After hearing LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” I wonder how long it’s been since I’ve heard a song with decent lyrics.
Songwriters used to have something to say. They would write songs that people could connect to. Now, songs are being written about drinking, dancing and sex.
The majority of songs written before the ‘90s were about love, pain and even social injustice. So, when did the romance of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” disappear in a haze of misogyny with “Damn, you’s a sexy bitch?”
This music is wildly popular. Listeners turn their brains off while these musicians prove to us that they can spell their own names over a background track.
Lyrics don’t need to be sweet, empty turns of phrase; they don’t need to be happy at all. I can appreciate songs that are angry, or even obscene if they are crafted to send a specific message.
In the past year, it seems like every song I’ve heard on the radio rhymes some form of “I’m a star” with “I have a car.” If that is the most groundbreaking message you have to offer, don’t waste our time with your “music.”
How can I compare someone like Bob Dylan, who wrote about civil rights issues, singing “Only a Pawn In Their Game” to a recent artist like Nicki Minaj who writes songs like “Stupid Hoe?”
Nobody would ask me to “back that thang up” in conversation. I’d laugh in their face if they told me “you don’t like my disses, give my ass some kisses,” so to me there’s no place for these words in any song. Ignorant lyrics set to music are still ignorant.
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