«Today’s Lyrics Are Pathetically Bad» Rick Beato

You are exactly right in my opinion...

i also liked the song you mentioned for his sincere engagement and clever words...

A song can have meaningful words without the poetry of a Nobel prize winner and touch us...It was the case with "Rich man" ... It was not a "manufactured product for a "manufactured"  Zombies public...

Thanks...

Beato also opines that there is no actual artistic engagement in mainstream pop/rock/country. It’s formulaic and worse closed to "outsiders". In that light i think he’s right.

Take "Rich Men North Of Richmond" for example. 100% off the reservation, no producer, no label, no major national "drop" and it slipped through- and was wildly successful. Arguably the lyrics are simple yet clever, and the performance is authentic. It was refreshing.

I blame the conglomerate music industry for the crap being produced and aired today. For sure there are excellent musicians and brilliant lyrics being made today- but they are not easily accessible.

Beato also opines that there is no actual artistic engagement in mainstream pop/rock/country.

For my birthday in October, my wife gifted me Post Malone's F-1 Trillion album. After listening for a day, I immediately traded/sold it. All the hooks were eerily similar to other country songs of old and felt that I had heard that song before when Pro-Tools/Autotune was not a thing. I guess the days of suing others for song writing is a thing of the past, but putting lipstick on a pig is a viable option in the music industry today. Ala movies, the industry has little to work with except sequels. 

I think Beato is right, but it really does stick out in the country music genre nowadays.

I find a few newer rock songs to be really refreshing, however. "Cage the Elephant" song "Neon Pill" sticks out. This song would have been a major hit in the 1980's and, somehow, contains new catchy hooks that I cannot associate with that era- or this era- for that matter.

Rock still has some room for improvement, IMHO. Country has far less to work with and pop is truly produced by a conglomerate of record executives and producers who are propped up by the industries that have invested in them.

"Cage the Elephant" has been supported by that music conglomerate for 17+ years, including Grammy nominations (see conglomerate). I find the majority (I really only like one song out of their ten albums) of their tracks impossible to enjoy. 

Oliver of "Rich men..." fame had over 17 million streams in one week and he garnered more than 2 million for his one song, subsequently turning down record label offers of up to 8 million. Cage the Elephant, on the other hand, has sold about 3 million albums to collect far less, considering the music industry took a large part of that pie.

Hollywood is taking a beating nowadays and may be on life support. I believe that the music industry may be in the same boat...a sinking one!

Thanks a lot for your informed and informative  post in my opinion....

@yesiam_a_pirate

I blame the conglomerate music industry for the crap being produced and aired today. For sure there are excellent musicians and brilliant lyrics being made today- but they are not easily accessible.

Yes, yes and only if you don’t bother to look. Beato could provide a great service, IF he were to educate his viewers/subscribers and point them towards the good stuff. 

@bdp24 

I think I have all Secret Sisters on vinyl.