# Why is modern day music viewed as "lewd & talentless" by certain people? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128 "2019-10-02T00:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/61 "2019-10-05T07:05:18Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Tool is not considered “pop music” but it _is_ considered “popular music”. In fact, “pop music” is considered a subset of “popular music”. So all “pop” is under the “popular music” umbrella but not all “popular music” is made up of “pop music”. This. When _Lateralus_ came out, “Schism” got a lot of airplay. And that is a fairly complex song. Probably one of their greatest. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/62 "2019-10-05T11:43:42Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > This. When _Lateralus_ came out, “Schism” got a lot of airplay. And that is a fairly complex song. Probably one of their greatest. I am absolutely a huge fan of Tool but dear god, please don’t ever mistake me for a “Tool fan”. A more breathtakingly pretentious and utterly intoxicated on the smell of their own farts group of “fans” have never graced this earth before. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/63 "2019-10-05T13:07:50Z")
I’m a child of the 80s and love that music. But my parents used to listen to the old crooners (Martin, Crosby, Sinatra, etc.) so I’ve listened to and appreciated that music as well. It seems that back then, the singers used their voice more as an instrument, varying tone and pitch within the song. Crosby and Martin were masters at this e.g. list to White Christmas by Crosby and Sway by Martin. Sinatra was good when he was young, but once he was established, just played to his “cool” persona and mailed in his performances. It seems like in the late 70s and early 80s, this fell out of fashion (with a few exceptions) in favor of more “powerful voices” and an emphasis on musical instruments. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/64 "2019-10-05T19:27:08Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I am absolutely a huge fan of Tool but dear god, please don’t ever mistake me for a “Tool fan”. A more breathtakingly pretentious and utterly intoxicated on the smell of their own farts group of “fans” have never graced this earth before. I think those people are more _Maynard James Keenan_ fans. ---
**Author:** ![cieskokid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cieskokid/32/5374_2.png) [@cieskokid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cieskokid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/65 "2019-10-05T19:56:48Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Okay - she’s got some range, obviously a bunch of fans, and has undoubtedly made more $ at 17 than I ever have or ever will. And she and her brother write the songs - good on them. Doesn’t matter that I’m personally not thrilled w/ her delivery. > > Let’s see what she (and her brother) are doing 3-5 years from now. Indeed. while Billie has range, this is one of the most boring “songs” I’ve ever heard in my life - no real melody, the feigned intensity of delivery, all the marks of following the formula. THIS is the point I think some of us older people are making - there’s no substance or depth to be heard or found in 2day’s music; just because you can hit the notes doesn’t mean you’re interesting to listen to.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/66 "2019-10-05T20:34:43Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Okay - she’s got some range, obviously a bunch of fans, and has undoubtedly made more $ at 17 than I ever have or ever will. And she and her brother write the songs - good on them. Doesn’t matter that I’m personally not thrilled w/ her delivery. > > Let’s see what she (and her brother) are doing 3-5 years from now. She sounds like a watered down clone of Regina Spector. Not bad. But I prefer the original. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/67 "2019-10-05T20:43:43Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I think those people are more _Maynard James Keenan_ fans. No no. Google “Tool fans” -obnoxious or “Tool Fans” -the worst. Its like this loose-knit group of fans who shout down conversations about other styles of metal and music in general. Tool is like mystical and deep man! > **[Maynard James Keenan Calls Tool Fans "Insufferable," "Retards"](https://www.metalsucks.net/2015/10/28/maynard-james-keenan-calls-tool-fans-insufferable-retards/)** > > Sigh. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/comments/91cixq/why\_i\_hate\_tool\_fans\_by\_a\_tool\_fan/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/comments/91cixq/why_i_hate_tool_fans_by_a_tool_fan/) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/68 "2019-10-05T21:15:09Z")
> [@cieskokid](#): > > Indeed. while Billie has range, this is one of the most boring “songs” I’ve ever heard in my life - no real melody, the feigned intensity of delivery, all the marks of following the formula. THIS is the point I think some of us older people are making - there’s no substance or depth to be heard or found in 2day’s music; just because you can hit the notes doesn’t mean you’re interesting to listen to.🆒 But that’s just Billie Eilish, who’s exactly one act out of thousands. You aren’t familiar with most modern music, and the fact Billie Eilish is kind of boring doesn’t mean all music is boring. It is, furthermore, entirely possible that the popularity of Billie Eilish is a brief fad and will swiftly pass. 1967 is widely regarded as a banner year in music. Do you know what Billboard’s #1 single of 1967 was? The Beatles? The Stones? The Doors? Nope! It was “To Sir With Love” by Lulu. Not exactly a thrilling, landmark achievement in music. Aretha’s “Respect” was 13th, not bad - but below “Somethin’ Stupid” by Frank and Nancy Sinatra. A list of the year’s top songs contains a shocking number of songs that are boring and forgettable, by acts no one remembers anymore. 1992 was a big year in music; the rise of grunge, and with hop hop making a huge splash. The #1 song was… “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which is now a song Rolling Stone writers masturbate to, was 32nd, behind songs by CeCe Peniston, Vanessa Williams, and whoever the hell Atlantic Starr was. I recalled 1994 as being a great year in music. Here are the top ten songs, but just the band names: Ace of Base All-4-One Boyz II Men Celine Dion Mariah Carey Lisa Loeb Toni Braxton Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting (yes, it was a boring movie song) Ace of Base Ace of Base Come on, that’s BORING. Nothing there is cutting edge. Mariah is great, sure. Lisa Loeb’s one great song was a work of genius, but it was a wild fluke. Who likes Ace of Base anymore? All those three songs were exactly the same. There was a lot of great music in 1994, though - it’s just that there is always a lot of generic stuff like Ace of Base. Music today has just as much that’s cool and interesting as it ever has. If Billie Eilish doesn’t stand the test of time, that won’t mean much. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/69 "2019-10-05T21:39:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which is now a song Rolling Stone writers masturbate to, was 32nd, behind songs by **CeCe Peniston** , Vanessa Williams, and whoever the hell Atlantic Starr was. Bolding mine. Oi, don’t knock _Finally_ - it’s a cracking tune. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/70 "2019-10-05T21:41:26Z")
I was born in the early 80s, but 99.9% of what I listen to (+10,000 mp3s) is from the 60/70s ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/71 "2019-10-05T22:10:31Z")
To me ABBA comes to mind when I think about this question. I always enjoy listening to their music when it gets aired on the radio. Great music is whether they stand the test of time and theirs do. But the thing is I have never gone out of my way to listen to them. I never bought their albums, don’t have their songs on my playlists and wouldn’t really think of them until that one radio station happens to air their 70’s stuff. And it’s a throwback to the 70’s disco era. But the two girls on stage would wear skimpy outfits which one might call lewd. The two guys - their husbands - let them parade themselves off on stage. Wonderful voices but their songs were pretty simple. Lots of the 70s stuff was simple to be catchy. ABBA probably called it a day at the right time. At a time when their popularity was still strong but had peaked and was only going to go down as they all got older. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/72 "2019-10-05T22:33:29Z")
non-music stuff like “drum machines” and “auto-tune”, “auto-eatshit”, etc. doesn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/73 "2019-10-05T22:51:47Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > To me ABBA comes to mind when I think about this question. > \<…\>But the two girls on stage would wear skimpy outfits which one might call lewd. The two guys - their husbands - let them parade themselves off on stage. Follow the money. ABBA took a tax break in Sweden because their costumes couldn’t be worn in public and were thus exempt. Bless their accountant! Sturgeon’s Law applies to popular music. 95% of everything IS crap. We cherry-pick to forget the reality. Pick any top-10 list, or hits since music was sold publicly, and most will be forgettable and forgotten. Why? People are comfortable with familiar crud. It may be shit but it’s warm, soft, all-enveloping shit. Today IS the best time in history to hear music. It’s almost ALL available online, from Maori chants (I needn’t keep my 78s), to Gregorian chants, to Chance the Gardener rapping softly somewhere. In Uzbek. With bullfrogs. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/74 "2019-10-05T22:56:16Z")
To me this is utter cringe but folks back then seemed to like it > [@](#): > > “Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)” is a song written by Irving Taylor and performed by Edward Byrnes and Connie Stevens. It reached #4 on the U.S. pop chart, #27 on the UK Singles Chart, and #30 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959.[1] The song was featured on Byrnes’ 1959 album, Kookie Star of “77 Sunset Strip”.[2] It was based on Byrnes’ character from the television show 77 Sunset Strip. The song is mostly spoken, except when Kookie sings the Bridge section: “I’ve got smog in my noggin’ ever since you made the scene…”, and makes use of cool, Beatnik slang. Connie continually interrupts him, asking him to lend her his comb. When he finally asks her, “What’s with this comb caper, baby?..”, she says she wants him to stop combing his hair and kiss her. Kookie likes the sound of that, ending up saying, “Baby, you’re the ginchiest!”. > > The single was produced by Karl Engemann and arranged by Don Ralke,[3] and ranked #37 on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/75 "2019-10-06T00:27:59Z")
Janelle Monae is one of the most exciting musicians in my lifetime ([Dance Apocalyptic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaMBagakSdM), [Make Me Feel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRzz0oqgUE), [Tightrope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc), [Sesame Street](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeUvZvuvAs)). She certainly pulls on Prince and Andre 3000 and others, but she’s doing amazing new work. Lewd? Absolutely. And? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/76 "2019-10-06T02:29:22Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > non-music stuff like “drum machines” and “auto-tune”, “auto-eatshit”, etc. doesn’t help. Pop music has been using computer-generated sounds (of which “drum machines” and “auto-tune” are subsets) since the _early '70s_, you know. Did you think the intro to _Baba O’Riley_ was played on the guitar? ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/77 "2019-10-06T04:49:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Pop music has been using computer-generated sounds (of which “drum machines” and “auto-tune” are subsets) since the _early '70s_, you know. Did you think the intro to _Baba O’Riley_ was played on the guitar? I’m related to a pianist-conductor who despises analog but especially digital synths for putting honest musicians out of work. I dared to ask how many wind players and chorus singers lost employment to pipe organs over the last millennium. Frown… Drum machines? A proto-metronome was developed around 870 CE. Professional metronomes date from 1815 and Beethoven scored metronome timings by 1817. Mozart wrote for clock and mechanical organ a quarter-century earlier. Musical rhythm has been artificially tick-tocked for quite a while. Other mechanized music? Besides hurdy-gurdys, musical automata have thrown their lure; Haydn and C.P.E.Bach wrote for them. An automatic flute player dates from ca. 1735; an automatic harpsichord player, from ca. 1775. Wind chimes are much older. Artificial production and processing of musical sounds goes WAY back, even before the megaphone pumped-up crooning, voh-dee-oh-doh. Are castratos artificial? ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/78 "2019-10-06T05:24:33Z")
I don’t disparage contemporary popular music as being talentless. Lack of subtlety as far as lewdness goes, I’ll give you. I find the music of the last 15-20 years or so a lot of times just difficult to listen to because of the way it’s mastered. The [Loudness Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war) have ruined a lot of what is likely otherwise perfectly fine music for me. It can be physically tiring to listen to contemporary music for me. There are bands currently making music that I like, music similar to what I grew up with, but the recordings are so compressed that I can only take so much. Every moment of every song is filled – even the quiet spaces are amplified. When I go see live music, though, I’m generally good. Nothing beats live music. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/79 "2019-10-06T15:20:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > On the contrary. I’m amazed that young people today still listen to them. Back to 60s, people couldn’t even name a song from fifty years earlier (except maybe “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”). True. Go back 50 years and you have psychedelia, Woodstock and a lot of what is now considered classic rock. If if there could ever be such a thing. The 50s and 60s had a great deal of manufactured music, straight off the production line, with zero-talent perforrmers, Some things never change. But the music of the 50s and 60 s still gets played on the radio, Anything older than that… it’s just background music on a period film. to let you know what era it was. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128/80 "2019-10-06T15:50:27Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’m almost 60 years old, and I still regularly find new songs that I like. Not so much on the radio, but even there it happens once in a while. More often I get recommendations from Facebook or Twitter. The key is that I’ll try just about any recommendation. Most don’t do anything for me, but I’ve discovered some real gems. I’m the same age as you, and agree with this. As noted upthread, there is objective evidence that pop music today is more homogeneous and corporate-created. But once in a while I hear new music I like. I love “Happy” by Pharrel (and I’m showing how calcified I am by citing it as recent – what is it, five years ago?) I think the prevalence of algorithm-generated music is simply one more instance of corporate interests killing the quality of music. I don’t know whether Nashville country music uses those same tools, but most of the stuff I’ve heard might as well have been written by machines. It’s not just that it all sounds the same – it’s _trying_ to sound the same. It uses the same hoary cliches (pedal steel swells, twangy vocals, lyrics about patriotism, girls, and drinking, etc.) I get the feeling that if they could sell people the same song over and over, they would. And I’m not singling out country: whenever you have a popular trend, there will be more crap produced, to cash in on the trend. IMO a lot of 1960s rock hasn’t held up very well, if you listen to randomly selected album cuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-modern-day-music-viewed-as-lewd-talentless-by-certain-people/841128.md?page=5)