so, during a recent discussion with the husband, we debated exactly what constitutes pop music. this all stemmed from me introducing him to LIGHTS, with me explaining, “i think she’s technically considered pop, but not nasty KIIS-FM, lady gaga crap pop. know what i mean?”
which, of course, leads to the understanding that there are currently two types of pop music running around nowadays: pop music (i.e. top 40) infused with R&B beats and pop music (i.e. indie) influenced by 80’s synths and beats.
the husband brought up an excellent quote from one of his favorite authors, nick hornby, to summarize pop music in our culture:
"What came first---the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?
People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands---literally thousands---of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss.
The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones who like pop music the most; and I don't know whether pop music has caused this unhappiness but I do know that they've been listening to the sad songs longer than they've been living the unhappy lives." - high fidelity
interestingly enough, we decided, most music, at it’s core, can be considered “pop” music – because it’s popular with someone, right? think about it – how do most people hear about music? either through the radio (which tends to only play songs approved and liked by the masses) or by word of mouth (and hence, popular with the person selling it). every song always has a fan somewhere, albeit a friend, a family member, and/or dozens to millions of strangers who memorize every word, every chord.
(although, I must admit, we did declare we could not, in all consciousness, define bob dylan – the husband’s choice – and joni mitchell – my choice – as pop music, considering they transcend such definitions and move more into poetry and whatnot. disagree? too bad.)
anyways, i want to introduce you to someone who, in my opinion, is clearly a pop artist. LIGHTS must have listened to a ton of yaz and other synthy eighties bands while growing up, because you can clearly hear the influences in her music. she’s exactly what you’d expect from a pop song – catchy beats, frothy vocals, and the typically angsty lyrics that can come across as fun at times. however, there is another side to this artist, as represented in her newly released acoustic EP. these songs fall away from the pop music definition and veer more closely to indie folk. i love these little experiments, where you can listen to the same artist sing the same song two completely different ways and find them to be so different.
it’s all a matter of interpretation, i suppose.
up for your listening pleasure today are two different versions of the song river:
Out across cities I see buildings burn into piles
And watch the world in wonder as mountains turn into tiles
And trees losing their leaves, and our faces becoming tired
I wish I could discover something that doesn't expire
Come and stumble me
Take me river, carry me far
Lead me river, like a mother
Take me over, to some other unknown
Put me in the undertow
Such are the things that make a kingdom rumble and shatter
The same dynamic that another day would never matter
It really just depends on who's giving and who's receiving
And things that don't make sense are always a little deceiving
Come and humble me
I want to know where you're going, a follower following
Changing but never changed, claiming but never claimed
(mp3) river (acoustic) by LIGHTS
(mp3) river (daytrotter session) by LIGHTS
check out LIGHTS’ daytrotter session, especially drive my soul HERE. especially worthy of your attention is drive your soul. as always, you can download the entire album at daytrotter FREE!
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