Top four songs and their messages to the public

I analyzed the top four songs that were downloaded on iTunes the week of May 18, 2010. They were: 1. California Gurls by Katy Perry. 2. Omg by usher (feat. Will.i.am.). 3. Airplanes by B.O.B. (Feat. Haley Williams) 4. Can't Be Tamed by Miley Cyrus.

I was looking for what all the top songs had in common. I was also looking at what the messages of the most downloaded songs were. I analyzed each song to find out what the message of it was and what the artist was trying to say, then I looked at the songs to see if any of the song's messages had anything in common. I looked and read all the lyrics of the songs to get the full message of it. I listened to all the songs to see what the style of the song was and if any of them had similarities. I wanted to find out about the messages and what the songs are really saying to the public. I documented what I found for the content and the style of each song then looked at all of the notes together to see which ones went with each other.

I found out that none of these songs share the exact same message or even a similar one. I thought all of them were going to be like California Gurls (number one) because that one was the most stereotypical of girls and when the singer is singing (Katy Perry) she's saying that they always are partying, having sex, or getting in trouble. Lyrics of the California Gurls song include lines such as:

"...Laying underneath the palm trees"

"…The boys Break their necks"
"Try'na to creep a little sneak peek...California girls"
"We're unforgettable"
"Daisy Dukes"
"Bikinis on top"

"Sun-kissed skin"
"So hot"
"Will melt your popsicle…"

When the male singer is singing (Snoop Dogg), he's talking about women in very stereotypical ways and saying how he likes it when the girls are playing with him. This song talks about ideal body types a lot and how the pretty girls and guys are the ones that party and are all in shape (skinny) with nice tan bodies. I just think that this is a common subject for a song. Lyrics that reinforce this subject include:

"…Wild wild west coast
These are the girls I love the most
I mean the ones
I mean like she’s the one
Kiss her
Touch her
Squeeze her...The men on the beach
I'm okay
I won’t play
I love the bait…"

The song is implying that girls are all hot and that's what California girls are like. Being a well-known singer, Snoop Dogg is giving a negative message to viewers about how girls should act or how males may act.

The rest of the songs I looked at weren't as stereotypical as California Gurls but song number two is also stereotypical. Song number two was OMG and it seemed to be the stereotypical love song saying I love you and I want you to be mine. You’re so beautiful and we were meant to be together and how the singer is saying you’re so beautiful and that's why I love you, let me love you. Lyrics include lines such as:

“I fell in love with shawty when I seen her on the dance floor
She was dancing sexy, pop, pop, popping, dropping, dropping low
Never ever has a lady hit me on the first sight
This was something special; this was just like dynamite
Honey got a booty like pow, pow, pow
Honey got some boobies like wow, oh wow
Girl you know I’m loving your, loving your style
Check, check, check, check, check, checking you out like,
Ooh (oooh) she got it allll
Sexy from her head to the toes
And I want it all, it all, it all..."

This song seemed to be stereotypical of males and implying that they only think of looks and not once in this song does the artist say anything about her personality or anything else besides her looks. This song talks about women’s body image in a negative way. It’s implying that if you’re a pretty, beautiful girl that you can get any guy who loves the way you look but not for who you are. I didn't agree with the message. I think people can find it ofensive and to be renforcing stereotypes.
The message of Airplanes was saying how the artist wants to take things back to the way they were before he was singing for money. He says:
"...Somebody take me back to the days
Before this was a job, before I got paid
Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank
Yeah back when I was tryin' to get into the subway
And back when I was rappin' for the hell of it
But now a days we rappin' to stay relevant..."

This is the song that I admire the most because it’s not very stereotypical and its message was something I never would've expected a big singer to sing about. Talking about wishing for what was in the past is not a message that is very common at all and I think that it’s a good song for the public to know about. It doesn’t talk about the stereotypical girl who always wants to party or have sex and it doesn’t talk about the male in those terms either (only wanting a girl because she’s pretty). Instead it talks about life before being famous and how it can be nice but it’s also not great either. And instead of singing on a more common topic like love, party, or something else, it’s talking about the Artist's experience. It’s also the only one in these four songs that’s not talking about love in some way but wishing for a better time and knowing that you’ve had it and not taking what you have for advantage when you have it. this song Isee as a positive message. I think that's mostly because I'm always so use to hearing songs that are offensive or about a common topic, but it's also because its message is one that I think a lot of people can connect to: wanting to wish for something you could've had or somethuing that you did have.
Can't Be Tamed is about how the artist doesn't want to be how everyone else wants her to be. And that she is willing to be with a guy but they have to understand her. She says:

“If you're gonna be my man, understand
I can't be tamed, I can't be saved
I can't be blamed…If you can understand this, we can make some magic…”

This is also a song that isn’t about the common topics. It’s about strength and how she’s going to stick to what she believes she wants and that she won’t be changed into someone that she’s not. This doesn’t seem to be a stereotype but about the singer being strong and trusts herself to know what she wants. Listening to this song is different from reading the lyrics. Reading the lyrics seems to be a powerful strong song but listening to it seems to be more of a song doesn't have that much strength to it so, I think a lot of songs are like that when you only really understand the message when reading the lyrics instead of listening. I also think that it relates to some of my values in the message of no one can tell her what to do and she wants to just be who she is and no one else.


After I looked at all the lyrics of the songs, I then listened to all the songs to see if any of them had similarities in their styles. I found out that there weren’t that many things that were the same but Airplanes and Can’t Be Tamed are saying statements or what they want but the other two (California Gurls, and OMG) are saying things that are more stereotypical sayings.
All the artists who sing these four songs are well-known and so I think because of that each message is stronger to the public.

Although there were some songs with good messages and bad ones, there weren’t any songs talking about homosexuality. I do think the messages of songs have been getting better but I do think that songs could spread out as in to not all have the same topic which would be love, sex, partying, body types, and the only good body types that exist are to be skinny, or men and woman being talked about in a stereotypical way.

After analyzing these songs, I have found that they all are different and that there isn’t just one message going out to the public and all of them didn’t have a negative message as I thought was going to happen. Before I analyzed these songs, I never thoguht deeply about the messages that Artists were sending to the public, but now after doing this project, I've definitely learned to look and listen to them differently. Before I thought that the songs were going to have similar messages and all of them would talk harshly of men, women, and body images but I found out that there are songs that don’t talk about common topics that are usually presented to listeners. I’ll always think differently about the songs I listen to now and I’ll always try to get the full meaning out of the songs. So after actually analyzing them I have found out that to really get the message you really have to listen to what they’re saying.

Sources:

Lyrics
"B.o.b. - Airplanes Lyrics." directlyrics. DirectLyrics, 2010. Web. 20 may 2010.
"Miley Cyrus - Can't Be Tamed Lyrics." directlyrics. DirectLyrics, 2010. Web. 20 may 2010.
"Usher - Oh My Gosh Lyrics." directlyrics. DirectLyrics, 2010. Web. 20 may 2010.
Katy Perry - California Gurls Lyrics
Pictures
"B.o.b. Airplanes." Cover Art. Web. 6 Jun 2010.
"Katy perry Califonia Gurls." Cover Art. Web. 6 Jun 2010.
Songs
California Gurls by Katy Perry
OMG by Usher (Will.i.am.)
Airplanes by Bo.b. (feat Haley Williams )
Can’t be tamed by Miley Cyrus