'kay. There are a lot of crappy shows out there, but probably not one that ticks me off as bad as MTV's My Super Sweet 16.
For anyone lucky enough NOT to have seen it, the show's about these spoiled brats whose parents decide--for some reason--to fork over $200,000 for their kid's 16th birthday party.
These parents aren't extremely wealthy. You can tell they live well, but you can also tell they're going way into debt to pay for the party. Paying for rap stars to make 5-minute appearances, incredible decorations, deejays, food ... not to mention $97,000 Jags and some sort of diamond necklace or tiara. They never interview the parents, but I'm guessing they overspend for 1 of 3 reasons: 1) they want their kid to have what they never had, 2) they want their kid to be popular/living vicariously through their teen, or 3) they don't want to look poor on camera.
So you'd think these kids would be grateful, right?
Wrong.
The brat thinks her parents owe her something. It's like that fat kid you see in the supermarket throwing a tantrum until his mom finally gives in and buys a candy 
bar. These kids are the most conceited, undeserving children in the world. If the parents think they are buying their kids, they are SORELY mistaken. Just stoking the fire...
When I think about what's wrong with kids these days I think about this show.
8 years ago
13 comments:
I meant to put this on your last post but missed the "deadline," so it is here to get noticed:
"Running To Stand Still"
And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was
Lying still
Said I gotta do something
About where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la de day
Sweet the sin
Bitter taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison
From the poison stream
Then I floated out of here
Singing...ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day
She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will...
Suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand...
Still.
Amen.
Now find me a band as good as U2 who came on the scene in the last 5 years...
We're supposed to find a band that's appeared within the last five years that compares with U2?!
It's tough to find bands that compare with U2 even discarding the time limit. It's unfair to expect any young band, no matter how talented, to be as good--nay, great, nay legendary--as U2. But U2 had already put out several albums by the time their masterpiece The Joshua Tree came on the scene. It even took 'em a couple of efforts before they reached War. And is any of U2's post-Achtung stuff at the same level? I'm not sure; it's good music, in my opinion, but is it great?
That said, I agree with you: a lot of music sucks these days. On the other hand, most music from every era sucks--law of averages. Is it worse these days? Maybe; the mainstream music industry sure doesn't seem to be putting a whole lot of interesting stuff out. Nevertheless, you're getting a little bit nostalgic if you think everything we listened to in the 80s or 90s was great, classic stuff.
Finally, I think there really is some pretty good music coming out these days.
Of course you know I'm quite fond of the Decemberists, who write some of the most intelligent lyrics of any band around--and back up the words with some pretty impressive instrumentals. Their style varies dramatically from song to song; if it wasn't for Colin Meloy's distinctive voice, it'd be tough to say it was the same band in some cases. I love the narrative in most of their songs, and nobody working today is making anything approaching "The Mariner's Revenge Song".
I'm loving the Arcade Fire more and more, too. Neon Bible, only their second full-length album, is absolutely fantastic. I find myself unable to stop playing it for any great length of time. I've got high hopes for these guys.
There's a bunch of other good stuff out there, too: Wilco, the Shins, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and the Strokes, to name a few. We don't have it too bad, if you know where to look ... er, listen.
Lastly--man, sorry for being so long winded--I just wanted to comment on the Cure. I never really liked 'em (other than "Killing an Arab", but that was mostly for its Stranger connection rather than anything musical) but lately I've found myself enjoying them quite a bit, too.
All right, I knew I'd leave off some good new bands. Muse, for example; their output runs the gamut from majestic rockers ("Butterflies and Hurricanes", "Knights of Cydonia") to haunting and delicate ("Endlessly", "Ruled by Secrecy"). They're pretty awesome.
I can't believe I didn't mention Coldplay, and as far as pop goes, it doesn't get much better than the Killers.
I am still convinced that real music does not exist today. There are like, 2 songs from Muse that I like and one of them is a Radiohead cover. All the Killers songs sound the same. And don't even get me started on Coldplay.
Helloooo....
Hanson, anyone? What about Hanson?
Kidding.
I feel a bit ignorant here when it comes to a lot of these bands. I'm not in the know, apparently.
To set the record straight on my views, though: there ARE some bands out there I do enjoy. I just don't think they have the same technical talent, compositional ability, or the ability to consistently come up with songs that don't all sound the same.
I tend to like the newer British bands, like Franz Ferdinand and Gorillaz...and the not-so-new, like Pulp and Radiohead. There are also a few American bands I like, like Fallout Boy and The Decembrists.
And all of those bands I just named have some FANTASTIC songs. I just don't think they are as good (over-all) as some of the older bands I grew up on.
It could be that I'm allowing nostalgia to taint my views--though I freely admit there was a lot of crap in the 80s/90s (Look at how many 80s groups used synthesizers, for crying out loud!)
But I think I could name dozens and dozens of incredible bands from pre-00s that put post-00s to shame. Although, that is putting 40-odd years of music up against 7 years.
There is a certain sameness to a lot of the cuts on the Killers' new one, Sam's Town, but it's growing on me. But there's quite a change between that one and their last, Hot Fuss, which is one of the best pop albums to come along in the last several years, even if it does have a retro 80s feel to much of it. "All These Things That I've Done" is a fantastic song (still my favorite from the album).
Sheesh, Chrissa! You're starting to sound like a geezer reminiscing about the "good ol' days". I think there's an abundance of good music these days from talented musicians. While most of the sterling musicianship these days seems to focus on guitar heroes, Sufjan Stevens puts out some densely orchestrated albums, and Sufjan himself plays, I swear, like forty instruments. His current ambition is to make an album for every U.S. state--two down, forty-eight to go. Check out the latest, Illinois. I'd suggest "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!", "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", and "Casmir Pulaski Day" as a starting point on that one, but it's tough to pick a sample because the album is so varied. (He also puts out a Christmas album every year; it's nice to have some non-annoying Yuletide tunes.)
Also, how about DeVotchKa? Good stuff!
Here's a Slate article about the Arcade Fire making the case for their impending greatness. Man, I want to see 'em live now more than ever.
Isn't Sufjan Stevens the guy on American Idol?
Yeesh ... I hope not!
DeVotchKa? Four words...
Are you kidding me?
So that I'll have some frame of reference, when was the last time we had any real music, Chrissa?
If you say not since Beethoven and pals were cranking out symphonies, largely I'd have to agree with you. But I get what pleasure I can from our trite pop music, which fortunately turns out to be quite a bit.
I'm basically just interested in what music you do like, I guess.
that's nuts, jared. this world is nuts. and bolts. yeah. pink poodles, phfffffdddd.
I can't think of a single band I have liked in the past decade+, but Dan will have found no surprise in that statement from me. I may enjoy a random song here and there, but nothing that makes me go "ga-ga" like the old days.
As some of you may know I am into Euro-style dance music these days, a genre called: trance.
Anyway, good hunting for those of you still in the game trying to find some good tunes in the world of Pop & Rock...I tapped out long ago. ;)
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