Apr 27, 2011

Music or Madness?

by Kami Cornwall

It's official. I am becoming my mother. I had little clues along the way...like when I found myself repeating the same phrases she did when I was young; "Holy Hannah! Heaven help us all! Home again, home again, jiggity jig." I was mortified the day she shouted at a sales clerk for having pre-ripped jeans for sale because, "I try to get them to wear decent clothing without holes in them, and you are selling them all full of holes!"

So I was driving to preschool to pick up my son when a new Lady Gaga song came on the radio. The lyrics seemed far fetched and I thought to myself, "She couldn't possibly be saying what I think I'm hearing. I'm in love with Judas? No." Oh yes. I had to switch it off because I couldn't bend my brain hard enough to try to interpret this one in a way that made sense.

She sings, "When he comes to me, I am ready/ I'll wash his feet with my hair if he needs/ Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me/ I'll bring him down, a king with no crown. I'm just a Holy Fool, oh baby he's so cruel, but I'm still in love with Judas, baby."

She explains: "You have to look into what is haunting you and you need to look into forgiving yourself in order to move on." I don't buy it. It still makes me sick. I can't bring myself to sing along to this one let alone listen to it. I found myself saying out loud, "What has this world come to, that we're glorifying Judas?" To be fair, I also think the Lady's lyrics to "Bad Romance" are equally disturbing.

So...it's safe to say I'm not a fan.

I feel like music has been in a rut for a long time now and there are very few artists out there who I enjoy listening to anymore. Have I hit my limit? Am I officially "old" now? Say it ain't so.

7 comments:

  1. I knew I had "grown up" when I hear myself say "I don't know what's wrong with younger people today." The whole earth stood still that moment while my brain processed what my mouth had just said. Bummer...I was offically a grown up.

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  2. No, No, Kami, not old, just smarter and more attentive to the full effect of a song.

    I've been amazed at the number of times my teenagers have been surprised when I pointed out the lyrics to a song they're listening to. They just like the music and the beat. Too frequently they have no idea what a song is even about. (I'm pretty much a nazi about this.)

    You're just wise enough now to listen to the *whole* song. Old? No, no, no.

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  3. Disclaimer: I'm not really a fan of Lady Gaga. I never listen to her. I'm a country girl.

    That being said, I believe that you might be missing the deeper meaning of the lyrics. She's not in love with THE Judas, she's in love with A Judas.

    Calling someone Judas is an extremely powerful metaphor to indicate the level of their hurtful betrayal. One could possibly also portray this by using Brutus from Roman times, but I think that Judas really hits the idea home.

    As much as we might think she's a fool for doing so, she's saying that her 'man' betrayed her multiple times (assumably in intimate fashion) and yet she's so in love that she's going to forgive him every time and still be partnered with him.

    Stupid? Yes. Glorifying Judas? Not as much as one might think.

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  4. Smarter, wiser, more discerning, yes. Older? Never!

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  5. Ugh! of course I'm not a fan of Lady Gaga either - I tend to listen to old stuff - really old stuff - old jazz from the 20s to the 50s and classical music.

    I do think Elizabeth may be on to something with her interpretation of the lyrics - but even then, I'd find the song pretty iffy.

    oh, and you're not old... at least I hope not... because I don't want to be old either :-)

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  6. I find Gaga herself to be disgusting and disturbing. I've also found myself to say some of the exact things I swore I'd never say when I was my kids' age: "Back in my day...how can you listen to this?" etc. About the most mainstream we listen to is P!nk, who in my opinion has a ton more singing and songwriting talent than Gaga, although we download the clean versions of her songs--the lady has a bit of a pottymouth. LOL Otherwise, the majority of our favorite music is from indie bands or soundtracks.

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  7. Thanks, Elisabeth, for that insight. I really was trying to see into her metaphor but it disturbed me so much at first that I just had to shut it off and yell out loud about how crazy it seemed. Judas! What the??? The other artist I hear is Keysha (I know I'm spelling it wrong) who has some great dance beats but the lyrics are a little....self-centered, stupid, and downright weird at best.

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