"I can't help it, I'm addicted to a life of material, It's some kind of joke, I'm obsessively opposed to the typical. All we care about is run way models, Cadillacs and liquor bottles." This is a lyric from Lady Gaga's song "The Fame" where she clearly states that she's nothing nut materialistic. I find it rather unfortunate that its songs like this, boasting about lives filled with fame, sex and money, that make it high on the charts. It's things like this that make me question how the general population of the world defines "good music".
I've always thought music was a huge influence in people's lives; however, after looking at the top ten songs on Billboard.com, I hope this is untrue. Of the top ten songs, six clearly dealt with sex, and one was basically saying "I'm better than you". That leaves three songs that could be G rated. If music is still such an influence in our lives, its no wonder we're heading down the path we're on. Sex, drinking, drugs, and putting material worth above personal worth. These are the kinds of things we see in the media now. I see evidence of this in my own school, it seems the innocence, and ignorance of these things is going out of children earlier all the time. I'm not putting the artist that top the charts to blame; but, as Lady Gaga says, they're just in it for the money and the fame. However, pre-teens, and younger teenagers look up to their favorite celebrities as role models.
It may seem like I'm only putting rap or hip hop up on the chopping block, but this is far from the truth. Every Genre has its artists and every artist has their song, not just the popular music. What really gets me is when people completely generalize genres. I've listen to hip hop and rap that's about real life problems and serious topics, and I've listened to artists that usually have a calm, love and life based style of lyrics sing about sex. It's not the genre, or the artist, its just the song. The worst generalization is with Metal; people assume they're all satanists and listening to their music causes suicide. This, however, is horribly untrue. Bands like Kutless or Skillet are on the heavy side, but they're christian based bands. Moreover, if someone commits suicide, its not because of the music they listen to, I've seen lives completely changed through music.
This is what I think makes good music; something people can relate to, song with meaningful lyrics, or, occasionally, a moving instrumental piece. When I listen to music, I want to know that the person singing or playing actually put thought and emotion into the song. Lyrics like "she stills dreams after she woke, tight hold on that hope. Sometimes it can seem so cold, do what you gotta do to cope" from Atmosphere's 'Dreamer' that actually make you think are what make good music for me.
Music is all about freedom of choice. Though it may be my choice to listen to music that makes me think, other people choose to listen to music they don't have to think about. Music that seems to be only a beat and a catchy tune is okay when you want to dance and have a good time, but it shouldn't be all a person listens to. "good music" can be whatever makes you happy, but it should also be music with a little substance, music that is about more than sex, drugs, money and fame.
It's hard to really say what makes good music, but it's mostly about opinion. Whatever music makes you happy is what you should listen to, however, try not to follow your favorite celebrities actions too closely. For those of you out there that only listen to whatever is popular at the time, go out and listen to some more underground music that has meaning. Listening to a persons type of music can give you insight into their life, so give your peers music a chance, maybe then you won't be so judgemental about othere's tastes.
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