First: a short review of Lily Allen’s “Hard Out Here” (Released 11/12/13)
This message brought to you by the zinger of a new single that Lily Allen just put out “Hard out there”
Hard out there is a sharp edged jibe hypersexualisation in music and, more particularly at Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (which I could rant on for hours, but it’s already been done a lot) it does so without sex shaming. Hard out there“ showcase’s Allen’s signature razor sharp sarcasm and dry wit alongside smart commentary and a surprisingly well choreographed music video. (The new album is due out sometime next year)
Which brings us to my topic of the week: Social commentary and Controversy.
Putting yourself out there as an artist is dangerous enough. With a spot light on you at all times any move can catapult or decimate your career. All music has something to say and most songs have undertones that hint at something more than just the basic lyrics, which can be cause enough for gossip. Some artists take it one step further and put forth a clear-cut message. The bigger the statement the more talk, the more talk the more potential for controversy. Controversy is a double-edged sword, on the one hand everyone wants to hear what the fuss is about, on the other hand if the fans don’t like it, that can really damage your career. Regardless, it is media mayhem, doubly so if anything controversial comes up in the video. The commentary doesn’t need to be explicit to get attention either.
Lets look at a few examples
Robin Thicke’s “Blurred lines”* has a very clear very controversial message: That there’re blurred lines between consent and non-consent. When this song came out the media lit up. Did he actually mean it to be about rape? What kind of signal was this song sending? Thicke’s response only served to fuel this controversy. He claims the song is not promoting rape but feminism because of the line ”the man is not your maker“. Most people looked at the rest of the song as being very degrading and promoting rape.
Controversy or not, this song climbed to number one very quickly and became one of the top hip-hop songs of all time.(source)
What gives? This song has a horrible message and an equally horrid reputation. Why the popularity?
it’s the method of execution is what really made this song so insidious. It is presented as a catchy hip-hop song, not one people are meant to listen to closely. It is almost as though Thicke thought that he could get always with what he was saying if it was masked in a sexualized genera and catchy.
(I am not dignifying this video with a link, I fall very firmly into the group of people who believe that Thicke is a rape apologist piece of pond scum, to put it nicely)
Then we have a much more positive message in Rise Against’s “Make It Stop(September’s Children)” The song it self as a very powerful, very explicit message: We need to put a stop to the hatred and bullying that are bringing the young GLBTQ et. people to commit suicide. It was well received, but what really got people talking was the bridge wherein front man (Dude) lists off the names of publicly known GLBTQ teen suicide victims and their ages punctuated with “Seth Walsh, age 13” as a final, sharp reminder. It was a big eye opener to a lot of people. What really makes this song work is that, unlike “Blurred Lines,” it sends a clear, honest message with no pretense of being anything else and it shows people the face of the issue it talks about. This technique can be seen as heavy handed or worse yet capitalizing on tragedy. Either way, it managed to really win the attention of many people
While LillyAllen’s “Hard Out There” has only been out for less than 24 hours, it has already garnered a lot of press. This song represents another flavor of commentary: the jab. While the song pulls absolutely no punches, it isn’t as self-important as something like ”Make It stop“ it’s not a gut-wrencher. Rather, it uses wit and sarcasm to make it’s point accessible without diluting it. In fact, comedy and sarcasm often serve to make the ideas in a song more palatable to the audience and thereby much more readily attended to. (Linked above)
These strategies are all powerful methods of expressing a point that work in very different was to at least get attention drawn to their cause. However, they all also have the ability to push listeners away for the very same reason. Nevertheless, they become popular very readily.
* I am trying not to let my biases get the better of me in analyzing these artists but robin Thicke gets under my skin in a very nasty way
** This is the word that I use for myself. I do not like calling it gay because it rules out the ideal of fluid sexuality/ bisexuality. I do not mean any offense with this term.
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