Let’s talk guilty pleasures. Guilty pleasure music is the best. You know what makes it even better though? Not feeling guilty about it. Most of my personal “guilty pleasures” fall in the Whiney-Wannabe-Punk Of The Early 00’s genre- and that’s just fine with me. Everybody (or so I speculate) loves the sweet simplicity of the songs they listened to in middle school. There’s no shame in having safety-blanket songs that titillate the senses in a totally different way than “good music” or “cool music” does. Guilty pleasures surrender all pretense and release the spirit of the person you used to be when you were at your most innocent (and naïve). Feast now upon the songs that topped the charts in the early 00’s, and frequented the Orchard Lake Middle School morning announcements and/or every little Jewish kid’s Bar Mitzvah.
OCEAN AVENUE- YELLOWCARD
I think “Ocean Avenue” has a decent set of guitar chords. It’s still a little mainstream and California to be taken too seriously though.
GET THE PARTY STARTED- PINK
It’s lively, it’s bouncy, it’s got easy rhymes; it gets the party started. Pink tried her hardest to break away from the Brittney and Christina bubblegum image that people kept grouping her into, but A: your songs are poppy, that doesn’t mean you have to dress or act a certain way, but just embrace it. B: Christina Aguilera has a wonderful voice and her most recent album drew from old time swing and R&B sounds, don’t underestimate her.
SK8ER BOI- AVRIL LAVIGNE
Yeah, I went there.
THE ROCK SHOW- BLINK 182
I love Blink 182. I absolutely would’ve gone to their concert this year except that, in Michigan, they played with Fall Out Boy instead of Weezer- I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway, in “The Rock Show” (or as it was incorrectly entitled on my itunes until five seconds ago, “Girl At The Rock Show”) the chugga-chugga-chugga guitar sound starts and a good time is had by all. One of the worst lyrics ever: “Fell in love with the girl at the rock show / she said ‘what?’ and I told her that I didn’t know.”
BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS- GREEN DAY
At the end, in the background, is a guitar going “DUN…dun…DUN…dun.” The impending doom of teen existence is implied.
HANGING BY A MOMENT- LIFEHOUSE
Great belt-out-in-the-car song. Not as good as “Life on Mars” or anything by Bowie, but I’ll take it.
MISS YOU- BLINK 182
“Halloween on Christmas.”
HANDS DOWN (ACOUSTIC)- DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL
This is my go-to feeling sorry for myself song. It is the whiniest, most melodramatic piece of shit on the planet. Its starts off so cautionary and subdued and it ends up yelling all high pitched and, well, angsty. It’s the baby’s desperate waaaaaaah of all songs.
THE ANTHEM- GOOD CHARLOTTE
Good Charlotte was basically Simple Plan but “more hardcore.” Translation- they wore more guyliner. I wasn’t allowed to go to a Good Charlotte concert, but I was allowed to go to a Simple Plan concert. Good Charlotte were a little more goth, with songs like “Bloody Valentine,” but they’re still a teeny-bopper staple for me. In “The Anthem,” the line “I don’t ever want to be like you” sounds juuuust like “na-na-na-na-boo-boo.” Instead of coming off as deep social commentary, it sounds like playground folly.
I'M JUST A KID- SIMPLE PLAN
This song rivals “S8er Boi” in its simplicity. Cause it’s simply AWESOME. His voice sounds like the little nasally dork who gets picked last in gym class. He’s not actually a kid. It’s like a metaphor, for the child who still cowers inside of us all.
MR. BRIGHTSIDE- THE KILLERS
It’s kind of like that handclap, Ms. Suzie Had a Steamboat, you know where it sounds like you’re about to say a dirty word but then you don’t. Yeah, that shit killed in middle school. Got to love a band that sings with a British accent even though they’re from Las Vegas. You say phony, I say “Fucking top!”
PUNK ROCK PRINCESS- SOMETHING CORPORATE
An example of how saying “punk rock” in a song doesn’t make a song punk rock. If you want to be punk rock, shout like you mean it!
FLAVOR OF THE WEAK- AMERICAN HI-FI
“Flavor Of The Weak” has such a tease of metal in the intro. Luckily, I don’t like metal, so I don’t mind. Then kicks in the same whiney voice we’ve been hearing throughout this entire playlist. The sequence of three-syllable stop-lines in the chorus are so everybody-sing-a-long-now that this song could never be mistaken for metal.
TAKE ME AWAY- CHRISTINA VIDAL
You’re going to poo your pants because the origin of this song is just that ridiculous. Therefore, I had to include it. If you’re as delightfully tacky as me, you already know that this song is from the 2003 movie adaptation of Freaky Friday, starring Lindsay Lohan. You can’t get more shallow-teen-cries-out-for-help than Lindsay Lohan.
EXISTENTIALISM ON PROM NIGHT- STRAYLIGHT RUN
The classy piano in the intro gives way to a tragic, desperate voice that overshadows the rest, just like prom night. They definitely get brownie points for singing the line “out of key” out of key; it’s like a seal of authenticity. This song inspires major interpretive dancing around my filthy room.
I am citing “Guilty Pleasures” for question #1. Nearly every single one of these songs can be found on my ipod and I am not embarrassed about it. These songs are fun to listen to and normally put you into a good mood, despite some of the topics being sung about. If I were to add something to this playlist it would be “My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson.
ReplyDeleteI am citing “Guilty Pleasures” for Question #1. I know most of these songs and they are definitely recognizable throughout my youth. It was interesting how you connected this playlist to the sonic qualities of 90’s Alternative Rock and other genres. I was surprise to not see Avril Lavigne on there since she seems to want to follow a certain identity and not follow the “teeny-pop” star label.
ReplyDeleteI cited your playlist "Guilty Pleasures" for question 1. I related to the "Guilty Pleasures" playlist because I felt a connection to my middle school years and the angst I felt as an early teenager when listening to each song. I found the playlist to be refreshing because it acknowledged the popular, top radio hits that I listened to growing up as also having a place in the music world. I thought it was interesting that you were able to prove that the music of Simple Plan and Good Charlotte can be an outlet for the listener and serve a sonic purpose, even if it is just to have a song to scream to with your friends on the way to a middle school dance. I would also add Sum 41 and Simple Plan's "Addicted."
ReplyDeleteI am citing this playlist for Question 3 of Task 7. I think this a really awesome concept and a lot of fun, but I just don't care for the early 2000's emo/whiny punk rock genre. There are a few songs on this list that I like, but personally I had a hard time getting into most of it, even on a purely fun, guilty-pleasures level.
ReplyDeleteI am citing this playlist for Question 3. I, like everyone else, has had their fair share of guilty pleasure music that they enjoy, but music in the whiny-emo genre isn't really part of the music that I enjoy. I admire your ability to share your love of such music so openly, but I have to say that this playlist really isn't my style.
ReplyDeleteI'm citing this playlist for Task 7 Question #1. Many of these songs were my favorite songs as a child. One group that I listened to at this same time was Sum 41 and I thought they would fit in well in this playlist.
ReplyDeleteI'm citing your playlist for Question #1. Most of these songs were definitely stuff I loved hearing as I grew up and still they are great to go back to. I would add "Fat Lip" by Sum 41 and "Swing, Swing" by the All-American Rejects.
ReplyDeleteI totally feel you on the "guiltless guilt" of middleschool jams. Mine happened to be tracks by the likes of Benzino, SHYNE, CashMoney Millionaires (let's not talk about this anymore). But yea, I can dig your pop-punk vibes on this playlist and this group of songs definitely takes me back to my radio-listening days. I don't think i'll pursue this music further, but good to know it still has its listeners!
ReplyDeletetask 7, question 2
I'm citing your playlist for #3. I admit that I do have guilty pleasures (80s synthpop) on my player, but I really can't connect with the emo and pop-punk style of music. I understand that it's not supposed to be totally serious music, but I can't get into it on a surface level either.
ReplyDeleteI am citing your playlist Guilty Pleasures for question #1. I too think of these songs as guilty pleasures and they are always fun to listen to. If you were to add another song I would suggest “Boys of Summer” by the Ataris because it is a quintessential summer song that would mix well with the songs you listed.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have to cite this playlist for question #1. Guilty as charged, I certainly identified with these songs at one point in my life. Your commentary on the songs was very entertaining. I don’t really remember any other artists that fit this playlist that you haven’t already mentioned. I think I’ve successfully tried to forget about them. I definitely appreciate the throwback though.
ReplyDeleteI am citing this playlist for #1. Your commentary for "Sk8er Boi" speaks volumes; I am pretty sure I can still recite every word of every verse. Music is so heavily tied to memory, and listening to the songs of this list took me back to the space they fill in my mind: my first concert without my parents, middle school dances, and my pink walkman. Although it does not exactly fit the theme of the blog, if I added this playlist to my iPod I would also have to add guilty pleasures such as Britney Spears and other pop stars as well.
ReplyDeleteI am citing this playlist for question #3. I was actually only familiar with about half of these songs from my own angst-ey high school music phase. Even in my angst, there were some serious holes in my self-obsessed musical knowledge. However, as I choose new music to listen to, I don't find that I'm drawn back to these songs, where the "attitude" can sometimes take precedence over the music.
ReplyDelete