Sometimes I like to listen to the radio and bemoan the state of music. No song is more annoying than the Britney Spears song "Three," yet people love it. Why? The hook? Okay, I'll give you that: the tune is easily remembered. But what about the music and lyrics? That song does absolutely nothing to showcase the talents of the guys playing the instruments, make a person think differently about song composition, or desire to apply any of the lyrics to one's philosophies of life. The song merely follows a sure-fire formula for radio success.
Please allow me this shameless plug: bands like Saves the Day, Eisley, and Brand New change the way music should be experienced, yet they get very little attention. Their songs are actually thought out, both lyrically and, especially, musically. And this is where the epiphany comes in. Bands like Brand New have a high amount of "awe" in what they do. The ability to convey emotions amongst their mad-hat approach to music is a thing of pure awe. But we don't view awe in this light with the media. If something is full of awe then it is awful. So, while Brand New may be amazing in almost every aspect of their craft, purely full of awe, they get discounted by the masses. Whereas is something has some awe to it, you guessed it, it's awesome. So mediocrity (a mere possessing of some awe) is considered cool. What then, I ask, is something completely devoid of awe? Well, to the mass media, it can only be the greatest form of entertainment ever. Yet, we don't have a word for this. This logic seems backwards but it makes complete sense. Bands like Brand New are awful (brilliant but ignored), bands like the Used are awesome (just enough mainstream in them to appeal widely), and bands like Fall Out Boy are so devoid of awe that a word doesn't exist to explain why everyone can like them yet they still make millions on a remake of a Michael Jackson song, even when the remake pales so far in comparison. This spans all forms of the media. I don't quite get it.
Of course, there are exceptions. The Killers are full of awe but still have found a place in pop culture. The same can be said of Jimmy Eat World (though their earlier catalog is almost completely ignored). As it is, oh well.
Dear Dubya D,
ReplyDeleteWhen people say that something is awesome, I tend to retort that "I'm awesome." For years I've said this now, without fully understanding the implications of my self proclaimed mediocrity. I feel shame. I'm shamesome, but not quite shameful (I bet the killers could have some fun with that lyric). So thank you for enlightening me this evening.
Cordially,
David Scott Larson