The Prodigal Child - Music These Days

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I don't plan on interjecting an introduction to things, but in cases where I feel one is warranted I will. This is one such case.

Thanks to R.A.M.P. -
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Location/7885/index.html

R.A.M.P. was the site for whom this was written. It will remain on their boards until the webmistresses there choose to remove it somehow, but I've chosen to post it here as well as there. It was posted there anonymously, but I wrote it. If you believe me, good. If you don't, just pretend I filched it and am posting it here for the hell of it. Again, thanks R.A.M.P.

(Originally Written: July 11, 1999.)

I want to rant about the state of current music. I know where I want to start, but I have no idea how long I'm going to go, so I'll just start typing and when my fingers get tired we'll quit. How's that sound?

I can't understand why such sucky boring music with such repetitive lyrics becomes so popular. Everywhere I look it's Hanson, or Ricky Martin, or (sorry...) Backstreet Boys, or... actually, I'm drawing a blank. I was going to include a girl band in the interest of equality but can't think of any considering my current mental state.

In any case, all of those bands suck. They have the same boring rhythms, music which variates from a formula instead of pioneering, lyrics which don't mean anything more than "I love you, girl" or "Why'd you leave me girl?" or "I love my girl." I love my girl too, and if I could pretend to play a guitar, I could write a shitty song and make a million dollars.

I suppose part of the reason for this situation lies in the radio stations, MTV, and pretty much all of the other mass media ways of getting music into popularity. People listen to what they're given and they like it. Everyone I talk to talks about how MTV has sold out and plays nothing but (C)rap and Real World reruns, but they have to have SOMEBODY watching, or they would notice their ratings dropping and change their programming. My radio plays some "hot new single" from (insert generic boy band name here) which is "new and original" and sounds like every other boy band hit and the next day everybody is that band's biggest fan.

Sometimes it feels like I'm doomed to listen to the shit I'm spoonfed by the media and then I realize that to toss the blame off on them is only a shirking of responsibility by myself (but that's another topic for another Rant). If I don't like the music so much, I should probably get off my lazy ass and find and listen to what I *do* like. But I can't. I'm too busy tapping my foot to "Mmm Bop."