How Popular Songs are Getting Less Original (An Excuse for SheWhoRantsTooMuch to Live Up to Her Username)

[Iggy]

Have you ever actually listened to a song's lyrics and tried piece together the meaning of the song? I'm going to assume you have. However, many people today might not even bother doing so, as mainstream (*insert picture of Eevee wearing hipster glasses here*) music tends to tell more or less the same story every time. Partying at a club, making love, drinking, romance related feelings and issues. There, I just named off most of the things popular songs are about. Oh, and DJs who are mentioned for no reason other than to make the song rhyme.

If you take a look at songs from artists that aren't "in", (*insert another picture of Eevee wearing hipster glasses here*) there's a big difference. The songs actually tell stories. I first noticed this while we were discussing music in language arts class. Our teacher had mentioned that most songs these days don't really say anything about our culture as a nation. She's right. If you listened to the really popular songs a hundred years later, you'd think that we were alcoholics who desperately want to get lucky and have some sort of odd fascination with fox noises.

Now, I'm not saying there should be less love songs. I know that love is a part of human emotion and conflict, but c'mon, we're not Bella Swan. We think about things other than our partners. We have family problems and friend issues. Feel free to discuss and add your opinion.

[Meow]

I think your perspective is skewed on this. Certainly to the degree that most of us here haven't lived during the time of the 'classics' and I do not doubt there was plenty of incredibly samey, cliche ridden songs that talk all about the same things you mentioned above back in the day. Hell, even the songs that have withstood the test of time I constantly hear reference the same confessions of love for a woman/man and/or partying. Man even some of these songs deal with just getting high as a kite. Sounds familiar right because all those songs are dealing with the same topics that pop music today commonly tackles. The only difference is that people have had loads of time to hand pick only the very "best" from those eras and play them nonstop on so called classic stations. The amount of times I've heard the same 3 power ballads back when working retail was kinda an eye opener to this.

 

Music is a vast landscape to traverse as a listener since there is so much out there, and unfortunately a lot of what resonates with a huge audience is something easy to relate to and easy to digest. A lot of incredibly creative works in most mediums tend to be overlooked for trying something different. I say that with the risk I guess of sounding like a pretentious indie snob, but the truth is there is a lot in that domain too that I feel is just as cliche'd and generic for trying way too hard to be different that it sounds all the same as well. Tastes differ to from person to person and some people even forego lyrics for just a beat, not everything needs to be a critique or commentary about our culture and I'd almost argue that these 'popular topics' tend to be our culture and have been for a long time. Trends come and go and what is now currently anthems of partying and getting drunk (or the recent explosion of robot sex music), my childhood was filled with angst-ridden anthems of rebellion. Who knows what will be the next "big thing", and I almost guarantee that in 10-20 years we'll have stations doling out the 'classics' of today and the cycle will just keep going. 

That's just how I feel about it though.

[Stasis]

Really not a big fan of modern music that's "in". Rhianna, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga etc it all sounds the same to me. All the same beat, pretty much all auto tuned, all are based around the 'sex sells' market of music if not gimmicky. It's just all... well, shit. Give me good old 80's any day. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mni3cMyX2b4

[DocAzure]

Oh, a music topic, controversial.

 

Well, how I see this is...

 

Yes, you could argue that now, current Pop music is mass produced, always following the same themes. But, if you look back, the music that they had, back in say the 80's, was also very similar, it was just produced differently, with a different set of themes to appeal to the mass audience. 

 

Don't let a few bad artists skew your view of the current music industry. There's quite a few gems out there, you just gotta look for them.

[Boomer]

I actually kinda agree. I can't stand modern mainstream music, it's all far too samey and bland for my tastes. And yeah songs that tell stories are wonderful and it's why I'm a massive fan of Prog Rock.

[Chaos Incarnate]

The only mainstream band I truly like and listen to is Fun, but aside from that, I hate mainstream music in general. Hearing the same crap on the radio is just plain grating, and as best shown by South Park... all I hear is crap most of the time. I can still jam and get pumped up to a few mainstream songs at school dances, but most of it gets on my nerves and doesn't feel like music trying to be clever and hold a deep meaning.

[DocAzure]

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that South Park thing is supposed to, while making fun of current music, also make fun of how it's seen by parents and those of an older generation.

[iDEATH]

I dunno...I get your point and I'm inclined to agree but.....

 

I wouldn't say mainstream music is any less original than any other kind of music. At least not in terms of theme, yes, most pop these days is about getting drunk and laid, and i don't like it. I don't want to listen to twenty songs about Rhianna's vagina.....but, drinking and fucking have been a staple of music since music began. It's not like it's suddenly become a cliche.

 

As for other less mainstream music, in terms of content, i'd say most songs can still be grouped into various collections, even artists consdered to be at the top of their game in terms of songwriting. Tom Waits, for example, is considered by many to be among the greatest and most unique song writers in the world, but look at his canon and you'll still find the same old themes cropping up again and again, the drinking song, the love song, the anti-love song, the train song, the political commentray, the car song etc. etc.

 

Gogol Bordello are a band that are about as orignal as you can get, a multicultural group attempting to blend traditional romany gypsy music with punk rock, again though, look at their songs, there's the drinking song, the road song, love ballads, anti love songs, see what I mean?

 

I think where mainstream music is less original is not in it's thematic content but in it's style. All mainstream music just sounds the same to me, that dull sampled dance music beat that now needs to be included on every track. As each song is successful, music companies just want to keep putting out more of the same.

Artists outside the mainstream still write about the same things but the actual music has a lot more variety which allows the same contant to feel totally new.

 

I guess what i'm trying to say is...listen to Tom Waits.....just....listen to Tom Waits...

[JezMM]

For what it's worth it's very easy to pigeonhole artists that aren't your particular taste as all their songs sounding the same, but then one or two will surprise you.  I heard this song the other day at a party a few houses away and was like "wow that sounds really pretty".  It was just clear enough for me to look up the lyrics and I couldn't believe just what a mainstream artist it came from.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs

 

 

 

It's never something that has bothered me personally.  Times change, mainstream music changes.  If it changes into something you don't like, who cares, just carry on listening to what you listen to.  My fellow nerds of SSMB, if songs needed to be deep or tell a story to be good, half of our music libraries wouldn't be filled with video game soundtracks.

[Da Blu Hedgie]

I might not seem like one to rant, but I am sick and tired of hearing this pop crap stuff. And living in WA I get to hear this like 20 times a day on every radio station, I've actually flipped through every station in the span of 10 minutes, unsatisfied w/what I've heard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zNSgSzhBfM

Of course I can understand what they're saying, but what's this song about, I hear it everyday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzwSb2oex20

Now most of the songs I listen to are about women, drugs, etc. but at least I know what they mean and what they're saying, and i like it. 

GTA 5 anyone.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Short answer: No, pop's fine.

 

Long answer:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6gQ_DUvUbA

and so on

 

I'm sure any music fan with wide taste on here can name better examples, but the point is, pop is certainly still innovating and churning out great stuffs. Certainly it's a bit harder to find nowadays, but that's besides the case. Pop, even modern-day pop, is not bad by definition. But if you want bands of particular merit to head a genre, spread the word about them. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Sixth-Scream Soma

[MegaMonster54]

I think there will always be bad music and bad artists, it's all about perception. I think history will remember the "Lucy the the Sky with Diamonds" and "Princes of the Universes" and will forget the "When the Lights go out" and "Blame it on the rain" 's. Again its all about perception... Also, 50 bonus points if you even know who sings "Blame it on the rain" or "When the Lights go out".

[Stacy]

Every decade had crap music. Stoke Atiken Waterman was considered cheesy rubbish back in the day. But now loads of people have come out saying how innovative and talented they actually were.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeyEGebJ1l4

 

Hasn't anyone noticed how much popular music these days is influence by the 1980's. Yet everybody on the net wishes everyone should be as good as it was music was back then when it was new.

 

Irony. 

 

The reason I find modern popular music even stuff that isn't pop per say but sells well and gets a ton of Vevo views crap in my honest opinion is because I am old, bitter and spoiled by the old stuff.

Edited October 28, 2013 by BW199148

[Sami]

man that techno hip hop dubstep shit is so bad I tell ya what

 

 

never mind

[Faseeh]

yeah, full on stereotyping.

 

I guess it's kind of a biased opinion when you don't really like pop since similar themes to appeal to the audience are pretty much the staple to music. You want to convey feelings, you want to sell good and be popular. So make songs about popular and common feelings. Sounds pretty damn easy to follow to me.

 

But yeah, I really like some pop artists like Bruno Mars and Daft Punk and blabla so yeah. You gotta keep digging till you get what you want.

[a mystery]

Bias and stereotype incoming, but looking at The Fox and Gangnam Style and that kinda stuff, I kinda think the popularity and alleged quality of a song by the mainstream public just depends on its humor factor nowadays. It's quite a shame, when there's tons of amazing people out there who really make good stuff yet get no attention, while there's tons of viral hits just because they're 'funny'. Of course there's tons of good music out there that happen to be popular, but really... The most popular ones just seem to be the ones trying to appeal with so-called humor to me, ya know?

[Cola]

I just wish they'd stop blasting that shit on the bus ride to school. I couldn't give two fucks if anyone wanted to blast that on their iPods. Sure, go ahead. Just don't put it on the radio at 7:00 in the morning, I don't want a headache. Those droning beats kinda meld together into some monotonous cacophony that is only broken when "Get Lucky" comes on, at which point I question why there aren't any other songs by Daft Punk playing.

The only thing worse is when they put on the Country music station, but that is a different story for a different time.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Cola

[Dizcrybe]

I just wish they'd stop blasting that shit on the bus ride to school. I couldn't give two fucks if anyone wanted to blast that on their iPods. Sure, go ahead. Just don't put it on the radio at 7:00 in the morning, I don't want a headache. Those droning beats kinda meld together into some monotonous cacophony that is only broken when "Get Lucky" comes on, at which point I question why there aren't any other songs by Daft Punk playing.

 

That's why you bring an MP3 player school.

 

Besides, my bus always played the local Soul/R&B stations instead,

[Sir Spacebar]

Modern-day music, is just bad imo, there are exceptions like fun. Dubstep is just a putrid mess of random samples that hardly mix together, it's very loud and even made my ears bleed once. And the pop songs, oh god the pop songs, it's basically the only thing on the radio, AND IT'S NEVER IMPROVING. God, really, why make a song about your personal life, it's yours, don't force us to hear this mess. Also the music production is just getting lazier. I wasn't born in the 1980s but damn did they have great music. In fact, why am I even talking about modern-day music if all I have on my phone is the soundtrack to sonic 3 and knuckles.

[Harley Quinn]

Not saying pop isn't mass produced, but I certainly do enjoy my share of it - Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Kelly Clarkson... Though my taste veers much more into alt. rock and country. I do wish there were more songs about things other than boyfriends and girlfriends and exes.

[Dr. Mechano]

The whole "most mainstream music is about romance" thing isn't really new.

 

I'm a fan of Frank Sinatra, but I recognize that the majority of his songs were about falling in love, being in love, or breaking up. Most of his big hits were about fifty years ago. A lot of artists from the same era, and even quite a bit before it, wrote predominantly about love as well. It's mainstream (or was at the time) because of its mass appeal.

 

Romance is a relatable topic to most people, so it stands to reason that a lot of songs - which are often designed to trigger an emotional response - use it as their subject matter.

[Dr. Homem]

I can answer why it’s like that for romance. You might be able to take some insight on this matter by looking at classical themes of literature. All through history you’ll see a few such themes present regardless of culture, era or movement – one of the most prominent ones is love, attraction. Why is it such a universal concept? There are a few good reasons why. For example, it’s a good base to present inner conflict; it fits well with most other story types, be it in poetry or prose; it demonstrates challenge and fulfillment; it’s flexible…

 

But more than any of that, it is a human experience that will resonate well with most people. It’s relatable to all the real life plots we see every day. Every person on the street, in the office, in public transport or at home, they all have their own web of relationships, and each one is different. Romance is a reliable path to bring up a bunch of things that have an established emotional connection with readers.

 

From that perspective it’s easy to see why it’s a similarly popular theme for music. Anyone can relate to a romantic song, and it can be the background for all sorts of varied poetry.

[Salamander]

I first noticed this while we were discussing music in language arts class. Our teacher had mentioned that most songs these days don't really say anything about our culture as a nation.

 

I don't listen to a great deal of music, but having read through the thread, I'm inclined to disagree.  Perhaps most songs these days actually say too much about our culture.