Pop Lives

[I can but shout "amen!" to this article about "Come On Eileen" (via Jonno.) I still don't really know what the song's about, I don't think I've ever heard another Dexy's song, and I don't care: when I hear "Eileen," I want to get up and bounce around, every time. This thesis comes closest to articulating why I love so many 80's pop songs (besides having been an impressionable teenager at the time), and why I gradually stopped listening to the radio as the 90's wore on. Few things bug me more as when someone says, "oh, I used to love that song." What, did it morph into a bad song over the years? Or was your love of the song tied inextricably to the culture surrounding it at the time? If so, you didn't really love the song, you were participating in the pop moment; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but then don't say you loved the song, say you loved being a Madonna Wannabe, or a Goth kid, or a grungy flannel wearer (or whatever), and the music that went along with those moments was just the soundtrack.]

[But...I will admit that I used to love "We Built This City" by Starship, and now can't help but cringe on those rare occasions when it crosses my path. Tastes do change...and what is it that I was trying to say again?]

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