Here is an essay I wrote about pop music. Please enjoy and share your thoughts.

BUBBLEGUM POP
The Everlasting Gobstobber

Pop is a powerful form of music. I love it. You cannot deny the power of a good pop song. Catchy hooks, throw-away lyrics and danceable rhythms have been at the forefront of the music industry for the last 50 years. However, this popular style of music has unfortunately been labelled "bubblegum pop". The name comes from the way people "chew up" pop music and "spit it out" after a short while. But what does this analagy really mean when we apply it to popular music?

What would be the opposite of bubblegum? Solid foods right? So if "Baby One More Time" is bubblegum, then something like "Stairway to Heaven" is a solid food. Solid food needs to be swallowed and digested. But in the end, it comes out as shit. People hear an "artsy" song (which we all know is an artist's way of saying "I tried really hard but it still sounds shit") and think it's good because anything that you need to analyse and process through your mind must be good. Right?

For me, I've digested "Stairway to Heaven", and it came out as shit. An overrated piece of crap that people think much be good because they had to digest it. That's where most people are at. Digesting the "artsy" music. For them, it's not shit yet. But it went down smooth, had a nice aftertaste, and it is swirling around in their stomachs quite nicely. So, for the moment, they think it's good. It's not shit yet.

Here is where the problem lies. People hear songs like "Stairway to Heaven" and think all music has to be "artsy" for it to be good. So they hear a song like "Baby One More Time" and try to digest it because they think then they'll truly determine if it is good or not. But what happens when you digest bubblegum? You get constipated. You fell ill. You blame this on "Baby One More Time" but it is actually "Stairway To Heaven"'s fault. That's what made you think music has to be "artsy" to be good. And because art music has to be digested, you tried to digest bubblegum pop and now you are consipated. And it's all "Stairway to Heaven"'s fault.

This is where musicians, music critics and music fans are at as a collective. We are constipated and we are blaming bubblegum pop when it's actually art rock's fault. We are not happy with music at the moment, as a whole consider it to be quite terrible. We blame it on the throw-away pop songs. But it's the art music giving us a warped view of what's good that is making us think music is bad at the moment. It's not. We are just not embracing pop music like we used to because we've been tricked into thinking it has to be "artsy" to be good. Music doesn't have to be "artsy" or overly creative to be good. It just has to hit you the first time you listen to it, and you enjoy it while your in the moment, then "spit it out" afterwards.

The good thing about bubblegum pop is that after you "spit it out" you an pick it off of the side of your desk and chew it again. People will look at you weird, and you'll think it's some sort of shameful act. But you'll chew the gum and it'll have some taste left in it, and you'll enjoy it. Solid food, however, eventually turns into shit, and no one wants to eat shit. You can re-chew bubblegum, but you can't eat shit.

Now, even though I enjoy pop and I've been trying to convince the readers of this essay to enjoy pop, it does lose it's flavour after a few chews. The measure of a good pop song is how many times you can spit it out and chew again before it loses it's flavour. A really, really good classic pop song is like Willy Wonka's everlasting gobstopper. Just like the everlasting gobstopper, a good pop song will never lose it's taste. But Willy Wonka, in the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is the best candy maker in the world. And only the best musicians in the world can create an everlasting gobstopper of a pop song. In the current music industry, I see no Willy Wonka's and I've tasted no everlasting gobstoppers. So pop music right now is not as good as it use to be. All the Willy Wonka's have died or grown old. So we need a new Wonka. It's not the bubblegum, it's the bubblegum makers. The nut holding the wheel.

Don't think I'm saying all music that has meaning is bad, and turns to shit after a while. Not at all. Some meaningful songs can be classed as bubblegum. To me, bubblegum is not so much the a style of music as it is a metaphor for music that hits you as soon as you taste it and you enjoy it while it's in your mouth, then spit it out afterwards. A meaningful bubblegum song would be one where the taste still lingers in your mouth after you've spat it out. That piece of gum was special. If you combine a lingering taste with an everlasting gobstopper, then you get the real classic. The pop songs that'll live on forever.

In summary, we are constipated and realise music right now is not all it can be and we blame it on pop songs. It's not pop songs that is making the industry bad. It's us not embracing pop songs because we've been lead to believe they are no good. They are, just taste them for once. And don't try to digest them because they weren't made for that. Chew them up, spit them out, then chew them again and see how the taste. If something needs to be digested for you to enjoy it, it's not worth tasting in the first place.
[Edited 10/5/07 20:14pm]