On poptimism, anti-pop snobbery, and how to give the likes of Taylor Swift and Charli XCX the kind of close listen usually reserved for “serious” music.
I don't pay a lot of attention to the pop girlies beyond what my niblings enjoy, but I heard "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter in a rideshare when it was popular and I was struck by how much the instrumental sounded like a radio-friendly version of "420" by Floral Shoppe. The fact that she was willing to get weird like that made me appreciate her a bit more!
great example! she's gotten a lot of heat but sabrina is honestly v clever in her own right. and the girlies are getting weird and taking some interesting risks for sure.
I think I must have missed this last year. I definitely do not remember reading it and I think I would because the analysis is brilliant. I’m going off on a tangent here but there was an exchange in Off Campus that really annoyed me where a character is asked why he loves a song and he starts to talk about the bassline etc and the girl he’s with shuts him down and says “No, how does it make you FEEL?” As if the two things aren’t related. As if the technical aspects aren’t exactly what makes the listener feel something. For me, the exciting part of a song isn’t necessarily a build or crescendo, it’s more likely to be one element that just hits a sweet spot. Often there will be a chord progression or a key change somewhere that makes my tummy swoop. The guitar solo in The Ballad Of by Nicole Yun makes me lose my mind. In Dead Letters by We Are Scientists I am obsessed with the bassline. It fills my heart. And at 1:20 it hits a high note that for some reason always makes me catch my breath. Everyone hears something slightly different in the same piece of music which is why music taste varies so wildly. I don’t think there is any shame in liking, or not liking, something but it is clearly a mistake to equate your own tastes with the definition of quality. This essay clearly proves that. Incidentally, John Powell’s book Why You Love Music also has some interesting things to say about the effect music has on our brain and our emotions.
Gosh first of all thank you, and secondly I can REALLY relate to what you’re describing with liking particular moments in songs. I haven’t really written a song analysis like this since this essay but I’ve been playing with the thought of diving deeper into those special moments in songs I’ve always loved and I have this exact same mode of “waiting for THAT moment” 👽
ok damn i LOVE this analysis of "Von Dutch," a song i almost always repeat when i'm listening to 'brat' in full. i try so hard when i write to get at why the music makes me feel, and Rita has done it here better than i ever could. also yes the Beatles are definitely pop there's really no counterargument!! i loved reading this
it is! also "i wish more people would give this essay a chance" is how i felt about my nine inch nails post for the longest time until it got a rush of views and likes, and i'm pretty sure most of those came from you sharing it so thank *you*!
I’m pretty sure I remember reading this last year and my thoughts haven’t changed. I can’t see pop dying anytime soon. Shifting and changing form perhaps, but some form of pop music will always be around in my opinion.
I generally don’t listen to mainstream pop music. I don’t necessarily actively try to avoid it, but it’s just not one of my preferred genres. But ultimately, if I hear something and I like it, it’s not really gonna matter to me if it’s “pop”. I’m gonna enjoy what I’m gonna enjoy. I’m long past my high school days, back when it perhaps (definitely?) wasn’t “cool” to listen to certain types of music.
I don’t get the idea of “hating” any type of music or any type of music fan. Just not really a part of my personal experience.
In terms of an example of “the exciting part” of a song that almost always takes my breath away, sometimes reducing me to tears, it would have to be Metric’s “Doomscroller” at the 8:35 mark when the guitar and drums kick in again after Emily Haines finishes singing “come back to yourself from the battle”. It’s a brilliantly constructed song, worth a listen from start to finish if you’ve never heard it before.
i was a VERY early obsessive of metric's (if you read my more recent piece you'll see an embarrassing admission of that) and then fell off for more recent albums that i thought have been much weaker. but this is a big reason to give them another shot. i'll start with this.
I agree, the death of pop is not remotely close. As M/Robin Scott puts it, pop music is a "cultural phenomenon which has been current for at least 3 generations now. Pop music is something that everybody is familiar with (...) It's the wallpaper of the last 60 years" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWrDbs2sYSk).
Is pop music the only genre capable of surviving institutionalization? Or perhaps Pop Music is just like a Hydra, get rid of one variety of pop and two new ones will pop up (pun very much intended).
"Is pop music the only genre capable of surviving institutionalization? Or perhaps Pop Music is just like a Hydra, get rid of one variety of pop and two new ones will pop up"
Love the article, but it seems a little disingenuous to say “I have never intentionally listened to a Taylor Swift song, or a Sabrina Carpenter song, or a Chappell Roan song.” when you post an example of you intentionally listening to a Taylor Swift song immediately below.
It is OK to intentionally listen to music and it seems a little bit weird and part of the anti-poptimism that you’re talking about to say that you have never put a song on even just because you’re curious. Like, saying that you have tried it out does not lose you any credibility, or at least it shouldn’t.
But she hadn't, until we talked about this article premise and I gave her some pop songs to decipher. Then she did! She wasn't even aware of the concept of poptimism until we brainstormed this piece, so part of this whole exercise was for her benefit, and a self-exploration of sorts. Would it have been fixed for you if she had said "until now" after? Sorry if I'm missing the point you're making, I'm not trying to be difficult, I promise :)
I don't pay a lot of attention to the pop girlies beyond what my niblings enjoy, but I heard "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter in a rideshare when it was popular and I was struck by how much the instrumental sounded like a radio-friendly version of "420" by Floral Shoppe. The fact that she was willing to get weird like that made me appreciate her a bit more!
great example! she's gotten a lot of heat but sabrina is honestly v clever in her own right. and the girlies are getting weird and taking some interesting risks for sure.
I think I must have missed this last year. I definitely do not remember reading it and I think I would because the analysis is brilliant. I’m going off on a tangent here but there was an exchange in Off Campus that really annoyed me where a character is asked why he loves a song and he starts to talk about the bassline etc and the girl he’s with shuts him down and says “No, how does it make you FEEL?” As if the two things aren’t related. As if the technical aspects aren’t exactly what makes the listener feel something. For me, the exciting part of a song isn’t necessarily a build or crescendo, it’s more likely to be one element that just hits a sweet spot. Often there will be a chord progression or a key change somewhere that makes my tummy swoop. The guitar solo in The Ballad Of by Nicole Yun makes me lose my mind. In Dead Letters by We Are Scientists I am obsessed with the bassline. It fills my heart. And at 1:20 it hits a high note that for some reason always makes me catch my breath. Everyone hears something slightly different in the same piece of music which is why music taste varies so wildly. I don’t think there is any shame in liking, or not liking, something but it is clearly a mistake to equate your own tastes with the definition of quality. This essay clearly proves that. Incidentally, John Powell’s book Why You Love Music also has some interesting things to say about the effect music has on our brain and our emotions.
Gosh first of all thank you, and secondly I can REALLY relate to what you’re describing with liking particular moments in songs. I haven’t really written a song analysis like this since this essay but I’ve been playing with the thought of diving deeper into those special moments in songs I’ve always loved and I have this exact same mode of “waiting for THAT moment” 👽
That is an essay I would love to read!
I have one more reason to do it then 🦋
i want this on a poster, lou.
Aww, thank you!
ok damn i LOVE this analysis of "Von Dutch," a song i almost always repeat when i'm listening to 'brat' in full. i try so hard when i write to get at why the music makes me feel, and Rita has done it here better than i ever could. also yes the Beatles are definitely pop there's really no counterargument!! i loved reading this
Ohh thank you so much?! Almost makes me feel like I should write more about what impresses me in songs 👽
Yes please!!
Will do! 🖤
tysm max! i wish more people would give this essay a chance tbh, i think it's such an absolute banger
it is! also "i wish more people would give this essay a chance" is how i felt about my nine inch nails post for the longest time until it got a rush of views and likes, and i'm pretty sure most of those came from you sharing it so thank *you*!
i'm so happy to share your work!
I’m pretty sure I remember reading this last year and my thoughts haven’t changed. I can’t see pop dying anytime soon. Shifting and changing form perhaps, but some form of pop music will always be around in my opinion.
I generally don’t listen to mainstream pop music. I don’t necessarily actively try to avoid it, but it’s just not one of my preferred genres. But ultimately, if I hear something and I like it, it’s not really gonna matter to me if it’s “pop”. I’m gonna enjoy what I’m gonna enjoy. I’m long past my high school days, back when it perhaps (definitely?) wasn’t “cool” to listen to certain types of music.
I don’t get the idea of “hating” any type of music or any type of music fan. Just not really a part of my personal experience.
In terms of an example of “the exciting part” of a song that almost always takes my breath away, sometimes reducing me to tears, it would have to be Metric’s “Doomscroller” at the 8:35 mark when the guitar and drums kick in again after Emily Haines finishes singing “come back to yourself from the battle”. It’s a brilliantly constructed song, worth a listen from start to finish if you’ve never heard it before.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1gvGmBd2bVWefyeVZzuRSn
Gah that moment in Metric’s song SLAPS! the reverb on her voice and the drop right after really tear the soul out of you 🥲
i was a VERY early obsessive of metric's (if you read my more recent piece you'll see an embarrassing admission of that) and then fell off for more recent albums that i thought have been much weaker. but this is a big reason to give them another shot. i'll start with this.
(8) New York, London, Paris, Munich
Everybody talk about, hm, pop muzik (8)
I agree, the death of pop is not remotely close. As M/Robin Scott puts it, pop music is a "cultural phenomenon which has been current for at least 3 generations now. Pop music is something that everybody is familiar with (...) It's the wallpaper of the last 60 years" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWrDbs2sYSk).
Is pop music the only genre capable of surviving institutionalization? Or perhaps Pop Music is just like a Hydra, get rid of one variety of pop and two new ones will pop up (pun very much intended).
"Is pop music the only genre capable of surviving institutionalization? Or perhaps Pop Music is just like a Hydra, get rid of one variety of pop and two new ones will pop up"
now i want to talk about now-dead pop subgenres
Love the article, but it seems a little disingenuous to say “I have never intentionally listened to a Taylor Swift song, or a Sabrina Carpenter song, or a Chappell Roan song.” when you post an example of you intentionally listening to a Taylor Swift song immediately below.
It is OK to intentionally listen to music and it seems a little bit weird and part of the anti-poptimism that you’re talking about to say that you have never put a song on even just because you’re curious. Like, saying that you have tried it out does not lose you any credibility, or at least it shouldn’t.
But she hadn't, until we talked about this article premise and I gave her some pop songs to decipher. Then she did! She wasn't even aware of the concept of poptimism until we brainstormed this piece, so part of this whole exercise was for her benefit, and a self-exploration of sorts. Would it have been fixed for you if she had said "until now" after? Sorry if I'm missing the point you're making, I'm not trying to be difficult, I promise :)
What Gabbie said!
I’m also happy to announce I have since intentionally listened to at least a couple of Sabrina Carpenter songs (not for an essay!) 👽