Finding the right words: the decline of lyrics in pop music

I dismantled my radio the other day. That’s right; I completely took it apart. Forgive me, but I couldn’t help but get sick of the stations. They all seemed to be playing the same cup of tea. Besides, I’d begun to develop the irrational fear of Carly Rae Jepsen’s lyrics melting my brain to smithereens. Thank God for hammers.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against music that lacks lyrical depth of any sort. Really, I understand. It’s summer; we all crave music that doesn’t need to be analyzed, music that we can chant along with like camp songs for simple, easy entertainment. After all, the critical thinking and whatnot ought to be saved for our time in school. No point in thinking deeply unless we’re being graded for our efforts, right?

But as good ol’ Eminem implied, there’s no getting beyond the fact that there’s been a huge decline of good music in today’s society. This can easily be proven by comparing today’s music with the music developed back in the nineties, eighties, seventies and even the sixties. Back then, we had The Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson and Tupac. Today, we’re stuck with Justin Bieber, Katy Parry, Carly Rae Jepsen and Ke$ha. Need I say more?

The mainstream music contains little meaning, and is cunningly designed to incorporate the catchiest of tunes, with lyrics – specifically choruses – that are easy to remember. Nowadays, more musicians are entering the industry with miniscule levels of talent and are forced to resort to the manipulation of machinery to help their voices sell.

Have I mentioned that their lyrics are often filled with taboo and unnecessary sexualisation? Maybe that’s for another time.

By Sarah Jama