One thing you’re always warned against as a writer is the use of clichés. Whether it’s Dr. Orlando soothingly assuring you clichés would be frowned upon, or just about every English professor threatening to rip your head off if you use them (Just kidding, English Department. You know I love you), clichés are the cardinal sin of a writer.
Of course, when you’re sipping sizzurp in your ride and bumping jams, you don’t exactly care if a writer is using exemplary imagery to make you feel the moment. Personally, I’m impressed when a singer writes a functional sentence that manages to rhyme.
Still, the media has recently been barraged with pop junk, which not only hangs to clichés like a crutch, but also makes the cliché the main point of the song. Alas, there’s just some hackneyed formulas which we as a society need to ban singers and writers from leaning on. And that, ladies and germs (see, aren’t clichés annoying?), is why I’m here: To enlighten you to some of the worst clichés used in today’s music.
That isn’t to say all clichés are going to bring the death of the music industry (That would be piracy). After all, one of my favorite songs is “Wild Horses,” and that’s basically a running cliché. That said, there are just some songs that aren’t sure how to employ their clichés, and it’s time someone called them out on it.
Now, there’s plenty of clichés I could protest, from the objectification of women, to the inability of artists to show weakness. But there’s an even more absurd and frightening trend I’m noticing is being used more in music: explosives in songs.
Currently, three of the top downloaded songs on iTunes involve explosives, in “Grenade,” “Firework,” and “Dynamite.” Now I suppose in theory it could make some sort of sense. An artist wants to express a lot of energy being released at one time, and so the artist goes with explosion.
No, it’s not the actual cliché I have an issue with, so much as the context behind using explosives. Little hint to Bruno Mars: telling a woman you would catch a grenade for her isn’t charming, it’s downright disturbing. When Taio Cruz blurts he’s going to light it up like it’s dynamite, I’m not sure if he’s having fun at a club, or whether he’s lighting a fuse, and planning on blowing up the club. And Katy Perry telling me to go “Boom, boom, boom, even brighter than the moon,” doesn’t make me want to express my creativity and individualism.
No, sadly, all it does is bring up images of the Gaza Strip, and for those who have actually had to deal with the stress of explosives on a daily basis. Do you think a Vietnam veteran appreciates a song that brings to mind explosions and bombs? Ok, I accept that a Vietnam vet isn’t the target audience, but what about today’s crop of soldiers, or even worse, those directly affected by 9/11?
You’d think in this political climate, a song about explosives wouldn’t even sniff the airwaves. Yet three are part of the most downloaded songs in America! I think it’s time we cut the red wire, and defuse this utterly tasteless cliché in music. Explosions just don’t make good metaphors. Especially in this time.
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