Okay, so I saw this post over at Jezebel that will surely make some people around here’s heads spin, and I’ll just leave it at that because I don’t want to incur the wrath of certain somebodies. But I’d like to discuss a different song. Does the song According to You by Orianthi bother anyone else as much as it bothers me? The lyrics go:
According to you I’m stupid, I’m useless,
I can’t do anything right.
According to you I’m difficult, hard to please,
Forever changing my mind.
And then:
But according to him I’m beautiful, incredible,
He can’t get me out of his head.
According to him I’m funny, irresistible,
Everything he ever wanted.
Um, how about according to you? What do you think of yourself? Why is this whole song based on what other people think of her? Don’t get me wrong, the song is totally catchy, and I generally leave it on if it comes on the radio, but I think it wrongly gives the impression that it’s a strong girl power song (given the tough rocker chick way it’s sung) when it’s pretty much exactly the opposite. Okay fine, later on she does sing:
According to me you’re stupid, you’re useless,
You can’t do anything right.
Um, okay, but you’re still not letting us know that you think you’re awesome too. And if she thinks this person is so stupid and useless, why was she dating him in the first place? That just doesn’t make sense! And frankly, pop songs need to make perfect sense like they did in the good old days of Slave 4 U. Now I know not every song has to be super girl power to the extreme (given my adoration of Slave 4 U, you should already know that) and this is the only song I know from Orianthi, so I’m not placing judgment on her, just the song. I think it just bothers me that the song is trying to come across as one thing, but the lyrics are saying another. ZOMG did I just write a music post?
I seriously can’t stand this song!!!!! I turn the station every time I hear it come on. I think she sucks just like Avril Lavigne, eeeewww yucky!
I had a discussion about this song with my daughter in the car just last week. I got on my rant about if the guy treats you like that kick his ass to the curb so fast his head spins. Then I said “And she’s cheating anyway.” The kidlet says no she’s not, she found a new guy. Ummm, no, this line is:
Why can’t you see me through his eyes?
It’s too bad you’re making me decide.
Ummm. She’s basically saying to the current boyfriend, I haven’t decided to leave you yet, but new guy knows me well enough to think I’m amazing, but if you shape up I might stay.
When I pointed out that she HADN’T left the asshole yet, the kid got the puzzled “hmmm” look. Yeah, pay attention to the words hon. LOL I’ll admit it’s a bloody catchy song, but the message, not so much.
Another reason not to listen to pop music, apparently. I could also go off on a rant about NBC’s coverage of the women’s downhill last night and how not a single fucking one of the commentators referred to the competitors as “women”. They were all “girls”, despite being all adults. Bah. We need a new Riot Grrl movement.
Tam: I completely forgot about the “It’s too bad you’re making me decide.” line. Cause really? Decide? I didn’t realize there was much of a decision to be made there.
In defense of Taylor Swift though, I see the point of the Jezebel article, but Taylor doesn’t try to be something she’s not. Her songs may seem sad, and make you think that boys are the only things that matter, but at least it seems genuine.
Patsy Cline’s songs are all sad and woe is me, I lost my man, but would anyone say anything bad about her? Nope. Or at least they better not or I’ll kick their ass.
When you’re 15 and a straight girl (or gay boy) boys ARE the only thing that matter.
tam: your last comment: Amen, sista!
Surprisngly, this is a post I CAN comment on! I’ve heard this song several times without knowing who it was. And it is a catchy little ditty. I’m amazed, but I like it.
I don’t usually listen to the words of songs terribly closely. From this song, I was getting the idea that the chick has a crappy boyfriend, had met a new guy, wasn’t dating him yet, but he treats her much better than the current guy, and so, she’s telling current boyfriend that she’s leaving him, dumping him like the loser he so obviously is, and is gonna be with someone who appreciates her. Grrl Power.
even with the line Tam posted, I still don’t get the impression she’s cheating on the old boyfriend. I took it that her and the new beau were just chatting each other up, and he was flattering her cause he maybe didn;’t know she was dating anyone else. And now, after being treated the way a girl should be treated, she’s kicking the old loser to the curb.
But then, why am I putting so much thought into a pop song no one will remember in five years anyway by someone I’ve never heard of before and wouldn’t know if I tripped over them that ????? Arrrgh, i hate pop music!
HUGS…
I haven’t heard the song, so I can’t comment, but I can say: it’s a song! Music didn’t shape my decisions, but it did and still does, help provide distraction from issues at hand so I can process thoughts more rationally.
I see what Jezebel is saying, she is saying she is commenting on the brand, not the person. That is an important distinction.
Oh, and Craig, the reason no one messes with Patsy is because she herself described herself as “putting the cunt in country”. That’s not a woman you want to mess with.
Patsy Cline sings circles around ANYone singing now. And she could kick the ass of anyone she needed to and do a damn thorough job of it. And she’s been dead nearly 50 years already!
I love her songs. They’re just…well beautiful.
HUGS…
Look at you, Ms Gloria Steinem. Let’s debate Camille Paglia vs Naomi Wolff next!
I refuse to listen to the radio so I’ve never heard this but I agree with Mel, we need a new Grrrl movement. None of this water downed Alanis Morrissette crap, I want a new Bikini Kill for a new generation (and not Le Tigre although I adore them).
GoKitty: Have you listened to Jack Off Jill?
Just as I got to the comment box, Taylor Swift came on my playlist. Spooky.
Tam: I think you have a point. She sounds like one of those girls who can’t stand being single so they don’t leave one relationship until they have another one lined up.
OMG THANK YOU! This is an underdog song that is climbing the charts that no one ever seems to talk about! I HATE IT! It sounds like C-rate Kelly Clarkson reject tracks from her “Since U Been Gone” phase.
The lyrix are artarded and I just read an article wiff her where she tried to be all lyke “GeeTaR AlwAyZ CuMz fiRsT!” and I’m lyke “Chut uh…your skills are decent but not that impressive and your name is completely obnoxious and difficult to pronounce. FAIL!
Polt: “Patsy Cline sings circles around ANYone singing now.” Yeah, she’s real good. But why do you constantly have to bring down current music?!?!
josh: Would you prefer that she selfishly ignores the sexual satisfaction of the guitar?
Ryan: Only if she wrapz it up befo she smackz it up! If you’re gonna be a disgusting prostitot, at least be safe about it! Who knowz what diseases a 6-string is carrying!
LOL @ Ryan
Interesting. I saw a message on a church sign today that said “a good marriage is not about finding the right person, it’s about being the right person.” On the surface it sounds like a very good message, but then how does that jive with “just be yourself”? Should you be yourself, or try to change yourself so you can be the right person? I guess from the church’s perspective they want you to change your sinner ways so it makes sense, but is it really good relationship advice?
Somehow reading the comments has me thinking of an old Frank Zappa song about a related theme… and a geetar… (“My guitar wants to kill your mama”) Looking for a vid of FZ, I instead stumbled on THIS AMAZING VIDEO of teenaged Dweezil doing his version of his dad’s song.
Warning: contains 80′s hair and teenage sensibilities.
josh: Good point. Always practice safe sex, especially if you are hooking up with a new guitar while trying to decide whether to leave an old guitar that makes you feel horrible about yourself.
John: Yeah, that sounds like it belongs on a bumper sticker, but if you think about it too long it sounds pretty bad. Be the right person by having dinner waiting at the table on time….or else!
John: It’s a rather simplistic message. Be the right person; someone who doesn’t beat your kids, screw around, gamble away the rent money or murder young gay boys and hide them in your basement. I can get behind that sentiment. But it just depends on WHO is making up that definition of being “right”. That can be just as twisted.
You can’t explain life on a church billboard or bumper sticker, but god knows plenty keep trying.
John: I think that to a large extent, being ourselves and being the right person are the same. When we live our lives in ways that make use happy and allow us to interact harmoniously with others, we are being the right person and being ourselves.
john: No, I haven’t. What do they sound like? I read a quick bio and it said they were from Ft Lauderdale. I have a hard time giving street cred to a grrrl band outside the northwest (Olympia, anyone?).
john: I’m not sure that getting relationship advice from a church billboard is really the best way to go.
josh: Current music includes Muse, Madonna, R.E.M., all of which I enjoy. I didn’t say just “current pop music” or “current teenaged girls singers who screech on and on about nothing and contribute nothing to society” or anythign like that. Why must you view every comment I make on music as a slam against music you like?
Maybe it’s because you know the limitations of the music you like, even if you refuse to consciously admit it. 
*ducking and dogding to avoid projectiles hurled my way by both Sassy josh AND Enrickyricardo!*
HUGS…
Polt: Maybe cuz every time anyone mentions any kind of modern music (not including the few artists you enjoy), you make it a point to highlight how terrible you think it is. And you don’t know 1/200th of the music I listen to. I listen to more than just P!nk, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and the assorted pop stars I chatter about. Rude.
::awkward silence after Josh calls someone rude for the 1,000,000th time::
Craig: RUDE. 1,000,001. >:o
May I suggest the following synonyms if you ever get tired of rude:
abrupt, abusive, bad-mannered, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous, blunt, boorish, brusque, brutish, cheeky, churlish, coarse, crabbed, crude, curt, discourteous, graceless, gross, gruff, ignorant, illiterate, impertinent, impolite, impudent, inconsiderate, insolent, insulting, intrusive, loutish, low, obscene, offhand, peremptory, raw, savage, scurrilous, short, surly, uncivil, uncivilized, uncouth, uncultured, uneducated, ungracious, unmannerly, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar, wild
I really like cheeky.
I haven’t heard the Taylor swift song but the best ‘girl power’ song I heard in a while is Carrie Underwood’s “Before He cheats” with the chorus: “I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up 4 wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seat
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
And maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats”
I blast that on the radio every time I hear it.
For some reason it reminds me of my favorite :I Will Survive used so beautifully in Pricilla Queen of the Desert
josh: light up, snookums, don’t be so defensive. I don’t get upset when you call an artist I like (like say, um oh I don’t know…Madonna!) a washed up funky, tired old diva…or something like that.
Viva la differance, I always say! And viva la picking on ze friends’ as well!
HUGS…
Michelle: Have you ever listened to Cake’s cover of I Will Survive?
Craig: Rude. 1,000,002.
Michelle: I love “Before He Cheats!” White trash version of Shania Karaoke!
Craiggers: i like your cheekies as well.
HUGS….
Ryan: Cake’s version of that rocks! As does a whole lot of their songs!
HUGS…
Polt: I will not lighten up. Sorry.
Michelle: Oh and he don’t knoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOW!…MIGHT HAVE SAVED A LIL’ TROUBLE FOR THE NEXXXT GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Josh: Cheeky! 1
Cupcake: I LOVE Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket.” I must make it a point to download it tonight. The music video is one of the best ever!
Josh: okay, well don’t then. It’s not my blood pressure and stress level that’s rising. Rude.
josh’s Rude count: 1,000,0002
Polt’s Rude count: 1
What out I’m right on your bumper! (I was gonna say tail, but I feared a reprisal from davidasaurus!)
HUGS…
OHMYGOD, josh, “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” is a favortie of mine, both the song AND video!!! We agree!!!!
See, I guess sometimes oil and water CAN mix!
Time for me to head home now…yay!
HUGS…
Before He Cheats is awesome!
Have you guys seen the video where Faith Hill thinks she’s gonna win a Grammy (I think it’s a Grammy) and freaks out when Carrie wins? Can someone link to it? Youtube is blocked here.
I LOVe this clip. Faith Hill is such a bitch
Apparently I need to watch Cake’s video for Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Thanks Josh! I remember when she (read: her people) tried to pass it off as a joke. Yeah right.
Craig: I don’t even know why she was THAT surprised that she didn’t win. She had a few country hits that year, but she didn’t come close to achieving the crossover success she had like 4 years earlier wiff that “Breathe” song. Plus, it was the year Carrie Underwood released her album and had all those hits. Faith Hill for def def defferz gets labeled with a big, fat, red RUDE.
Carry Underwood is practically a local now, thanks to marrying the hotness that is Mike Fisher. She’s okay I guess, I have no strong feelings about her one way or the other. Cake – never heard of them.
Canadians are never rude, but we can be cheeky, snarky and sarcastic. That’s an artform.
Tam: I first saw the video to “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” in Toronto on MuchMusic! You should watch it on YouTube. There’s a NY and an LA version (I think that’s what they’re called) but they both are great.
Ah, MuchMusic….memories….like actually seeing for real videos and, of course, Ed The Sock!
HUGS…
Tam: “Canadians are never rude, but we can be cheeky, snarky and sarcastic. That’s an artform. ” And don’t forget almost universally damn sexy! Or maybe that’s just the Torontoans…
HUGS…
Man, nothing gets the blood pumping around here like a MUSIC post.
First off, let me just say: Craig: you’re a Patsy Cline fan? I love you even more!!!!! Gays for Patsy was always my favourite float in the Boston Gay Pride Parade. So much pink. So many frills and tassles. *sigh*
Secondly: I like “cheeky” the best, too. Though Polt beat me to the obvious innuendo.
Thirdly: TwoPi: are you *sure* Dweezil was a teenager in that video? I’m not convinced. Lots of 80s hair and sensibilities though.
Ryan: please have some bumper stickers made up with the tag line “Always practice safe sex, especially if you are hooking up with a new guitar while trying to decide whether to leave an old guitar that makes you feel horrible about yourself.” kthx
As for the original topic, I’ve never heard the song myself, but my initial inclination was to agree with Craiggerz and Tam et al. about it. Polt’s dissenting position may have some merit, but I’m inclined to go with the majority position on this one.
(Oh, and Ryan, although in British English your sentence would be correct, since — ironically enough — they abolished the subjunctive over there ages ago, I think your sentence would sound better as “Would you prefer that she selfishly IGNORE the sexual satisfaction of the guitar?” without the “s”. I’m all about the subjunctive.)
Now I’m off to check out all these songs and videos and lower my terminal uncoolness levels by a factor of 0.000001.
Justin: My knowledge of the subjunctive is 99% from my fourth year of Spanish. I try to do it right when I remember about it.