Pop Rotten Youth

I was in a store and heard this song...it is Crazy Kids by Kesha (or Ke$ha for you cool kids)...if this is what speaks to the children of today I am very afraid for what the future holds when these kids become decision makers.

Hello, wherever you are
Are you dancing on the dance floor or drinking by the bar?
Tonight we do it big, and shine like stars
We don't give a fuck cause that's just who we are
And we are, we are we are, we are we are
The crazy kids, them crazy, them crazy kids
And we are, we are we are, we are we are
The crazy kids, we are the
We are the crazy people

The Justin Bieber generation will inevitably grow up and become the adult leaders of our society. But with role models like Kesha speaking to their hearts, I wonder if these giant babies will ever mature. Kesha is an artist produced in a room, told to look a certain way. Molded as a money making machine with no real talent, just a feather in her hair and some glitter on her face. She is merely a right place, right time generic pop sensation that could be easily replaced by any other sun kissed face with blond hair.

I have heard a 7 year old sing this song, word for word, not necessarily understanding what they were saying, but they were hooked nonetheless. This song teaches our youth to say fuck it all and that life is a constant party so go get bombed. This song makes me think of teenage pregnancy, a mass epidemic of gonorrhea, and an increase in drug addiction. Life is hard enough without the influence of Kesha, Nicki Minaj, even Selena Gomez, although from tonight's research she seems to be the least offensive of young pop artists. There is so much pressure on young girls to be skinny, sexy, and popular from media and music. I have never been more thankful that I was raised on good old classic rock and roll than today.

Most teenagers have never heard of Rush, AC/DC, Kiss, even Red Hot Chili Peppers. They cannot name one song by Led Zeppelin. If you ask a teenager who Ozzy Osbourne is they may tell you "that goth guy from that reality show", but have never heard of his band Black Sabbath. And forget knowing Ronnie James Dio, Jim Morrison, or Freddie Mercury! It is a goddamn shame that the music of today consists of cheesy pop beats and repetitive lyrics with no deeper meaning than "I want to slap that ass" or "let's get drunk in a club then do things we'll regret in the morning."

I wonder if this is how my parents thought of my music and my friends growing up. I am of the age of grunge and hard rock, once a devoted Kurt Cobain fan. I used to listen to Sabbath, Metallica and the Chili Peppers in my room at an ungodly decibel and I can only imagine how my parents felt; probably the exact way I feel about kids and their music now. They didn't get me and I do not understand the younger generation today. I think we are doing a great disservice to society promoting artists like Kesha and it is about time we bring back true rock and roll.  In the words of the great AC/DC, "for those about to rock, we salute you."