deguspice: (Default)
deguspice ([personal profile] deguspice) wrote2014-10-12 09:22 pm

Penniless Pop Stars?

The theme for the crossword puzzle in Sunday's Boston Globe is pop songs from 2013. I don't listen to pop music any more, so I had no idea what any of them are. So when Ann and I found that the answer for the "#1 Billboard song in 2013" is the song "Thrift Shop", I pulled it up on my phone to listen to it.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/macklemore/thriftshop.html

Hey, Macklemore! Can we go thrift shopping?

What, what, what, what... [many times]

Bada, badada, badada, bada... [x9]

[Hook:]
I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is f**king awesome

Another popular song in 2013 is Lorde's "Royals", another song about not having much money.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lorde/royals.html

My friends and I—we've cracked the code.
We count our dollars on the train to the party.
And everyone who knows us knows that we're fine with this,
We didn't come from money.

This got me wondering, what's changed in the pop song world, that songs about being broke are making it to #1?

Edit: I think people misunderstand my questions. It's not "Is this tread of singing about being broke new", but why have pop stars recently switched from writing hedonistic songs about:
"Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash."
to performing songs about being broke?
(it's seven years since the start of the recession)

[identity profile] chanaleh.livejournal.com 2014-10-13 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
I... hear there's been a bit of a recession on?

[identity profile] c1.livejournal.com 2014-10-13 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Art imitates life.
I can go on at length about what it feels like to have a panic attack in the supermarket when you're wondering if you can afford to buy food if you really need more than that.

[identity profile] mrw42.livejournal.com 2014-10-13 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
I don't thing it's new…

Dire Straits was "install[ing} microwave ovens" in 1985.
The Bare Naked Ladies were enjoying Kraft Dinner in 1993 and breaking in "to the old apartment" in 1997.

I'm sure there are more examples, but those were the first two to leap to mind.
Edited 2014-10-13 02:57 (UTC)

[identity profile] bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com 2014-10-13 12:48 pm (UTC)(link)
If the economy is in recession, then pop songs will reflect that.

"Brother, Can you Spare a Dime" was a popular song in the 1930s.

[identity profile] aelf.livejournal.com 2014-10-13 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I think there's always been a good mix of topics. 9 to 5 is probably a classic in the genre of barely making it. I tend towards folk and country though, so I think of lack-of-money as being a standard song topic. Rhinestone Cowboy fits well, too, but it's more "poor dreaming of being rich."

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown drove an Eldorado so I'm guessing Cadillacs had some cache back then.
totient: (default)

[personal profile] totient 2014-10-13 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't have to buy me diamonds and pearls
Champagne, sables or such
I never cared much for diamonds and pearls
'cause honestly, honey, they just cost money


That's from the Billboard #1 hit for 1954.

[identity profile] awfief.livejournal.com 2014-10-16 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Songs about being poor are somewhat empowering for those who are less off currently, or who have *ever* been poor or working class. Thrift shop has some lines about going to a club and seeing everyone wearing $50 t-shirts, and how much of a rip-off that is. It's a stupid t-shirt, but people are paying $50 for it. Right now I'm fortunate enough to *have* that kind of money to spend on a t-shirt, but I still think it's ridiculous. (I'm sure there are things I spend money on that other people think are ridiculous....)

[identity profile] awfief.livejournal.com 2014-10-16 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
What does it say about 2010 that "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha was the #1 hit? Or "Yeah!" in 2004, or "Low" in 2008? Many of these songs have layers of musicality, beyond the lyrics.

Also, there's an entire hype machine behind pop music. For reference, "Thrift Shop" and "Yeah!" are great songs IMO. :D