I think that because of the Internet and how global our resources are nowadays, teen culture that begins as authentic quickly loses its authenticity. Take for example Facebook. The website started out small- at one college, and snowballed into a giant phenomenon. As the website grew, it got the attention of advertisers and was seen as an outlet for marketing. There are ads in the sidebars, various advertising related applications, and other advertisements. Because of the Internet being so fast and so vast, the website grew and attracted marketing attention much more quickly than movements have in past generations. The Internet really expands and limits capabilities for teen culture at the same time. More teens can find out about a subculture, but advertisers can as well. Another example is the Emo subculture. Emo actually started out a number of years ago; in fact it dates as far back as the late 1980s. It began as a grassroots movement, but Emo has evolved over the years. With the rise of the internet, especially sites like Myspace, where bands can post their music, Emo has caught the attention of major record labels and advertisers and has become warped and commercialized. The triple-platinum, #1 chart topping mega stars Fall Out Boy are a testament to how commercialized Emo has become. What began as a subgenre of hardcore punk has been thrown into the marketing blender and come out as a wrist-cutting, skinny jean clad, eyeliner-wearing girly boy smoothie. Marketing nowadays chews up any subculture we may devise and spits it back out in packages for us to buy.
Sunny Day Real Estate, one of the first Emo bands (1992). Notice the non-skinnyness of their jeans and their non-girlyness.
Pete Wentz, of Fall Out Boy (2006). Notice the eyeliner, or "guyliner", emo haircut (bangs over face), and if you could see, he would be wearing skinny jeans.
Advertisers are hired to promote the sale of products, so naturally they want to know about their consumers. They run focus groups, subscribe to expensive culture spying websites, with the goal of really understanding teenagers. No, not understanding teenagers- understanding what makes them want to buy things. This tactic, almost fake empathy, is used to sell anything and everything. It is really a shame that advertisers are the only ones listening, but they're not listening. They're hearing without listening. They hear what they want to hear; what teenagers buy. They don't really listen or care about anything else teens might be trying to say. But that's not their job. Advertisers shouldn't be concerned with anything else. The problem is that no one else is listening either. Politicians, teachers, even parents or adults in general, rarely ever do they really listen to teenagers and take what they say seriously. Teenagers are expected to talk without speaking- be concerned with getting a prom dress, not about the AIDS pandemic. So many teens don't even vote, and it's probably because they believe they can't make a difference. They've been indirectly told that their opinions don't matter, so why bother give them? People should start listening to teenagers for a greater purpose than selling a soda. The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls- and those prophets are teenagers.
My favorite song by Taking Back Sunday is called Miami, which is on their most recent album, Louder Now. http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Taking-Back-Sunday/Miami.html
The lyrics to this song are actually less obscure than most of Taking Back Sunday's lyrics. And interesting tidbit about this song is that it is lead singer Adam Lazzara's favorite song off the Louder Now record and it is his least favorite place in the world. The song is written as one person talking to another, most likely their love interest. I think the song is the speaker apologizing for having done bad things in the past (in Miami). The person that the song is directed to had faith in the speaker and possibly wanted to marry him. The speaker is very scared of marriage and probably commitment. However, the speaker is saying that the person he was in Miami is completely different and he can never be that person again. The tone of the lyrics would lead me to believe that the speaker has deep regret about what he has done in the past. The lyrics don't really apply to me personally, but I can see how people could relate to this song. Mostly everyone has regrets about the past and relationships. This song is my favortie really more because of the sound rather than the lyrics. It has a really good beat and genreally sounds awesome. I never really considered the lyrics and I do like that it is like a monologue that could take place in real life- someone apologizing for what they were like in the past. I'm sure it happens all the time. The lyrics don't really have a profound effect on me- I still like the song simply because it sounds good. Actually my favorite lines from a Taking Back Sunday song are from the song You're So Last Summer. It goes: The truth/ Is you could slit my throat/ And with my one last gasping breath/ I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt. I just think that that is a really funny image- someone apologizing for bleeding while they die. It could be in a Tarantino movie or something.
So, this isn't exactly an assignment (although Taking Back Sunday helps the environment, which in turn helps animals...therefore this post is justified!), but an issue that is very important to me, and hopefully to you, too! Canadian seal clubbing is cruel beyond belief. I won't go into the gory details, all you need to know is that they are clubbing baby seals to death. Enough said. Sign the petition and spread the word that this is not ok!
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2sealhuntpetition Note: there is a video you can watch if you go to this address, but it is very graphic (and heartbreaking).
I heard about Taking Back Sunday two summers ago when their song MakeDamnSure was getting a lot of radio airplay on Q101 (the alternative rock station). I was instantly drawn to their sound; hard rock, but with a strong melody, incorporating both fast and slow parts into their music. Also, the lead singer, Adam Lazzara, has a nice voice and is certainly easy on the eyes. Hearing that song prompted me to buy their newest album, Louder Now, which I ended up loving. I later bought their other two albums, Tell All Your Friends, and Where You Want To Be, which I also love. Their lyrics are really interesting- they're kind of a jumble of obscure ideas with a repetitive chorus, and often a call-and-response type pattern between Lazzara, and the guitarist/back-up vocalist, Fred Mascherino. I can't really say if they lyrically represent the values of my generation because the lyrics are so complicated. Take for example their hit song MakeDamnSure, it begins: You've got this new head filled up with smoke/ I've got my veins all tangled close/ To the jukebox bars you frequent/ The safest place to hide. This lyric, like many of theirs, are hard to understand. However, I do know what they stand for, and in that way they do represent the values of my generation. Talkin' 'bout my generation (I couldn't resist...), one of the most prevalent issues today is the environment and global warming crisis. Taking Back Sunday are huge advocates of spreading awareness about this issue. The first screen that appears when going to their website, http://takingbacksunday.com , is one which advertises their new DVD, and right under that is a banner and link to Stopglobalwarming.org. Taking Back Sunday even performed at the New York branch of Live Earth: Concerts For A Climate In Crisis this summer. This event was of course arranged by the king of global warming education himself, Al Gore. The band has been working hard to make their tours more green through such methods as providing recycling bins at shows and encouraging people to carpool. I definitely noticed recycling bins and other promotions for fighting global warming when I saw Taking Back Sunday play at the Projekt Revolution tour in September. Above is a video of the band performing MakeDamnSure at Live Earth and below is an interview with the band about Live Earth and how they help the environment.
It's hard to imagine Elvis as a rebel. After all, he's even older than my parents' generation, and they're OLD. However, he truly was rock n' roll's first bad boy. Back in the 50s, he got the country All Shook Up. Sure there were other bad boys at the time, Brando, and Dean, but unlike them, Elvis wasn't a Rebel Without A Cause. Elvis rebelled against suppressive values and traditions. He told woman Don't Think Twice, It's All Right to have sexual desires. Elvis also rebelled against racism, bridging the gap between black and white music, and telling whites, Don't Be Cruel. He had everything a bad boy needed, good looks, lots of hairgel, and an attitude to match. Although he never did the Jailhouse Rock, like so many bad boys today, That's All Right, Elvis was in a whole other league. Today people think growing up In The Ghetto selling drugs, or having a mohawk and ten tattoos makes them rebels. I'd like to tell them Return To Sender. What do they know? No one can compete with Elvis, just with a shake of the hips he got himself banned in several states, revolutionized the music industry, and changed the country- even the world! He really is the king, and no one will ever be able to take the crown from him.
The group I remember being my first favorite group has got to be the Backstreet Boys. The singing, the dancing, Nick Carter's dreamy looks... what's not to love? You weren't cool in 4th grade unless you listened to the Backstreet Boys. Millennium was definitely their best album, five words: "I Want It That Way". There is a reason that sugary pop gem was chosen as the #3 best song of the 1990s. "I Want It That Way" kicks the crap out of "Bye Bye Bye" or "Hit Me Baby, One More Time". In the battle for the hearts of kids in the 1990s the Backstreet Boys reigned supreme. I admit I went to concerts of N'sync, Britney Spears, and the Backstreet Boys in my youth (for the record, I was invited to all three of them), but I find Backstreet Boys the least shameful. As you can tell from my little online ipod my music taste is significantly different now, the pictures on my bulletin board have been replaced with new bands (and new hot lead singers). But whenever "I Want It That Way" comes on, I'll be singing along, and I'm sure just about anyone my age will as well. I might even have that song on my ipod...
First post on pop blog...how fascinating. Let's make this more interesting, shall we? ....marshmallows.... ..........albatross......... .............potato.............. ................llllllllllllama............
