The infectious earworm
Donna Williams
April 10, 2006
I watched MTV or Rage or whatever the music program was on the TV the other morning and there was some skinny blond twiglet singing a line ad nauseum till it sat in my head like an ?ohrwurm? (English translation ?earworm??the experience when something goes round and round your head like a broken record).
Then the next ?big thing? came on the screen and behold,? yes? another skinny blond twiglet singing another earworm at me. I was caught between sadness for the dead mainstream music industry and the humor of seeing the poor ?toy like? supposed male eye candy miming guitar strums in the background in their 90 seconds of fame. It was like the role female models once had as Robert Palmer?s ?props? in the track ?Addicted to Love? except now these castrated Ken dolls were reduced to the prop status the anorexic blond twiglets and pouty brunettes once had fifteen years ago.
Wow, ? am I meant to be impressed and wave a flag of ?girl power?? I?m not. I don?t do reverse prejudice or misandrist (man hating, or man-demeaning) supremist crud very well. I?m one of those deluded individuals who actually believes we could all look across at each other and not just up at or down upon each other. And sure, I can take a joke, but as the third skinny blond twiglet arrived in song three and sang me another depthless, shallow earworm, I had more headache than humor.
I turned the TV off. And guess what? Yep, the earworm, which was literally the words ?blah blah blah? (seriously) went round and round my head. And it occured to me that brainwashed fifteen year old boys and girls probably went out and ripped off that track from an internet site somewhere because they thought that having an annoying earworm was the same thing as ?liking a track? or ?hearing a good hook?. But a musical ?hook? is more than an earworm. A hook is something not just ?catchy? but CREATIVE , INNOVATIVE, often moving or inspiring. A musical hook is ARTISTIC. I could make rhythmic belching noises for 120 seconds and it?d still give them an earworm but let me tell you, there?s no lyrical depth there, no art, just fart.
Amazing though what the production line music bosses in the mainstream music industry get away with. They can show Barbie with sing La, Lee, Lo on three songs with her hair parted a different way for each track and a slightly different outfit and those who have had no introduction to musical diversity will actually believe this is interesting as long as all the other brainwashed sheep ba-aa along with the idea. Nobody wants to say ?buddy, that emperor has no clothes on?. Seriously, they did psychology studies on this, people actually work this way. And the mainstream music industry may complain their mass production substanceless output is being ripped off now and then but they are producing this stuff from queues of lip syncing models and their pockets and egos ain?t empty yet. As for me, I have no desire whatsoever to rip of anything from the internet, especially music. If I hear quality music, I actually want to honour the artist and pay for it. That?s part of my relationship with that artist and without that how can I feel I respect him or her? And with sites like www.cdbaby.com showcasing affordable, diverse, quality, innovative artists with original works at affordable prices, I really don?t care if I leave the MTV and Rage turned off forever.
I hear a drop of rain on my roof and its setting off an earworm. Lucky for me nobody?s waiting to cash in on it.
Donna Williams *)
author, artist, songwriter.
www.donnawilliams.net
Then the next ?big thing? came on the screen and behold,? yes? another skinny blond twiglet singing another earworm at me. I was caught between sadness for the dead mainstream music industry and the humor of seeing the poor ?toy like? supposed male eye candy miming guitar strums in the background in their 90 seconds of fame. It was like the role female models once had as Robert Palmer?s ?props? in the track ?Addicted to Love? except now these castrated Ken dolls were reduced to the prop status the anorexic blond twiglets and pouty brunettes once had fifteen years ago.
Wow, ? am I meant to be impressed and wave a flag of ?girl power?? I?m not. I don?t do reverse prejudice or misandrist (man hating, or man-demeaning) supremist crud very well. I?m one of those deluded individuals who actually believes we could all look across at each other and not just up at or down upon each other. And sure, I can take a joke, but as the third skinny blond twiglet arrived in song three and sang me another depthless, shallow earworm, I had more headache than humor.
I turned the TV off. And guess what? Yep, the earworm, which was literally the words ?blah blah blah? (seriously) went round and round my head. And it occured to me that brainwashed fifteen year old boys and girls probably went out and ripped off that track from an internet site somewhere because they thought that having an annoying earworm was the same thing as ?liking a track? or ?hearing a good hook?. But a musical ?hook? is more than an earworm. A hook is something not just ?catchy? but CREATIVE , INNOVATIVE, often moving or inspiring. A musical hook is ARTISTIC. I could make rhythmic belching noises for 120 seconds and it?d still give them an earworm but let me tell you, there?s no lyrical depth there, no art, just fart.
Amazing though what the production line music bosses in the mainstream music industry get away with. They can show Barbie with sing La, Lee, Lo on three songs with her hair parted a different way for each track and a slightly different outfit and those who have had no introduction to musical diversity will actually believe this is interesting as long as all the other brainwashed sheep ba-aa along with the idea. Nobody wants to say ?buddy, that emperor has no clothes on?. Seriously, they did psychology studies on this, people actually work this way. And the mainstream music industry may complain their mass production substanceless output is being ripped off now and then but they are producing this stuff from queues of lip syncing models and their pockets and egos ain?t empty yet. As for me, I have no desire whatsoever to rip of anything from the internet, especially music. If I hear quality music, I actually want to honour the artist and pay for it. That?s part of my relationship with that artist and without that how can I feel I respect him or her? And with sites like www.cdbaby.com showcasing affordable, diverse, quality, innovative artists with original works at affordable prices, I really don?t care if I leave the MTV and Rage turned off forever.
I hear a drop of rain on my roof and its setting off an earworm. Lucky for me nobody?s waiting to cash in on it.
Donna Williams *)
author, artist, songwriter.
www.donnawilliams.net
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