In Defense of the Overplayed Song on the Radio (That I Really, Really Like)

"Aww yeah, TURN THAT SHIT UP! I fucking LOVE this song. The harmonies in this song are amazing, the raw emotion of the lyrics in the chorus and...

"Aww come on, man! Why are you turning it off? This song's great! Oh wait, you use to love this song, but since you listen to the radio every day in your car as you commute to and from work and since this song is #1 on the singles list, all the radio channels have conspired to play this song on all their stations and you can't avoid it, you've begun to hate it with a passion? Well sorry, man... that sucks. We don't have to listen to it.

"I do have to remind you that I constantly catch myself singing this song, especially the chorus... so if I do that and it irritates you in advance, I apologize in advance."

So that pretty much sums up all of the conversations I've had in my friends' cars every time "Somebody That I Use To Know" comes on the air... and almost every popular song that's good, but gets WAY overplayed to the point people are just tired of it.

I understand their argument; I never listen to the radio because I grew tired of what they were playing and the couple of songs that I liked, they played it every half hour along with the other seven songs I either liked or didn't like in varying degrees. I remember having to listen to the same Britney Spears song every day at 6am, the time my alarm clock went off. One day, I woke up and they were playing something else. Of course, the song ended in ten seconds, and the DJ introduced, of course, the same Britney Spears song (it could have been "Slave 4 U" or "Toxic" or one of those, I don't remember.) But right there and then, I decided never to wake up to the radio.

"But you didn't have to CUUUUUUUUUT me off..." oh shit, sorry. It just happened, I'm sorry. Where was I?

Unlike some of my friends, I take the bus to work. I can listen to whatever is on my iPod or smart phone. Or YouTube or Spotify or Pandora or whatever. Why can't they just turn off the radio, or put in a CD? If I was stuck in a car, I'd get bored listening to traffic noises and go into road rage sooner or later. And CDs? What if you get bored and wanna change a CD? Is anyone really going to change CDs while driving? Getting the CD out from the glove box, take the CD out and replace it? Unless you have a passenger, changing CDs might get you into an accident, no matter how quick you are.

"And I don't even NEED your love..." Dammit, not again.

I could blame the person in the car, but it's really not their fault. I could blame the song, but is it the songwriter's fault for having a catchy song that everyone likes? Isn't that a dream for most writers out there: to have a successful song that people really enjoy? Sure, half of the music on the radio (or more, it's been a while since I listened to the radio constantly) is utter crap that's got that one catchy pop hook that enough people will like it, despite the shitty lyrics and repetitive beats, but there's some good songs out there. It's just harder to find sometimes.

"Treat me like a stranger, it feels so rough..." Sorry, I got distracted. This happens every fucking time a song gets stuck in my head.

Nah, I blame the current radio culture. I blame Clearchannel for having their monotonous business structure in every song, ad, and DJ segment mapped out in advance. That's why I have to hear Britney Spears every time I woke up at the same time. That's why people get tired of good songs (or really bad songs) when it's playing on the radio every eight minutes.

"But'cha didn't have to..." Shit! You see, I stopped myself there.

It makes me sad to hear someone hate a good song because it's overplayed. It's true that you don't need to listen to the radio every day to get tired of a song (supermarkets, TV, and movies can overplay a song just as much.) Then again, people can listen to the radio every day and not get tired of a certain overplayed song.

"Every now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over..." See, I wasn't even thinking. What? I sing the girl part, so what?

The thing is: there's always an alternative. If you're tired of the radio, hook your iPod to the car stereo. If your car is old, CD it up. Or listen to NPR, if you don't fall asleep to talk radio, that is. I just hope one day, the radio will stop overplaying my favorite songs so that I don't feel like a douchebag every time I accidentally sing a song out loud.

"Toniiii-yiii-eiaiiaiaiyght... we are young..." Wait... no.

Knowing today's music scene, though, the flavor of the month will change to some song that we'll all like or dislike, the song will stop playing, and hopefully we can all look back on that one song we didn't want to listen to any more because it drove us crazy up a fucking wall, and realize it was actually pretty good. Maybe I'll go back to that one Britney Spears song and say, "Hey, it's actually pretty catchy." But if it was "Slave 4 U," only the video... you know why. Maybe it was "Toxic" that got overplayed... fuck, who cares?

"Now you're just somebody that I use to know..." There I go again... you know what, no apologies this time. NO APOLOGIES!

"Somebodyyyy..." "I use to know..." "Now you're just somebody that I USE TO KNOWHOAWHOAOW!" The harmonies kick ass, dammit. I don't care how many times it's played, I'll always like that part.

At least it's not Jaguar Love... or shitty Christian Country "rock." Or "Friday." Or "Whip My Hair." Or anything off of Maroon 5 that's NOT from "Songs About Jane."

Stupid People Make Stupid Parents (Issue 2)

So I bumped into THIS video online and it's "going viral," so they say. To sum it up, some young kid who looks like he's four years old sings in church and sings this line "Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven" that gets a standing ovation to the (mindnumbingly stupid) churchgoers.

I'm sure others have said their piece, and how tragic it is that homophobes and racists train their spawns at an early age to hate like them... and I'm sure somewhere else has said funnier comments, but fuck that, I'm going to rip it any further.

1. Wouldn't it be something if it was really a song about gay people getting into heaven and the double negative was used to fool the idiots at the church? Not likely, eh? Well then...
2. It's "Ain't n No homos gonna are going to make it to heaven" or "will make it to heaven", you dumb fuck. Learn proper English before you bash someone or you'll be open to get bashed, regardless of age. But you probably won't, since you'll probably be home schooled and taught how to spell through the Bible and FOX News. 
3. The parents were proud of the kid... apparently someone said "That's my boy" during the video... and probably taught him that song. To be honest, I should feel sorry for the kid, since his parents are more focused on teaching hate than Hooked on Phonics. I guess hating on gays and liberals make them feel like bigger people. Aren't these people suppose to believe in... I don't know... Jesus? That's what makes them Christians, right? I don't remember him saying "I hate dem damn queer, Commie libruls." I guess that's in the Pat Robertson translation, someone who believes that homosexuality is similar to demonic possession and thinks prayer can stop natural disasters. (HOW is this guy not in a padded cell?)
4. That kid really needs to learn how to enunciate when he sings... or talks, because that wasn't really singing... he was just speaking in rhythm. I really only understood the chorus; the rest of the song sounded like jibberish. I know it's hard to understand most 4-year-olds since they're getting use to speaking, but he all ready sounds like a fucking redneck. Unfortunately, this kid isn't off to a great start and hopefully doesn't get held back in school when he fails science over and over again.
5. If they're so easily entertained by a toddler singing a mediocre song, I bet I can shock and awe them with this shiny stapler on my desk... or a lava lamp... or a ship in a bottle... or a Newt Gingrich speech.
6. I'd rather listen to Gotye's "Somebody That I Use To Know" in a 24-hour loop than listen to this kid again. Well, wait, that's not fair... I actually love this song. Uhhh... I'd rather listen to Jaguar Love? Ugggh. Yeah, I'd rather punish my ears with that than watch Baby Santorum.
7. This gives religion a bad name. This gives a bad name to those Christians who don't use their religion to justify their hatred toward other people who go to a church that accept all who come through their doors and treats everyone with honor and respect.
8. I'm not an atheist per se... I'm more agnostic than anything... but I don't believe in THEIR God and THEIR church. Sadly, this is an example of why people shit on Christianity and religion in general.
9. This church also gives a bad name to Indiana... or at least the few sane people from that state. I know a couple of people from Indiana and they're awesome... they're WAY better than these fucks, and they don't hate on people like these stupid dimwits.
10. If there is a god and it's an unjust god, this little fucker will actually believe the shit out of his mouth and not actually get to know actual gay people and realize the church's hate is a lie, and he'll end up being a successful country singer. If there's a just god, he'll be on Broadway, starring as the lead part in South Pacific, come home and introduce his family to his partner, Jerry. But if it's anything like reality, this little kid may or may not believe the shit out of his mouth, grow up to work at McDonald's in his hometown, never having the chance to move out, and may or may not blame the Mexicans for taking away all the jobs, making him work the night shift. I just hope the kid ends up being a rebel and tells his parents and church to fuck off. Let's hope he smartens up if he ever ends up going to the Indiana University. (Go Hoosiers... unless they're up against the Badgers... then Go Wisconsin!)

I'm so glad my parents raised me in a secular household, giving me the choice to be religious or not, and giving me the choice to do my research of which religion was best for me, if I ever wanted to belong to a particular faith. I don't want to see the alternate universe where my parents stuck around with the Jehovah's Witnesses (and didn't say, in the words of my dad, "This is fucking stupid. Let's go.") or if my dad didn't abandon Catholicism as a child. To be fair, I'd probably still be the way I am today, especially growing up in San Francisco. I wouldn't be able to survive if I couldn't celebrate birthdays or not go without contraception anyway. 

Plus, I could totally take that kid in a karaoke challenge any day.