Short answer: yes. duh. of course.
Long answer: eh, not really.
That’s probably going to piss off some of you music purists who think you have such refined music taste but hear me out. How enjoyable a song is generally boils down to two qualities: catchiness and meaning. But on the first listen, or first few listens, it’s basically impossible to derive the true meaning of a song. The most lyrically intricate songs need several listens to truly grasp. Some may never fully be grasped. Thus, I don’t think it’s so out of left field to stress the importance of a catchy beat and melody.
Let’s take it a step further though and look at the trends in popular music over the past decade or so. The most popular genres of music in recent years are hip-hop and EDM. EDM is clearly beat driven and relies very little on the quality of the lyrics. Hip-hop is a little tricker. Sure it was originally an art form that rested its laurels on its complicated word play but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Hasn’t been the case for a while. By the way, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Most of that “meaningful” music is boring as hell. If you disagree you can stop reading this blog and go listen to Tupac alone in a dark room while you nod your head slowly and pat yourself on the back for how deep you are, ya boring ass! But for the rest of you who like music that is enjoyable (wild concept), most of the best hip hop songs mean absolutely nothing. I mean for a few years now it’s basically been dudes sounding cool over amazing beats. And with the more recent rise of mumble rap, it’s even harder to dispute this point. Gucci Gang!
There’s also one burgeoning genre that never gets brought up in these arguments but I think it’s absolutely crucial to discuss: k-pop. Unless, everyone got together and learned to speak Korean over the past few years, the rise of groups like BTS and Blackpink is directly attributed to how catchy their beats and melodies are and not the meaning behind their music. And also how damn cute the BTS boys are!
Okay okay okay but all these points just address that new age bullshit right? You don’t listen to any of this trash. Nope! You listen to the classics like Oasis man!
Noel Gallaher Still Clueless Over Champagne Supernova Meaning
Oh? Guess your taste is not that different after all. Looks like we’re all just walking down the hall faster than a cannon ball together.
