So all kinds of people have started to come out with their end-of-the-year lists. I took a look at a couple of ones related to music and realized just how old I am. On Pitchfork’s Top 100 songs for the year, I recognized one. Uno. And since “Call Me Maybe” really existed as a pop culture touchstone instead of just a song, I don’t even know if that counts.
Part of my problem comes from a distaste of overly electronic music. I don’t like the trends which have pervaded music (from my spot) for a while now and only really delve into new things when I know for sure that plenty of guitars and drums make up the backbone of the song. The other part comes from the fact that I have thousands of songs from a wide range of styles available to me so I don’t feel a compulsion to seek out too much new music. It’s a little sad, but it’s the way things are.
But I love music and didn’t want to completely turn my back on the year so I went through Grantland’s look at the most “notable” tracks of 2012 since they had full videos of each song to see what I was missing. I like the website, but don’t always mesh with their pop culture sensibilities so I didn’t have high hopes. Boy, was I right. Without further ado, here are my impressions.
- Mercy – I don’t get it. Maybe it’s because I’m white and 44, but I just don’t understand why this is popular. I’m not appalled by the graphic nature of the lyrics. I just think that it’s nothing but shock over top of an unimaginative beat. I’m not saying it’s bad, per se, because I think the people who put it on a list do so because it’s fun, not ground-breaking. I can see some gangster, kitschy appeal. I just prefer my fun in upbeat doses like “Call Me Maybe,” not glorifying guns, treating women like crap and having fancy cars.
- Die Young – Ke$ha is easy to make fun of, but I like this song. It’s upbeat even if the title and chorus focus on dying. But I believe music exists for positive reasons and this makes me bounce in my chair. Sometimes you have to get past the goofy makeup and stuff to find really enjoyable music. The lyrics may be as vapid as Mercy, but they are an upbeat vapid.
- Running – I can see the quality in this song and enjoyed it, but would probably only listen on occasion. It’s just too, I don’t know, heavy for me. I like guitar and cymbals, and this just doesn’t have enough of them. Her voice is very good, but nothing makes me want to come back for more. The song did grow on me the more I listened though.
- Pop That – This makes Mercy sound like “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I wanted to cry in the shower after listening to this one.
- Get Free – I think I fell asleep a couple of times in it’s five-minute duration. Like Mercy and Pop That, I just don’t get it, but on a completely different level. Those first two don’t speak to me, but I know there is a market for people who want to be gangsters/rappers/porn stars and live this high-rolling life. Get Free just sounds lifeless and has no apparent point.
- Hot Knife – I liked this one, but really thought they could have cut it short by a minute or so. It’s a pretty ambitious song in a minimalistic sense which helps it really catch your attention, but also makes four minutes seem like a lot more. I thought I had heard three or so minutes, but the song had barely reached the two-minute mark.
- Climax – This is a nice song. I can see why people would groove to this. Again, a little downbeat for my tastes, but that doesn’t make it a bad song.
- How They Want Me to Be – Meh. No real reason to get excited about this one. It didn’t bring any emotional response from me, which is a bad thing when it comes to music. It’s the musical equivalent of a movie with characters I just don’t like.
- His Pain II – This is a pretty striking song. So much going on with so little in a completely different way than “Hot Knife.” I can pick out things I didn’t like – the meandering bass line bugged me – but the sum is way more than the value of its parts. The old-school feel, the horns and, most of all, the gripping vocals, make this a really damn-good piece of music.
- Bad Religion – What a powerful emotional performance. Another soulful song that I completely appreciate, but would definitely not choose over something with more positive energy. That said, Frank Ocean reels you in and won’t let you go during this one.
- Shivers – Again with the notion that sad and grinding = good. Not a bad song, but just made me want to sit in an empty coffee shop on a rainy day and talk to myself about all the girls who left me. And that guitar at the end was just way too much.
- Hands on the Wheel – The prominence of these types of hip-hop songs on these kind of yearly lists is like rock critics saying Poison, Motley Crue and Def Leppard were the most memorable musicians in their era. This is the 21st century Pour Some Sugar on Me or Girls, Girls, Girls. Just not as much fun for me.
- Forest Whitaker – A fun little song that left my brain as soon as it entered. I had to listen to it again to write something since I was busy when it ended the first time. The low-fi production gives it some character, and I’m a sucker for most songs with whistling in them. But I wouldn’t seek this one out again even though I enjoyed it.
- And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going – This is a powerful live performance obviously bolstered by the strength a show like “The Voice” can provide. It’s kind of hard to judge this on its own because of that, but it’s hard not to love this performance.
I’m sure other things I would like more came out in 2012, but if this is what a pop culture website chose to let people know what mattered over the past 12 months, I’ll stick with the music I already have.
You are a much, much braver man than I to wade into the world of today’s pop music.