5 Reasons Why Pop Music is Popular (and sucks)

People everywhere say that pop music these days is horrible. It lacks any meaning, is filled with…unpleasant ideas and is consisted of the same few lines or even a word repeated overandoverandoverandover again. So why do we even listen to it? Well, here’s a list of my thoughts:

1. We can’t help ourselves. Pop music is made to be catchy, and it does a extremely good job at that. Admit it, all of us have had at least one, if not like twenty gagillion, pop songs stuck in our head at some point. Honestly though, most of the time, it’s the music that sticks, not the lyrics. The lyrics of a song are essentially a poem. Have you ever involuntarily had a poem stuck in your head? Probably not. The music by itself is fine. In fact, I love it. If pop music without the singing was a genre of music, I’d definitely listen to it.*However, lyrics also have to accompany the music, so, that’s not exactly an option.                                                                                                                                                              .
2. Repetition, repetition, and more repetition. Yes, I know that this point has been made a bunch of times before, and that this should have probably been number one, but let me put it in another sense. You’re hearing the same message being sang to you once every 30 seconds or so with a really catchy tune, with extra repetition at the end to really make sure that you remember the song. I think it’s going to be spinning in your head for a while. Plus, the more repetition there is, the less space there is for the actual lyrics, so there doesn’t need to be as many relateable lyrics. (see the next point)                                                                                   .
3. Everyone can relate to the vague lyrics. Ok, most of us probably don’t know what it’s like to get high and party all night, so I don’t mean that type of relatable. But most people can (or want) to relate to  having a lot of fun and not having to care about anything and doing what you want, and since normal life isn’t interesting enough to glamorize in pop music, they step it up. A lot.  Same thing with all the love songs out there, since “love is universal…” *end cheesiness.  NEXT.                                                                                                                                                                     .
4. Often times, the lyrics refer to an object. Because we can all totally relate to an object right? I mean, we at least vaguely know what the object is, so technically, we relate with it  Just to name an example, Payphone by Maroon 5. What is the point of the phone in the song? (“Telephone” by Lady Gaga– another similar song) To make it more catchy? It’s actually a pretty good song without the chorus. Another song that kind of annoys me is “Starships” by Nicki Minaj. What. The heck. Is. A starship? I’ve asked that question to so many people before, and no one’s really answered me before (“It’s something in the sky!” “Something that flies!” “A ship in the stars!”) So if all fails for a singer, just take a random object, and somehow write an entire song about it.                                                                                                                                     .
5. It’s sooo contagious, I cannot get it out of my mind…bonus points to anyone that recognizes this song. NO GOOGLING. Anyways, my point here is that pop music is just…popular. We listen to it. We make it popular. Radios and public places play it because they know it’s going to be popular. And then we hear it and think it’s catchy, and the whole loop starts again.

*I think that was why I was a little obsessed with K-pop at one point. I wasn’t sure what they were singing about, but the music was so catchy that I kept listening.

So what makes a good song? The exact opposite of a pop song.

1. The music isn’t catchy, but you still like it, as well as the lyrics (if there are any)
2. Not too much repetition, and a substantial amount of lyrics besides the chorus.
3. Lyrics that are very personal to you.
4. Refers to a feeling, not an object
5. A song that you listen to when you want to, not when it’s stuck in your head.

Basically, a song that only you could like, or one that screams “story of my life.”. If you find a song that meets all these criteria, but everyone else says it sucks, then congratulations! You have found the perfect song. I haven’t heard a song like that yet, but I’m still searching. As for all of you who don’t listen to any kind of music at all, I strongly encourage you to start, because music is an art, and art’s just…an emotional thing. It’s hard to put in words.

Speaking of art, I was trying to draw a good picture on to fit this post, but I’m so artistically inept that this was the only best thing I could come up with.

Animations on GIMP are amazing.

I can’t interpret the point of this picture, but for all you artistic ones, could you place a meaning on this picture somehow?  And if you have any other opinions about music, have a good song you’d like to share, or would like to comment on anything in this post, go ahead and tell me!