A friend of mine introduced me to this song, and I began thinking about the function of music. It's a new mix of Asher Roth's "I Love College," and, well, if you can make it 10 seconds through this song, congratulations.
There are lots of things that have multiple functions in our society, but I'm always interested in how much of a piece of vanity music has become. The song samples a song by Weezer called "Say It Ain't So:"
"Say It Ain't So" is a popular 'college' song, even though it's about young man recalling his memories of the drunken father who ran out on his family. How this song became synonymous with 'party culture,' I have no idea. But it always seemed to be one of Rivers Cuomo's more intimate songs.
Enter Asher Roth. His remix tells me one of two possible things:
1. If he did this intentionally, for an artistic reason, he's describing how 'party culture' could create a generation of alcoholic parents. Given his lyrics, and the fact that a second mix of this song exists, I have another, more likely, scenario:
2. He used the song to make money, completely ignoring everything about the song except for, "Yeah, they played at parties in college."
What happens when artists view their art as nothing more than vanity? It's one thing to be a fan of the song, but another to ignore or even destroy its message entirely. I'm not saying someone shouldn't quote a random song without utilizing its specific meaning, but if it has an intimate meaning and its bastardized by said use without a good reason...
Asher Roth has proved how the modern music scene is just not cutting the cake the right way. This is almost as unethical as "Chain Hang Low" (yes, the kid did quote "Do Your Ears Hang Low," a song originally written about lynching African Americans). This mindset isn't infecting everything out there, but a lot of it, and I think it's seeping back into college culture. This is not a call for any form of restrictions, but for artists to start acting like artists.
There are lots of things that have multiple functions in our society, but I'm always interested in how much of a piece of vanity music has become. The song samples a song by Weezer called "Say It Ain't So:"
"Say It Ain't So" is a popular 'college' song, even though it's about young man recalling his memories of the drunken father who ran out on his family. How this song became synonymous with 'party culture,' I have no idea. But it always seemed to be one of Rivers Cuomo's more intimate songs.
Enter Asher Roth. His remix tells me one of two possible things:
1. If he did this intentionally, for an artistic reason, he's describing how 'party culture' could create a generation of alcoholic parents. Given his lyrics, and the fact that a second mix of this song exists, I have another, more likely, scenario:
2. He used the song to make money, completely ignoring everything about the song except for, "Yeah, they played at parties in college."
What happens when artists view their art as nothing more than vanity? It's one thing to be a fan of the song, but another to ignore or even destroy its message entirely. I'm not saying someone shouldn't quote a random song without utilizing its specific meaning, but if it has an intimate meaning and its bastardized by said use without a good reason...
Asher Roth has proved how the modern music scene is just not cutting the cake the right way. This is almost as unethical as "Chain Hang Low" (yes, the kid did quote "Do Your Ears Hang Low," a song originally written about lynching African Americans). This mindset isn't infecting everything out there, but a lot of it, and I think it's seeping back into college culture. This is not a call for any form of restrictions, but for artists to start acting like artists.
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