Reflections of Popular Culture in Music

The top three songs in America right now are We Are Young by Fun., Boyfriend by Justin Beiber, and Somebody That I Used To Know by GOTYE. Each of these songs(if you can give them the honor of being called songs) have to do with boyfriends and girlfriends and loving one another. These songs show that American culture, as a whole, is focused on love. It also shows that young girls have a great influence on how popular a single person can be, seeing as Justin Beiber is number two in the whole country. With pathetic excuses for lyrics that carry no poetic merit other than repetition, it is a wonder that Beiber was in school at one point.

Aside from the rant, there isn’t much of a deep meaning in any of these songs. Each song is focused on the feelings of single people, which lets the current generation feel as though their feelings matter, which makes them happy. The music reflects the current generation quite well. In We Are Young, there are drug and alcohol references, which tells the American culture that it is okay to party even though it harms your body. The intended audience must be considered as well. These lyrics are geared to the current generation, full of underage kids. Now, the message of We Are Young must be pondered again. Fun. is sending the message that partying is good and fun to young kids, which is illegal (unless you’re 21, which most of the targeted audience is not) and it is also quite possibly deadly.

These songs also send the message that having a boyfriend/girlfriend is all that matters, and if there is a breakup there is no hope that you and your previous lover can be just friends. Gender roles are also present in these songs. We Are Young depicts girls as “waiting” to have sex with men from across the bar, while Boyfriend conveys the message that there is one perfect guy who can be whatever you want him to be, which depicts females as controlling who the man is.

Success, according to these songs, is partying and having a girlfriend that will be open to having sex with their boyfriends. In the music industry, success is measured by how many records of your music are sold. To do that, songs have to be relatable as well as catchy. So, singing about heartache and partying, musicians can connect with their audience. Considering the top three songs on America’s charts, America’s youth is going to be in trouble.

"Rock n' Roll Band" VS. "Have a Cigar"



Pink Floyd

 
 




Boston

 

            Though both “Rock n’ Roll Band” by Boston and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd deal with the topic of rising to fame, “Rock n’ Roll Band” incorporates an enthusiastic tone as well as reminiscent imagery in order to anticipate “love and music,” while “Have a Cigar” integrates a cynical tone as well as the symbol of a cigar with the aim of exposing the corruption of recording managers who claim that they know “the name of the game.”

            The differing tones of both “Rock n’ Roll Band” and “Have a Cigar” depict both ways one could feel while rising to the top of “the chart.” In “Rock n’ Roll Band,” Boston repeats the words “play” and “yeah” four times in the chorus, and every time the lines are repeated, they become more and more passionate; however, in “Have a Cigar” when the chorus is repeated, and Pink Floyd’s line “Riding the Gravy Train” recurs, it becomes more pessimistic with each repetition. Therefore, it can be determined that Boston’s rise to fame was an enjoyable one, whereas Pink Floyd’s was filled with more bad times than good.