However, every now and then a song comes along that I feel I need to voice an opinion on. And the latest one is the song #Selfie by The Chainsmokers. (Here it is if you're lucky enough not to have heard it yet. I apologise in advance...)
The first time I heard this song I remember my first impression being how utterly awful it was and thinking that it must be a joke or some kind of parody. However, as I said, I like to be open-minded so I decided that maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea and that hopefully it would just blur into the background of all the other songs on the radio. As I started to hear it more and more I seem to have gone through two further stages of thinking.
After stage one of really disliking it, stage two, I'm ashamed to say was me actually in a strange way enjoying it. This came about due to it being frequently played when I was at the gym and realising it is actually a really good song to workout to. I began to see how it was quite catchy and I could appreciate it's appeal.
BUT, then came stage three. As I heard the song more and more I listened to what it was saying and saw how the messages it was giving out are not ones I necessarily agree with. These are:
- The way it glamourises drinking - even to the point where she feels sick due to drinking to excess.
- How it encourages smoking
- The way women are judged on how they look and are insulted due to this
- The suggestion that the singer is 'going to go home' with someone purely based on the fact that he thinks she looks good
Basically, the song is saying that in order to sleep with someone you need to go out, get drunk and show the world how great you look. Now, I may be taking this all too seriously, and I'm guessing the song is meant in a light-hearted and slightly comedic way. But the issue I have is that the main audience for this song is probably young people, specifically girls, who shouldn't be encouraged to take part in this kind of behaviour. Smoking and drinking to excess and feeling that the only way to be liked is through your appearance is not a message that I want to be given to young people. I think it's irresponsible to normalise messages like this, and the more it happens, the more 'normal' they will become.
So, when this morning Fearne Cotton stopped the song halfway through, saying she just couldn't face playing anymore of it, I was silently applauding her. She may not have the same reasons as me for disliking it, but just the fact that she does is a start.
