Tuesday, May 5, 2009

On Vapid, Catchy, Popular Love Songs


I awoke in the middle of last night (thank you, hormones) and remained awake, despite my best efforts, for nearly an hour.  This in and of itself should be frustrating enough, but the kicker is the song lyrics that were running through my head the entire time:

Background: Taylor Swift's Romeo approaches, after having blown her off recently, with no obvious sign of an impending apology.  She's debating whether to blow up at him for being a jerk when
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said:
Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.

I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.
It's a love story, baby, just say 'Yes!'"

Emphasis mine.  As this ran incessantly through my head I couldn't help but reflect upon the insight she gives to the general-societal portrayal of marriage as a remedy for loneliness (makes me almost miss the remedy for concupiscence).


I hear this song at work every single day (I exaggerate not - L can confirm the emails I send her daily when this song hits).  There are many such songs, that are on the daily playlist.  All my co-workers feel the same:  we've come to hate these songs...  and yet we can't help but sing along. Sirius/XM Radio, you are the bane of my existence!  (For which, I suppose, I should be grateful.  There are much worse things out there.)


I should adopt W's philosophy of complaining.  'Cuz it really is very funny at times...


And if you're not familiar with the song above:  1) I am most jealous, 2) You're really not missing much, 3) I'm sure your mind has jumped to similarly vapid-yet-catchy tunes.  Feel free to suggest some in the comments.


If anyone actually used my comments, this could be a really funny comment thread.  :)

14 comments:

  1. I am unfamiliar with said Claire, however I have a sickness. Some of my favorite music is "guilty pleasure" music. The kind of stuff that has absolutely no artistic value. The music that eats away at your brain like a Proto-Nazi-Ninja-Zombie.
    Examples:
    Wannabe - Spice Girls
    Believe - Cher
    Stacey's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
    Safety Dance - Men Without Hats

    That is all I am willing to admit right now...

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  2. I love that song!

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  3. Will, the essential difference for me here is that this song once fell into that category. Until I was forced to listen to it all the time. And it never leaves my head. For hours, I have that single verse running through my head. And it's pleasant enough, until I want to rip my head off just to make it stop.

    At least you can choose to listen to this inanity. And, to be honest, I'll probably hear this song and get all nostalgic a decade from now. I'd just like to not hear it for about three years straight first.

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  4. You're going to have to find another way of referring to her. I had dibs a long time ago!

    -L

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  5. There is clearly a space between the punctuative dash and your shared initial. Additionally, a mouseover reveals that it links to her blog, not yours, -L.

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  6. And Kevin, lest it be thought that I'm neglecting your response: I think you're just being contrary. :)

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  7. I used to have a song I couldn't get out of my head. I was working in Dick's Sporting Goods in the hunting department. A song called Mr. Mom by Lonestar. It played 7 times a shift. Some nights I would wake up singing it in a cold sweat. After a long recovery (4 years) I am able to listen to the song without cleaning a shotgun with a crazy look on my face.

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  8. I'm a sucker for a key change

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  9. Thank you for the glimmer of hope in the darkness, Will.

    And thank you all for my longest comment thread ever. I almost feel like a real blogger!

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  10. Oooh lets start a comment thread on what it is to be a real blogger? Cause I know I am not one, and I write every day, however I think that you are? So what makes a blogger real? Is it content, consistency, or just dumb luck and a lot of people reading their blog?

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  11. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wear pajammas.

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  12. Wear pajamas while blogging? If so, then I fail. Actually, I usually write posts in my head in the mornings on the drive to Mass, and by the time I've gotten time to actually write them down in the evening they're nowhere near as good as they were at 7:30am. But such is life.

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  13. Hey, whatever works. I don't have real thoughts before 9 am. My best diatribes are written in the evening.

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  14. P. plays that song. I am terrible at understanding lyrics. For the longest time, I thought it was about her dad leaving her.

    Proof positive that I'm terrible at understanding lyrics is that I don't think I know all of the lyrics to any of my top ten most listened to songs over the past 5 years.

    About Romeo and Juliet, I have a ton of thoughts. I have to chuckle every time girls get mushy about it, though. It's really quite a dreadful play, when you get right down to it. I think that's why its a masterpiece. It's supposed to inspire dread. Very cathartic.

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