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1) As you know, I like watching cultural trends and try to keep up at least superficially with pop culture.
2) One of the things that strikes me is how so many of the songs of the last several years have either been about death or about getting older/nostalgia.
For 30 yr olds
2) One of the things that strikes me is how so many of the songs of the last several years have either been about death or about getting older/nostalgia.
For 30 yr olds
3) For example, "1-800-273-8255" (no, this isn't "Jenny") by Logic says "I don't wanna be alive, I don't wanna be alive
I just wanna die today, I just wanna die."
4) Ironically, "Deathbed" by Powfu, is a song about a young man on his deathbed, speaking to his girl friend:
I just wanna die today, I just wanna die."
4) Ironically, "Deathbed" by Powfu, is a song about a young man on his deathbed, speaking to his girl friend:
4) contd . . . He says "I don't wanna fall asleep, I don't wanna pass away." He adds "I don't know why this has happened, but I probably deserve it" and says "I've been praying for forgiveness, you've been praying for my health."
5) "Modern Loneliness," by Lauv features someone who is "so empty" because of the person his father made him, with the "baggage in my heart still so dark." He and his friends like to get high, but don't know how to come down and they are "always depressed."
6) Then you have the Ed Sheerans and Adeles, singing of a distant past from their ancient vantage point of 30 years.
Sheeran sings through a list of his childhood friends whose lives, in his view, are dead ends. "One friend left to sell clothes, One works down by the coast. .
Sheeran sings through a list of his childhood friends whose lives, in his view, are dead ends. "One friend left to sell clothes, One works down by the coast. .
6) contd . . . One had two kids but lives alone, One's brother overdosed, One's already on his second wife, One's just barely getting by . . ."
Adele, seeing a love from earlier years at a party, is taken with how good he looks, which reminds her of when "we were young."
Adele, seeing a love from earlier years at a party, is taken with how good he looks, which reminds her of when "we were young."
7) Adele, BTW, is older than the Redwoods . . . at 32.
8) Along with the death, depression, and yearning for younger years, there is also a strong current of being outcasts among this generation.
8) Along with the death, depression, and yearning for younger years, there is also a strong current of being outcasts among this generation.
9) Twenty-One Pilots tell us that "All my friends are heathens don't you know," and warns "Just because we check the guns at the door doesn't mean our brains will change from hand grenades . . ."
10) In case you missed the hint, "You're loving on the psychopath sitting next to you,You're loving on the murderer sitting next to you," and ask "How did I get here?" Cuz the answer is, we're all heathens. Lost. Hopeless.
11) Our ginger friend, Mr. Sheeran, weighs in again with "Beautiful people:" "We don't fit in well, 'Cause we are just ourselves, I could use some help . . .This is my only fear
That we become . . .Beautiful people."
That we become . . .Beautiful people."
12) In other words, everyone is a heathen, but that horrid state is better than being one of the beautiful people.. And who are those beautiful people?
The elites, the celebs that everyone seems to look up to.
The elites, the celebs that everyone seems to look up to.
13) Demi Lovato, a small girl with a huge voice, has had her share of challenges including a heroin overdose.
Her song post-recovery, "Anyone" is a tug at the heartstrings of the toughest cowboy:
Her song post-recovery, "Anyone" is a tug at the heartstrings of the toughest cowboy:
14) "A hundred million stories, And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody's listening to me, Nobody's listening
I talk to shooting stars but they always get it wrong
I feel stupid when I pray
So, why am I praying anyway?
If nobody's listening?"
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody's listening to me, Nobody's listening
I talk to shooting stars but they always get it wrong
I feel stupid when I pray
So, why am I praying anyway?
If nobody's listening?"
15) But for suicide-inducing music, The Queen of Depression has to be Billie Eilish. Even some of her "up" music sends you searching for the razor blades.
But "Everything I Ever Wanted" is probably the pinnacle (or the trough) of her mood-isms.
But "Everything I Ever Wanted" is probably the pinnacle (or the trough) of her mood-isms.
16) She has a dream where she got everything she ever wanted, except it might be a "nightmare, to anyone who might care."
She "stepped off the Golden mmm" (presumably "Gate") and nobody cried. "Nobody even noticed."
They "called me weak, like I'm not somebody's daughter"
She "stepped off the Golden mmm" (presumably "Gate") and nobody cried. "Nobody even noticed."
They "called me weak, like I'm not somebody's daughter"
17) Folks, these are terrific songs but they are also massive pleas for help. We have a generation who feels like nobody's listening, no one cares, and the present (let alone the future) is bleak.
18) This is key: THEY AREN'T SINGING ABOUT "CLIMATE CHANGE," OR RACE RELATIONS.
18) This is key: THEY AREN'T SINGING ABOUT "CLIMATE CHANGE," OR RACE RELATIONS.
19) These songs differ night from day from the 1960s era songs where the "powerlessness" the Jefferson Airplane or Credence Clearwater or Crosby Stills & Nash felt just angered them and made them more determined to "change the system" and "fight the man."
20) These young people are singing like the "man" already won and even if you got everything you wanted, it would be meaningless.
Everyone is a heathen, a mass murderer, a psycho. Is anyone listening? Cuz many of them say they want to die.
Everyone is a heathen, a mass murderer, a psycho. Is anyone listening? Cuz many of them say they want to die.
21) Take seriously these pleas for help from our 20-35 year olds. They are saying they can't be bought off by stupid "global warming" policy fixes or improved race relations.
Because NOTHING will fix that hole that they are feeling, except God. Let's hope they find Him.
Because NOTHING will fix that hole that they are feeling, except God. Let's hope they find Him.
