Big, firm tits = Good song?

In our society we have this notion of a beauty ideal – particularly for women. In order to be successful at anything one needs to comply with this superficial beauty ideal (which is propagandized by most fairy tales and movies).

Luckily, more and more people have begun to realize that there is more than just one body shape, that tastes might differ and that looks isn’t everything. Sure, many still cling  to “big, firm tits, smooth skin, slim” – but promoting this ideal is kind of stigmatized and people begin to realize the delusion behind it.

When it comes to music, we also have such an ideal: The ideal song. The radio compatible song. Short, with a catchy hook, a melody you can whistle, easy-to-memorize lyrics, just a few chords. Simple and predictable.

The sad thing is that most musicians seem to accept this and admit that it is correct. “Sure, you can make art,” the say, “but if you want to be successful, you need to obey these rules. That’s just the way it is.” And even if they do not care about being played on the radio, they compose as if there was nothing else but this one song scheme and structure, all bowing down to the tyranny of the music industry.

The irony, of course, is that most music consumers want the exact opposite: The world is longing for more variation, for adventure. More and more listeners are turned off by the stale radio fare, turning desperately to customizable internet radio, only to find that even the non-mainstream bands all adhere to the rules that allegedly dictate what a good song has to be like.

There are only few musicians who do not care about these concepts. People like Ólafur Arnalds show that you can be commercially successful in what seems to be a separate universe: A world of variety, beauty, endless possibilities and adventure. “Bohemian Rhapsody” has shown in the past that this can even be part of the industry-dominated world.

I am sick of people telling me that every song has already been written.

Yes, let’s not even start to discuss the combination of big breasts, smooth skin and short, simple, catchy songs. Yuck.