Boredom?

NKOTB is back on the block. No, this is not a joke.

If the acronym isn't instantly recognizable, let me refresh your memory. Joey, Jordan, Donnie, Jonathan, and Danny. These five men were once young attractive members of the hottest band in America. The "music" they regergitated from british rock had absolutly no lyrical value, but wasn't too painful to watch them lip -sync. Thier debut stage performance has yet to be announced, but i'm betting there will be more middle-aged women at the ticket window than sixteen year-old girls at a Hannah Montana concert.

The fan base is there. The band has rejoined. Jonathan is forty. Why come back after twenty years? How attractive can a forty year-old man singing "I'll be loving you" really be? Not to mention, New Kids on the Block is directly responsible for musical abominations such as *NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys. Who knows what mess could spring from this comeback? Would NKOTB really want to be accountable for another generation of teen girls that cause people to hate the radio?



We shall see...

Listen to Me Write!

Storytelling has been embedded in music since the begining of, well, storytelling. If one were to read Chaucer scilently, he may have a hard time reading fluently. However, if read aloud to a beat Chaucer's poems seem as elementary as a Nicholas Spark's novel. Ancient literature appears lost in translation because the stories were once oral tales delivered with a musical accompaniment. It is easier to remember a story with a rhymes and beats than to memorize a Melville quote. Perhaps this is why we can remember the lyrics to "Oops I did it agian," but not acurately descirbe one topic discussed in The State of the Union Address.

Contemporary song writing is very similar to the oral storytelling of the ancient times. People offer advice, reveal truths, fight political injustices and teach through the art of lyrical music.

In this web log I intend to open the eyes of pop culture nay-sayers, ( those who believe there was not a decent song written after 1950) while we explore the poetic value of contemporary music. Each Friday I will post a link, along with a mini-analysis, to a song worthy of your ears. This blog is not strictly a place to analize lyrics. It will also explore the culture surronding contemporary music and the music audience.

Semantics say it differently

here