Music To My Ears

The other day while in "la clase de español," I overheard some students discussing music of the nineties. They did not like the stylings of the album covers and were perplexed that the artists would title a song something completely different than any of the lyrics. They were mystified that the song title itself was not included as a lyric or a lyric as the title. Oh well, you can't go back in time and make all 90's bands totally awesome or as lyrically insightful as Jonas Brothers.

Jonas Brothers (full disclosure: I hadn't heard a single Jonas Brothers song until I began writing this. I listened to some on Amazon.com. In a word, Brilliant.) have obvious lyrics which directly relate to the song title and vice versa. That way our dumbed down young people (thanks to No Child Left Behind) won't get confused about which song they are currently listening to.

For instance, take the Jonas Brothers' song, "Burnin' Up" (please, take the song...bada bing!). It's upbeat, totally rockin' and has some strong lyrics relating to fire. What you might or might not have guessed is that it's probably just a metaphor. My first instinct was that the singer was literally on fire. After listening to the song, though, I changed my mind because the singing didn't seem frantic and there was no screaming. But, as I began to read the lyrics I wasn't so sure anymore. The singer first talks about how he's hot. And then how he's slippin' into lava, which we all know is very hot. and burns. He then goes on to say that he's burning up!!!1 This confirmed my initial thought that he was literally ablaze. But before any arsonphobes could have a heartattack the singer quickly tells us that while he states he's "burning up," he is, in fact, "burning up"...for her, metaphorically. Apparently she turns the temperature hotter, all according to the lyrics (I can't vouch for it - I've never met the girl, although she seems nice). This song is a great example of cutting-edge performers pushing the envelope and taking musical and lyrical risks. Of course they use a lyric for the title, there's no other way to correlate which track you're hearing to the lyrics. It'd be too confusing. There's a connection.

My fellow students, who are of the ripe age of around 18, blossomed while listening to music in the mid-2000's just as I did with the early-to-mid 1990's music. (They graduated high school in 2008, by the way) It's not that they don't like the music from the 90's, they are just removed from it by a few years and the popular genre and style had changed by the time they could fully appreciate music. I remember commenting numerous times about how shitty 80's music is (I do find some 80's music enjoyable but not the new wave swill and the completely synthesized bullshit).

I guess the conversation I overheard was more alarming not for the content itself but that it served as a marker that I am getting older. It doesn't bother me and I wouldn't want to be back at 18 anyway. And getting older certainly beats the alternative.

For now, I am off to "download" something called an "mp3." I'm not sure what it is but it's all the rave with the kids these days. I hope you enjoy some awesome music whether it be from the 80's, 90's or today. Just be sure to keep the volume at a reasonable level.