Pop music is the perenial sewer of bad taste, cliche lyrics, and in today’s music world really bad songs. This editorial might seem a tad offensive, but it is suppose to be, a bit offensive I mean. My tirade of the week, has been Kelly Clarkson’s song: Behind These Hazel Eyes. Take it for what it’s worth, but Clarkson won the American Idol competition and the song that Christinia Aguilera wrote for her on the first album was pretty cool. Miss Independent, really is a good song. It’s not great, but it is everything good pop music is suppose to be, a good beat with some silly lyrics that make you feel good when you are thirteen (or totally depressed at 32). Since U Been Gone hit the same mark for Clarkson, it is a fun song and you might even call it a remake of Miss Independent, but the song that radio is killing (I mean playing) is Behind These Hazel Eyes. There is something which Clarkson seems to lack as an artist and that is depth. It’s hard to really explain, but if you listen to Whitney Houston (before she became all crackish) or even Mariah Carey, who is a talented singer despite her crappy songs, you can hear a lot depth. You believe the stupid lyrics, you breathe in the moment sort of speak when they sing. A good singer does this. Right now Clarkson is still not there and her music lacks depth because of it. She may hit the high notes on her music, but she just does not sound believable to me. Perhaps it’s that I don’t really hear the emotion in her songs and I really can’t believe she’s really hurt by love or whatever, but emotion is what sells pop music and so Clarkson’s music is mostly a bad product.
Which brings me to the rest of the pop music world, which is littered with even less talent and emotional depth, that’s right I’m talking about you Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson! This is what happens when music is forced, overly produced, and mass marketed for no other reason than to sell and make money. But one can’t really blame Hillary, Lindsay, or Ashlee, cause they are not the ones who originated it. Nope, I’m talking about you J-Lo! What made you think you could even sing? And for us latin people, what ever possessed you to sing in Spanish? A far worse crime! Britney Spears and J-Lo have great beats, but the talent is not there. They can’t sing. Britney is better than J-Lo at it, but I have no idea why people compare Britney to Madonna. Madonna has class, she has smarts, and most of all she has good taste and a good read on what people will like. Madonna may overly produce her music, but it is always good and interesting, even if you may not like it, you can still appreciate it.
But even in this mire of bad music and pre-packaged bad taste, you have to give it up to Gwen Stefani as being one of the few pop artists that can not only sing with the likes of Donna Summer, but also do the whole hip-hop thing without sounding too wanna-be (a.k.a. Mariah Carey). Stefani is the cool rock-chick. I don’t even like Hollerback Girl, but I still end up grooving the beat and listening to the lyrics.