Sand, Toes, and Good Lyrics

It is a hasty generalization to say that most songs these days have poor lyrics. I think it’s just that those that make it to MTV and Billboard’s charts are those with silly lyrics. Those good songwriters hover in the background and get smothered by teeny popstars with big hair and boobs. They sing in studio-enhanced voices, start a fashion trend, wear lots of mascara, and sing songs that could be summed up to: “I like you, you like me, let’s get a room–or maybe let’s forget the room.”Good lyrics do not get the same degree of attention because a lot of people do not want to understand them. Some people would actually equate smart to something humiliating. It’s like you have to be ashamed to be intelligent or if you know more than your average Jane and Joe who’re sitting beside you in Physics class. That is the message that a lot of movies in Hollywood are giving, especially those that are targeted to the adolscent audience.

How many people know the art of using words in a song to convey a message? In my generation alone, I don’t think that a lot of them know Cat Steven’s compositions, or sang to Don McLean’s lovely words. In the Philippines, a lot of people do not know Cynthia Alexander or are not familiar with her brother Joey Ayala’s music. They’d rather sing songs that keep on dissing people or exes. I mean after all, how hard could saying “f*ck and sh*t” over and over be?

I don’t understand why Willie Revillame praises Lito Camo’s compositions a lot. He’s only writing about spaghetting pababa and other songs that could be digested by locusts easily. I have nothing against novelty songs at first. It was fun then, but lately there has been an overdose of Lito Camo in the airwaves. I salute though his ability to make people who can’t sing win Platinum Awards. On second thought, Lito’s the one making Willie’s songs. He’s promoting his Christmas CDs to TFC subscribers. *shrug* A guy has to make a living right?

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November 26, 2006 at the beach with Sean. It’s Sean’s first time at the beach.

–gRaCe