One day when we were eating dinner, Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” came on the radio and my mom began to move her body to the rhythm and beats. I was going to wait until she figured out what the song meant but I couldn’t take it so I said, “If you knew what the song meant, you wouldn’t be shaking and moving your body mom.” She stopped and asked, “What is the song about Angela?” … “Mom, it is so disgusting to say what the song means as we are still eating”, I replied while hiding my laughter in my stomach.
A lot of people may like a beat to a song but they don’t know what the song means. I find it that a lot of songs which have an inappropriate meaning are the ones with the good beats. You like to listen to the beats and you don’t forget about the lyrics and the whole message behind the song. Once someone has told you what the song means, whenever you hear the song, you just shake your head in disgust. It has happened to me a lot and sometimes I just ignore the lyrics and listen to the beats. For resistance, there is this song “Mambo No. 5” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu7hmd33So) which I think is a bit offensive to girls and women…my name is even there. Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Monica, Rita, Erica, Tina, Mary, Jessica. This guy keeps on singing…A little bit of ……, a little bit of …….
If you are curious like me, you would be wondering “Why do artists make songs like that?” Why can’t they make simple songs about life or happy things or least things which are appropriate for all ages? I know that some artists only make songs for a certain age group which is unfair. For example, before Katy Perry made songs for teenagers or even just adults, but now she has turned a new leaf and she is now making songs for mostly all ages, including children.
Usually songs have different meanings to them. Some may be breakup songs or some may be about random things like love, people feelings, like the song “Happy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM) by Pharrell Williams. His song was about happiness. Some songs may be about life struggles. I always wonder where artists get their song ideas, the words and all. It sounds really hard to write songs all by yourself and that is why some artists do not even write their own songs. The pressure is on when your fans want more and more songs and maybe they ran short of ideas and write anything that come to their mind!
At the end of the day, my mom figured out the meaning of the song and now I just don’t know what is going to happen. She did not even know the title of the song….I guess next time she will do her research first before dancing. So it is okay to like the beats to songs. I cannot imagine the world without the music we have today. Music makes us happy! The lyrics can however make us mad.
Angela-Acaye.