How do you kill a song? Step one, you ensure it’s played by all the popular guys on campus. Step two, uh, there is no step two. Why? Because people will pick it up from the ‘cool’ guys. If all the cool guys listen to it,it is sure to become a fad. The song will spread like wildfire. Soon, it will be blaring out of every car,ipod or music system. That’s how it may stay for weeks, perhaps months. But gradually, people will stop playing it, because they will eventually realize that it’s cool to be different. Finally, after the song has been rejected by the masses, playing it will become one of the most uncool things one can possibly do. And if no one plays it, you can be sure you have murdered the song, because songs are written to be heard.
There are many songs which used to be cool, once upon a time. But if you play them now, people will think you have an unsophisticated taste in music and that you are trying to follow a trend. Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”, Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and RHCP’s “Californication” are a few prominent examples. I bet the same will happen to RHCP’s “Snow”.
Some bands are perennially hot! Buy why does your liking for one band define the whole of your musical horizons? The rule of thumb most people love to use goes something like this:
· If you like Pink Floyd, then you’re like everyone else.
· If you like Iron Maiden, you are a metalhead.
· If you like Cradle of Filth, you are a goth.
· If you like RHCP and Metallica, you are a nice kinda guy.
· If you like Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Nine Inch Nails or POD, you’re taste is interesting.
· If you like Linkin Park,Backstreet Boys,Nsync, Limp Bizkit, Maroon 5, DJ Shadow or Alanis Morissette, you are a pussy.
Some genres of music are perennially uncool. In my city,Pune, any hiphop song which doesn’t have Eminem or 50 Cent rapping in it is as uncool as classical sitar-and-tabla jugalbandis. Same with jazz, nu metal and electronica. And what is wrong with everyone’s ears? No one seems to be able to hear the bass guitar on a track, even if it’s blasting away at 120 decibels. In essence, things are pretty fucked up. Thus ends my little lecture, entitled "Popular Music: A Savage Hypocrisy". Goodbye!
