Thursday, June 30, 2011

Getting drunk is... cool?

1. THUMBS UP: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
I've heard the name "Adele" many times recently, but I've personally never really heard her music before.  I was pleasantly surprised when I heard "Rolling in the Deep."  There isn't a single cuss word throughout the entire song, which is a rarity these days.  There aren't any obvious sexual innuendos that I could find.  Even the music video was very clean.

The song seems to be about a girl who has been misused by her significant other and is very angry and wistful about their breakup.  The only part I really don't like about the song is the few mentions of revenge.  "Finally, I can see you crystal clear.  Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare.  See how I'll leave with every piece of you.  Don't underestimate the things that I will do."

However, overall I'm quite impressed with "Rolling in the Deep" and since it's in a style that I like, I may be adding this to my own personal playlist.

2. THUMBS DOWN: "Give Me Everything" by Pittbull (featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack, and Nayer)
As you can probably tell from the title, "Give Me Everything" is a song almost entirely about sex.  Nearly every verse talks about lust and sex.  "Tonight, I want all of you tonight. Give me everything tonight. For all we know, we might not get tomorrow.  Let's do it tonight."  This makes me think of the worldly mindset discussed in Isaiah 22:13: "But see, there is joy and revelry... eating of meat and drinking of wine!  'Let us eat and drink,' you say, 'for tomorrow we die!'"

"Give Me Everything" comes from the whole "I don't care--do what feels good" perspective that seems to run so rampant these days.  "Excuse me, but I might drink a little bit more than I should tonight and I might take you home with me if I could tonight.  And baby, I'm-a make you feel so good tonight, 'cause we might not get tomorrow."  Do you see what I mean?  There is also reference to very casual sex.  "Grab somebody sexy and tell'em hey! Give me everything tonight."  My overall opinion of this song is disgust.  I can't find anything redeemable here.  Thumbs down.

3. THUMBS DOWN: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO (featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock)
Honestly, I didn't even realize that LMFAO was a band until I saw the Billboard list.  I'm not a big fan of their name, considering that LMFAO means, "Laughing My F******* A** Off" in text talk.  I looked up the lyrics to this song and only felt disappointed.  The first few lines seemed absolutely pointless and fairly harmless: "Party rock is in the house tonight. Everybody just have a good time and we gonna make you lose your mind. Everybody just have a good time."  After that, however, the lyrics began to spiral downwards.

Girls are mentioned several times in a disrespectful way. "Yo, I'm running through these hos like Drano... Step up fast and be the first girl to make me throw this cash."  Misuse of alcohol is also discussed: "One more shot for us, another round. Please fill up my cup. Don't mess around. We just wanna see you shake it now. Now you wanna be, you're naked now."  

No, I'm not a fan of the lyrics to "Party Rock Anthem."  I get that this must be the new anthem for wild parties, but for those of us who are striving to listen to what is pure and noble, this isn't it.  Instead, all I see is negativity towards women and a "Who cares what people think? Let's party!" attitude.  This is not who God made us to become.

4. THUMBS DOWN: "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" by Katy Perry
I've already heard this song all over the internet and even seen the music video, which features the infamous Rebecca Black, singer of "Friday."  Despite the "fun" persona of the song, I cannot stand the lyrics.  The song is about a girl who wakes up on Saturday to remember what a crazy time she had partying the night before.  The song makes getting drunk and going wild seem so cool.  From the first lyric, we realize what the singer has done: "There's a stranger in my bed. There's a pounding in my head... I smell like a minibar. DJ's passed out in the yard... There's a hickie or a bruise.  Pictures of last night ended up online.  I'm screwed.  Oh, well.  It's a blacktop blur, but I'm pretty sure it ruled."  And it goes on and on, describing the crazy activities of last Friday night and making them sound like a blast.

The music video is even worse.  It starts out with Katy Perry dressed as the stereotypical high school outcast with braces, headgear, huge glasses taped in the middle, and geeky clothing.  She wakes up with a hot guy in her bed, right before a guy bursts in and congratulates her for hosting the best party ever.  Throughout the video, Katy Perry flashes back from the night before, where Rebecca Black helped her transform into a beautiful girl wearing skimpy clothing, being fought over by guys, and becoming popular.  It makes Katy Perry's night of partying without her parents home seem cool.  In fact, the party seems like it helped Katy Perry become popular, beautiful, and fun.  At the end of the movie, when Katy Perry's parents return home, they don't seem to mind that she trashed the house and got drunk with her high school classmates.

I hate the moral of this video.  Partying with so much alcohol and casual sex should never be considered a good thing.  Considering that Rebecca Black is... what, fourteen?... it seems like this song is directed towards a younger audience, which doesn't make sense.  Honestly, I can't find anything good about this song.  I'm not sure why ANYONE would want to add it to their playlist.

5. THUMBS DOWN: "E.T." by Katy Perry (featuring Kanye West)
This song is definitely interesting.  The song is apparently about a girl who falls in love with a guy whose love is so amazing, it is extraterrestrial.  "Boy, you're an alien, your touch so foreign. It's supernatural, extraterrestrial."   The worst parts of the song by far come from Kanye West.  In a quick verse that lasts only about thirty seconds, he manages to say the a-word, f-word and shares at least two obvious lines referencing sex.  Katy Perry also shares some lines that made me feel uncomfortable.  "I wanna walk on your wave length and be there when you vibrate. For you, I'll risk it all."  The entire song seems to be made up of sexual undertones.  And even in the chorus-- "your touch so foreign"-- the song seems to be revolving around lust.

"Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me. Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, ta-ta-take me. Wanna be a victim. Ready for abduction."  I don't like how Katy Perry is describing love as a poison or infection.  You shouldn't feel like a victim when you fall in love.  Love isn't victimizing and no girl should ever be victimized by love.  While I know Katy Perry is only using those words as a figure of speech, I still don't like the wording.  I'm going to give the song a thumbs down.

This song reminds me of a Christian song by Group 1 Crew called "Outta Space Love."  You can listen to it here.

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