears! Guilty of this as well! "Hit me baby one more time" - idiot! "Oops I did it again" - WHY? "Toxic love" - Oh, fucking hell. We just keep going down the toilethole with you, don't we, Mrs. Federline, till we reached the sewers.

Christina Aguilera's Dirty music video - don't even get me fucking started. The song is fun, I like the music, but god, the music video is skanky as hell. Never mind, the trash can enjoy it and eagerly await the come-uppance of more skankiness to come as girls everywhere try to out-skank each other!

Okay, okay, let's go with Jennifer Lopez's Get Right. This is... well, it's a bit of a grab bag of mixed messages. Firstly, she starts off with what sounds like a host of "you're falling short of my expectations" - then, she says, "what do you do for me?" If he's falling short of expectations, then he's falling short, okay? But no! She tells him, "sign this contract and spend the night with me bitch!"

I like a girl to take control. Women's lib was not in vain!

But what does she do?
"So much we've got to say, but so little time
And if tonight ain't long enough
Don't leave love behind"
Yes, she mixes love up with sex.

Sex is not love. Just because you're dragging a guy home with you tonight doesn't mean you're going to spend the night in love. Maybe it'll lead to love, assuming you two keep hooking up.

Why am I nitpicking? It's just music after all! It's for fun! It's entertainment!

Yes, and no. Yes, I do like music, I love harmony and I like how the sounds are engineered together. But what do you get instilled in your brain with lyrics like that? That it's okay to equate sex with love. That it's okay to be objectified (okay, I admit, I don't mind being objectified as long as I retain the god-given right TO objectify as well - that's a fair trade to me). That it's okay to make stupid mistakes over and over again and NEVER LEARN!

What other song bugs me like that?

Oh yes: Lustra's Scotty Doesn't Know. From the Eurotrip movie or something. Basic premise: Scotty doesn't know I'm fucking his girlfriend. First, the girl's an idiot, and second, the narrator's a prick. What a prick. Fiona's giving you head and Scotty doesn't know? What a fucking prick. You've been fucking Fiona behind Scotty's back for a long time now? What a fucking prick. And now you're going to put the cherry on top by TELLING? Well, that elevates you a little above scum status in a way, but you're still a fucking egoistical, dishonest piece of shit.

Punk songs. Oh boy, punk songs.

I was watching Much More Music's Video On Trial (which is quite the enlightening show, I see videos which I never see otherwise) and they were doing a review of Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes.

The first verse is enough to see what a self-centered little prick this boy is:
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows
What it's like to be hated
To be fated to telling only lies

Go cut yourself. I'm sure people know what it's like. Namely - - your fans. I hate stupid emo shit like this: "No one understands me! I'm all alone and I hate people!" "I understand you completely dude!" "Yea dude, actually, no, no you don't." "Yes I do!" "Nobody understands me and I'm alone!" (Okay, so it doesn't actually happen that way, but I'm editing some handouts right now and I'm writing completely on reflex, so nyah.)

You think you got problems? Buck up, bitch, everybody has problems, you're not the only one. Grrrrr!

The worst part is that... THESE are the songs playing on our airwaves. Malaysians, you know what I'm talking about, with the Black Metal debacle and all, where rap and hiphop with the big tits and the bling is fine, but metal music which decries government monopoly and encourages seeking truth is slammed down because it sounds pretty fucking demonic.

I'm going to end this rant on a positive note, however, because my current favourite song just has it all: a great tune, a spunky attitude, terribly on-the-dot fan-fucking-tastic lyrics with a I-Fucking-Dare-To-Break-Free message AND a hilarious accompanying music video.


Stupid girl, stupid girls, stupid girls
Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

Go to Fred Segal, you'll find them there
Laughing loud so all the little people stare
Looking for a daddy to pay for the champagne
(Drop a name)
What happened to the dreams of a girl president
She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two or three
With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees
Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?
Oh where, oh where could they be?

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

(Break it down now)
Disease's growing, it's epidemic
I'm scared that there ain't a cure
The world believes it and I'm going crazy
I cannot take any more
I'm so glad that I'll never fit in
That will never be me
Outcasts and girls with ambition
That's what I wanna see
Disasters all around
World despaired
Their only concern
Will they fuck up my hair?!

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

[Interlude]
Oh my god you guys, I totally had more than 300 calories
That was so not sexy, no
Good one, can I borrow that?
[Vomits]
I WILL BE SKINNY

(Do ya thing, do ya thing, do ya thing)
(I like this, like this, like this)
Pretty will you fuck me girl, silly as a lucky girl
Pull my head and suck it girl, stupid girl!
Pretty would you fuck me girl, silly as a lucky girl
Pull my head and suck it girl, stupid girl!

Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, stupid girl!

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

You must download it, yes, right now. And Black Eyed Peas' Where is the Love? is also good.

Oh, and I was watching The Fabulous Life of Missy Eliot and while I'm appalled at the shit this woman spends her money on, I found out that she's currently spending time scouting out talent and she's a spokesperson for an anti-violence against women cause or something like that; I know I was impressed. That's pretty fucking admirable. Who cares if she shows up to the Grammys in $3000 tracksuits?


...

Oh, that feels so good to get off my chest. *adjusts bra* Back to work.

Comments

[castusalbuscor.livejournal.com]

Damn that is one long long long rant... and I agree, most muic writers these days need to work on meaningful lyrics. Might I also point out that Pink has another awsome song called Dear Mr President, and its a must.

That is part of the reason why I am mostly still stuck in the past music wise, because back then the music did have lyrics. And I some times go further back when music had no lyrics just the music.

But I must also confess I love some songs that have absolutly no meaning, just because the beat keeps me moving. I would make a point to this comment but I seem to have lost it 5 lines up.

Anyway I am off to make cake

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Oh, I completely understand... Some songs are just pathetic in their love messages, but I can't help but <3 them sometimes.

[carmilliadrian.livejournal.com]

♥ you.

One. I absolutely cannot tolerate forced rhyming. *coughavrillavignecough* Eww, if you have not the talent to come up with creative, artistic, poetic words, don't even try. Hire a lyricist instead.

Two. The reason I don't listen to the radio or music television. Mainstream music nowadays is almost always about the money and fame than the true meaning of making music - the love of the art. Which is why I prefer listening to indie music from the underground scene. These are the real artists who are really doing it for the sake of the art of music.

Three. It's funny that somehow, people tend to think that these underground artists are bad influence. I mean, really, nowadays songs played secularly are about sex, drugs and violence, while I'm listening to the deep, meaningful realistic lyrics of, for example, "...if you read this line, remember not the hand that wrote it, remember only the verse, the songmaker's cry, the one without tears, for I've given this its strength, and it has become my only strength... The sweet piano writing down my life..." of Nightwish's Dead Boy's Poem.

A lot of these underrated artists are conveying messages that are genuine, personal, and yet relatable, without the whole self-pitying emoshit. And we're just touching on the wordings not yet on the music composition! That's worst. Simplistic tunes might be catchy, (hence, more marketable) but it shows little musical talent, and not just every song, but everybody sounds alike. Complex, intensed compositions create a full 'feel' and sound that is truly musical to those who can truly appreciate music the way it should be.

And loud music does not mean they're singing prayers to satan. In fact, you can even have satanic ballads if you like. But loud music, just like a lot of artists from the underground scene, will always be associated with all things evil. Just another triumph of the majority.

Aww. You made me rant.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

NIGHTWISH!

NIGHTWISH!

Come to my arms! I really need to get the original CDs of their albums because I love their lyrics.

Honestly though, I'd rather just listen to Disney soundtracks (and not the pop versions either, they sound so fake).

[carmilliadrian.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, Disney soundtracks! I love those especially the ones from the 90's! My all-time favourite would be from Hunchback of Notre Dame (Out There, Ave Maria, God Help The Outcast, etc.), followed by Pocahontas, Tarzan and The Lion King.

Lovely lyrics and music, yummm.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Get out of here! God Help the Outcasts is simply incredible - I cannot believe how it can be sung without crying! The 90's were definitely a good decade for Disney. I think they're going down the swill now, but hey, Fantasia 2000 was pretty decent. I watched The Lion King every morning before going to school for like, a month XD

Alan Menken is like, a god.

[eleraine.livejournal.com]

Hence why pop is pop. When pop first came out, it was seen as less than cultured because of its plain nearly meaningless lyrics. Past music was so much different - oldies was simple (tune played over and over again) but the lyrics had meaning.

The trouble is people have gotten so used to straightforward meaningless lyrics than when songs with complex, hidden meanings come in, they just don't know what to make of it. Hence the ban or word censorship.

Personally, I'd stick to soundtracks, oldies and New Age...plus an ocassional Alanis Morisette and some French music - always so much better despite the fact that I don't really know what they are singing about.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, funny story: I downloaded this really fun song called Whippet by a Quebecois band called Exterio, and I thought it was some anti-government song because it was a heavy rock / metal song with a really strong beat.

So here I am thinking it's a kind of anti-system punk song, and when I asked my Quebecois friend what it was, he told me it was about a kind of cookie. *falls over*

[oygevalte.livejournal.com]

I could not agree with you more, in general, and with your examples.

Two points, however:

Limp Bizkit is not "punk". Punk rock stopped occuring in about 1988 or so. It started in the mid-70s. It was a bunch of kids who were fed up with suburban platitudes and a blue-sky future that was painted on. Their songs were about being silly and having fun, or fucking with the system and making people aware that they were living a lie. Nothing Limp Bizkit does can remotely be compared to the social revolution through music that was punk, and I can't see a single band out there today whose music shakes up the social order (which would seem to be something you'd approve of, from this posting and others) like a real punk band has/did/would.

Second, Behind Blue Eyes is a famous song from the 70s by The Who, and it was just covered by LB. They didn't write it. When the song originally came out, it was actually a bit of a slap at the social order, since people were very big on burying the difficulties and pains of certain lives; think Vietnam, women's lib, racial strife for the US, at least. While the song may be very dated today, The Who were a pretty seminal band in terms of delivering a message that things were not as they should be, and that this needed to be shouted from the rooftops. Look at the message they delivered about incest via their rock opera, Tommy. Who would have dared, in the 60s and early 70s, to confront incest in such a public forum? Even more telling, the rock opera became wildly popular, spreading the idea that incest = pain and damage (heck, the poor kid was autistic!), a far cry from "forget about it, things like that don't happen, so buck up and quit whining" that was in place for so long before then (and is still being fought today). And yes, as a survivor of incest, these sorts of things take on a special significance for me.


Now, back to your regularly-scheduled rants. :D

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

It was belated information I received regarding Behind Blue Eyes.

Still a stupid song to cover.

However, I only have generalities and music writers to go by, and they classified LB as punk. They all sound emo to me anyways.

Emo should be its own genre.

[oygevalte.livejournal.com]

...with sub-genres based on age.

People like Elvis Costello would be "proto-emo". :D