Oh Beysus…

So, I had to post about it. Pepsi has just released its second spot after it’s Superbowl halftime takeover and Beyonce’s $50 million dollar endorsement. Today is not only a big day for Pepsi, but also for Beyonce as it marks her fifth anniversary being married to hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. Despite one of my previous posts where I questioned using celebrities in advertising, I like this commercial. I don’t know, maybe I’m biased because I’m a part of the Beyhive. After watching it hmmm 13 times so far, I’m still not sure what the commercial actually says about Pepsi. Maybe I’m just distracted by all the Beyonce video references and the snippet of her new single. Either way, I’d definitely go drink a Pepsi right now. I guess Pepsi is using Beyonce to attract new consumers and it might work. For some odd reason, I believe drinking a Pepsi will surface my inner Beyonce.

Forever Songs

I’m sure we’ve all heard someone or another in our lives croak on about the classics and how great they were compared to music today, but with the rapidly changing music industry, what exactly constitutes as ‘classic’ anymore? Our over-connectedness due to the web has allowed people to look past just the radio and the record store to find great music of all types. People have branched out their music tastes and “underground” scenes are hardly underground anymore. Music is all becoming very overwhelming to understand and people often wonder what is going to stick in future generation’s minds from of today’s information overload. One of my favorite quotes describing this comes from the 90’s favorite, Clueless. Travis says, “See, the way I feel about the Rolling Stones is the way my kids are going to feel about Nine Inch Nails.” He nailed it! (yes, pun intended). Meaning, the “classics” are always changing, and no one can tell you who tomorrow’s classics are going to be.

I like to think of great music in a different way. I think there are certain songs (or sometimes, artists) who are “forever”. Not “classic”, because “classic” can signify old, outdated or even the foundations upon something was built. “Forever” songs are songs that hold the same power, feeling, and sound as they did when they were invented. Songs that someone can pop into their record player, or CD player, or iPod thirty years after the song is released and it still gives the feelings and conveys the message that it did in its day. There are a lot of forever songs that are among us today, as well. There are forever songs of every genre in every time period. They transcend the fads and trends of the decade they were conceived in. They are the mantra of every generation.

What makes a forever song? In my opinion it’s creativity. With all creative mediums, insanely simple and meaningfully complex things are difficult to mimic and as a result, last endlessly. Think about it– are the Sistine Chapel and Andy Warhol’s soup forever art? Are Apple’s 1984 and Volkswagen’s Lemon forever ads?

Here I have listed 5 forever songs. These songs play with song structure, instrumentation, lyrics, and themes creatively to create songs that are everlasting.

1. M83 – Midnight City

This song plays with all the conventional things that make a popular song and breaks all of them. It might as well almost be an instrumental track– but it’s not, and that’s what makes it so powerful. It has lyrics, but really, who cares what they are? It’s something to sing along to while losing yourself in the feeling. It’s kinda electronica– but it’s not dance. There are all sorts of sounds and layers in the song that create something impossible to recreate, and a unique feeling that is difficult to convey in music. The approach of having a strong instrumental chorus is not a first, but it definitely has never been done like this. I don’t know if 20 years from now people will know this song as a “classic”– but I bet you the random hipster kids who do listen to it then will be just as entranced as we are.

2. Johnny Cash – The Ring of Fire

To me this is the forever love song. The musicality of it is really the bare minimum– the simplest things you need to compile a song, really. Also I would like to point out the well-blended vocal harmonies you may have never noticed are even there. Aside from the fact that it’s ridiculously catchy is the pure beautiful simplicity of the lyrics. It is the ultimate metaphor, and the best part is the ambiguity of it. Fire can keep you warm, but it can also kill you. The same goes with love. There is no clarity of whether this is a song about a disastrous relationship or a perfect one. It can be whatever you want it to be. It’s a song you could listen to while going through old Facebook pictures of your ex, but it’s also a song you could play at your wedding. Stop searching for what love is. Johnny figured it out already.

3. Blink 182 – I Miss You

You know that you secretly sing this song to yourself every time you hear it, and it was probably you and your awkward 8th grade girlfriend’s “song”. Whether you hate the obnoxious way Tom pronounces “my head” or not, here’s a reason this is one of the most famous songs that the pop punk genre has ever seen. This song breaks conventional song structure, especially compared to most punk, pop, and rock songs. Instead of traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, they mix it up by having a pre-verse, verse, chorus-music bridge-chorus. A song structure that shouldn’t seem  like it would work, but it does. Lyrically, it is a pretty strange love song. It takes dark imagery (such as nightmares, darkness, spiders, etc. etc.) and negative contexts (wasting time, apologies, sleeplessness) and somehow manages to create a positive song of restless, passionate love. The simple chorus line (Don’t waste your time on me/You’re already the voice inside my head/I miss you) and the piano and string parts say it the simplest– missing someone for the first time is a complicated subject, but this song sums it up. It is the forever teen love song.

4. Beyonce – Single Ladies

So Beyonce herself is pretty forever. We all know she is awesome. But taking her immense fierce-ness out of the picture, there is something about this song that makes it stand out from the rest of her hits. The song doesn’t rely on stupid cheesy dance beats or any fads. It is just a great, strong drum beat with a few musical accents. The creative theme is the strongest part of this song. We’ve all heard songs about women empowerment, but this puts such a twist on it. There aren’t fun, danceable songs about being a proud single lady. This isn’t screaming, “girl you don’t need no man”– because yes, girls do need someone to love. This is screaming, “you’ll find someone– but you don’t settle.” While the song is very wordy, she gets down to the point quickly– “If you liked it then you should’ve put a ring on it.” Damn right, Beyonce. Damn right. As long as there are dateless people on Valentines’ Day, this song will stay in our lives. Too many people write songs about being in love and not enough people actually are, so those of us who are flying solo will rejoice as proud single ladies (and men) to this song instead.

5. The White Stripes – We Are Gonna Be Friends

There are a LOT of White Stripes songs to choose from. There are a few reasons why this is one is forever. First, it’s simple. One guitar. One voice. One plucking pattern. Three chords. That’s all there is to it. There is no song structure. This sounds like it could be a really shitty song, but it isn’t, because it ties so perfectly into the theme. (That, and because Jack White is a genius) Second, the lyrical structure matches the simple style of the song. It’s just continuous verses that are parallel in structure, almost like a storytelling or a poem. Third, the theme is so unique and something everyone shares and understands. It touches on the simplicity and innocence of childhood. The lyrics are bits and pieces of grade school imagery that create a very small and simple story. The story isn’t spelled out for you; instead, you have to put it together, imagine it, like you are a child yourself. The excitement, innocence, and wonder that comes with childhood is restored in you when you hear it. Most importantly, it is the sound of nostalgia. It’s not nostalgic because you remembered it from when you were a kid, as songs of the 90’s and 80’s may be to us. You could hear it for the first time and it would strike nostalgia into you. That’s a powerful feeling.

If you’ve made it this far, you must really love music. These are just a few “forever songs”. There are a lot of them. The Beatles and A Tribe Called Quest were a couple of artists I couldn’t just pick one song to highlight. What are some of your favorite forever songs?