The State of the Music Industry 2008

What's wrong with these James Blunt lyrics:

She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

If he's got a plan, how does he not know what to do? Ok, how about this Miley Cyrus gem:

I've got my sight set on you, and I'm ready to aim.

If you set your sights on someone, aren''t you already aiming?


These are prime examples of what frustrate me with the music industry today. Artists seem to think as long as they have a decent chorus and catchy beat or lick, the the lyrics don't have to make any sense (Miley can at least blame her lyricist - Blunt has no excuse). Toss a few one-liners and clichés, and you've got a #1 hit. The point of writing a song should be the same as writing a book, or making a movie, or performing a play, or painting a picture - you have a story to tell.

If a car looked really neat, but had a crappy, run down engine, would you buy it? Then why do we buy music with crappy lyrics?

I don't think we pay much attention anymore. Music has become a background entertainment. We listen to it in our car or on our iPod to pass the time during our commute to work. We even hear a song enough that we mouth the lyrics as we listen, but if asked what a song was about, we couldn't tell you. Yet certain songs would give you the same reaction if you were paying attention to them.

Most pop and rock songs on the charts are embarrassing. They sound like poorly recycled versions of what might have been original music (please, stop rhyming love with above, it's kicking a dead horse at this point). Mainstream rap and hip-hop are mostly songs about how awesome and rich the artist is (maybe the genre is the main inspiration behind today's reality television shows).

If JK Rowling's next book was about how rich she was and how she bets you wish you were her, could you relate to that? Would you buy the book?

There are still great artists hitting the top of the charts, but they are few and far between. As much as you love to hate him, John Mayer's music is original yet catchy, and his lyrics constitute a complete thought or story. And Alicia Keys last album was oustanding ("No One" was very much worthy of the two Grammys it aquired).

The world of popular music is not dead. But, like the economy, it's definitely in a recession. I'd love the opportunity one of these days to pull it out of that recession. I'm not saying I haven't written some crappy lyrics in my life, or that the songs I'm proud of couldn't still use a little tweaking, but I'm pretty sure I could write something with a little more depth than what James Blunt or Miley Cyrus are providing you.