Love Myths in Different Music Genres

After a long, pizza-filled Thursday night, I spent the majority of Friday on the couch. Watching TV got old after a while, so I decided to do some preparations for Spring Break. Of course, the first thing I did was create a Spotify playlist to get pumped up for a sun-filled week in Mexico. While compiling my eclectic list of Big Sean, AC/DC, and Florida Georgia Line, to name a few, I couldn't help but think about Bader's article "Love Will Steer the Stars" and comparing her findings to my own musical tastes. There were a couple striking points that really stood out to me when I was examining my playlist. First, I noticed how relatively few songs could be considered "love songs." Bader analyzed many songs from her own youth, which were problematic in terms of myths that they propagated, but were about romantic love. The songs on my playlist tend to range in their main messages, but although I listen to all kinds of genres, most of the songs had to do with drinking (country), sex (rap and classic rock), or dancing (EDM). It seems to me that songs could be limited lyrically by their genres. For example, I don't often hear Young Jeezy rhyme about love at first sight, and at the same time, I also don't hear Luke Bryan singing about a side bitch.
 

The second thing I began to think about was the application of Bader's "Love Myths" in the songs on my playlist that actually have to do with some form of love (love being a very loose term here). A few of these songs include "Your Love" by The Outfield, "Only a Country Girl" by Chase Rice, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake. As these songs are from a Spring Break playlist, they all are well-known and were popular at one time or another. They also all contain some of the myths that Bader found in the love songs of the 60's and 90's, which I expected. What I did not anticipate, however, was the fact that the myths that all three songs shared were the myths of the necessity of a beautiful woman and great sex. These songs are all from different genres, and different eras, yet "Your Love" says "Josie's on a vacation far away/ Come around and talk it over/ So many things that I wanna say/ You know I like my girls a little bit older/ I just wanna use your love tonight," "Only a Country Girl"'s Chase Rice sings "She turns every head when she walks by...She can turn me on like only a country girl can," and Drake croons "Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin with no makeup on/ That's when you're the prettiest...You the best I ever had." When I noticed this trend in the music that I listen to, I realized the messages that I've been subliminally feeding myself, and it made me kind of sad. These myths have continued to be present in music for decades, and are really unrealistic for real relationships. I think it's time someone makes a hit love song about a realistic, everyday relationship.

Bader, Anne. "Love Will Steer The Stars and Other Improbable Feats: Media Myths in Popular Love Songs." Critical Thinking About Sex, Love, and Romance In The Mass Media. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007. Print