I'll start with my problem with "love songs" that are sexual in the themes. My problem isn't the themes, it's moreso how another word that starts with an l gets twisted with love. Love is not just a verb, it can be used to describe someone who makes you grateful you're not single and someone you can say you trust. If you're just looking for a hookup to feel "the tingle," then you're crazy if you say that's anything other than lust. Intimacy can be part of the realtionship later on, but on it's own, that doesn't earn the right to be considered love. That's just being about "that thing." At least be more honest about it like 3pc. with the song "Ooh, Aah." Sidenote, thanks to my exposure with the furry circles, I occasionaly hear the main guy singing with the words owo and uwu. For example with the lyrics "Shawty I need to knowo" and "I promise that I would duwu." Also I wanted to bring up "4 Walls (After Effects) " and how at the end the guy correctly calls what happened in the first song "4 Walls" lust. It contains themes of adultery however, and I personally don't know another song that discusses the difference between love and lust in a less extreme scenario. Or maybe I do, and I'm drawing blanks on the track name. Wouldn't be the first time.

My other problem is the opposite side of the coin where the actual love songs sound too desperate with lyrics along the lines of "I need you, I'm nothing without you, What's life worth living if you're not here, I can only think of you." While I'm sure some of it isn't literal, something about it feels sad, disturbing, or clingy. If someone you loved left your life and don't know what to do, talk with someone like a therapist or another close person to set yourself right. At first you might feel helpless, but give it time and don't rush things and be reckless. Rejection or leaving a long relationship may hurt (not that I would know anything about that, I've been single for my entire current time alive), but just give it time and learn to move on. Don't be sad it's over, be glad to know for the time you were together with that other person that (hopefully) enjoyed your company and made great memories with you.

Also to whoever decides to quote this, please only quote what you're replying to so we can avoid walls of text somehow bigger than my original post.

How old are you?

2000s boy. Old enough to drink myself into a hospital bed if I wanted to. What's with the question anyway?

I vaguely remember when music felt this important.

calydor said:
I vaguely remember when music felt this important.

It still is. It's just that after a certain point, the quality of the newer songs took a swan dive into an empty pool with concrete at the bottom. It could be either due to people's standards being lower, people realizing they can put less effort and get the same results, or music studios wanting to take less risks. Whatever the case, it's more common to find songs that lack personality, rhythm or feel like they were made for commercials with how artificial/generic it sounds.

But don't think bad songs are just a new thing. Who remembers 2000's artists like Lil' Boosie, songs like "Throw Some D's (Good sample/instrumental though), Knuck if you Buck" or the one song that has lyrics like "cause I'm home, wipe me down." I only remember these, except for "Throw some D's," thanks to my mom occasionaly playing those older tracks. If you ask me, the drop of quality was showing around the 2000s but it wasn't until around the late 2010's to now where there were more mediocre or bad songs that were overshadowing the few good ones.

I would argue that the quality of music has stayed the same through out most of our time, but just like with modern "art", there has been a trend of "mainstream" media praising or otherwise elevating what would normally be considered mid at best.

Now I understand I might sound like those old people who claim that their generation of music was the best, but I mean it, there are a LOT of good music TODAY that for the most part flies under the radar, on the other hand there are a lot of awful songs that get all the praise from the public.

azero said:
I would argue that the quality of music has stayed the same through out most of our time, but just like with modern "art", there has been a trend of "mainstream" media praising or otherwise elevating what would normally be considered mid at best.

Now I understand I might sound like those old people who claim that their generation of music was the best, but I mean it, there are a LOT of good music TODAY that for the most part flies under the radar, on the other hand there are a lot of awful songs that get all the praise from the public.

Agreed. The "mainstream" has always been filled with novelty songs and garbage. Those songs just don't tend to survive as people listen through their collections and prune out stuff that makes them go "What the fuck is this garbage? I listened to this?"

grab-n-stash said:
2000s boy. Old enough to drink myself into a hospital bed if I wanted to. What's with the question anyway?

I was tired and being mean. Don't worry about it.

azero said:
I would argue that the quality of music has stayed the same through out most of our time, but just like with modern "art", there has been a trend of "mainstream" media praising or otherwise elevating what would normally be considered mid at best.

Now I understand I might sound like those old people who claim that their generation of music was the best, but I mean it, there are a LOT of good music TODAY that for the most part flies under the radar, on the other hand there are a lot of awful songs that get all the praise from the public.

Interesting how Calydor's comment about music feeling less valuable and me responding shifted the original topic. Not that I mind, it's just that the topic that we're now discussing instead of the original is a bit more oversaturated (on Youtube at least.) Also you don't sound like those people that make bold claims like "The music I listened to back then was better than the audio garbage people listen to now." You actually have enough self awareness to admit there is still some good music somewhere, unlike those sentient windbags that just complain that everything's changing for the worse and that there's nothing to look forward to.

This video does a pretty good job of articulating what the worst thing is, but it's more from outside of music than within it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G77ev9pks4I

the cruelest of it shortened is, imagine an incredible piece of music.
You either already know it, or you're discovering it for the first time, but there it is.
Inside the 30 second confines of an advertisement that is using it to induce the desire to purchase a product or service, repeated over and over, ruthlessly used in the service of some firm's reduction of an audience down to a market of consumers to manipulate with pavlovian conditioning.
And from the moment on after you've ingested it, the association will always be there, waiting to be recalled.
Unable to be forgotten, allowed to die, such that you'll only be able to lose yourself inside the song for as long as you don't relive seeing that one commercial for that one car or cellphone.

I think the thing that really "grinds my gears" is when some newer songs will interpolate lyrics or melodies from older music and put it over some generic sounding track.

I work retail so I hear a lot of songs like that playing on the speakers through out the store.

This video kinda explains it more in depth
https://youtu.be/VIWSNTRNVfE?si=JCgM6djy2J4NMijS

I can't stand when human voices are reduced to just an "instrument" in a song. For example voice samples were one of Skrillex's signatures and it's the only thing that kept me from enjoying his music. Another example is in pokemon scarlet and violet, several of the battle themes have a children's choir singing; but they wanted it to be international so instead of lyrics they would have to translate, they have the choir chanting non-syntactic noises like "ah ah ra ra da da" to a melody instead. Feels uncomfortably uncanny to me.

grab-n-stash said:
Interesting how Calydor's comment about music feeling less valuable and me responding shifted the original topic. Not that I mind, it's just that the topic that we're now discussing instead of the original is a bit more oversaturated (on Youtube at least.) Also you don't sound like those people that make bold claims like "The music I listened to back then was better than the audio garbage people listen to now." You actually have enough self awareness to admit there is still some good music somewhere, unlike those sentient windbags that just complain that everything's changing for the worse and that there's nothing to look forward to.

It do be like that sometimes, but I do agree on the whole "love songs" being sexual in nature, I am not a puritan, but it does make me...cringe a little bit, it feels no different to hearing corny/poor porn dialogue, it kills the vibe, of course it is all subjective, but I feel the lyrics should find a balance and not go overboard with, I find it that more of than not, these "love songs" sound like someone reading their own erotic fanfaction and are about to have an orgasm just from reading it, I don't need to be reminded how much the author wants to bang this chick/dude every 5 seconds. Like bro, I'm a furry and I am not even THAT horny. But as I said before, it is a matter of finding the right middle ground.

Let me give you a real world example:
Cardi B's WAP, I want anyone to look up the karaoke/no lyrics version of the song and to tell me that the beat by itself sounds good, you might say: "Well, it is rap, lyrics are meant to make up most of what you hear.", and yes, that would be correct, but a good beat makes a great deal of how good the lyrics sound.
Compare that to the lyricless version of Eminem's Rap God or Linkin Park's In The End if you were a 2000's kid.

WAP (in my own opinion), feels like someone being edgy as a way to try to be funny, without undertanding what makes edgy humor work.

Rant over.

azero said:
I would argue that the quality of music has stayed the same through out most of our time, but just like with modern "art", there has been a trend of "mainstream" media praising or otherwise elevating what would normally be considered mid at best.

Now I understand I might sound like those old people who claim that their generation of music was the best, but I mean it, there are a LOT of good music TODAY that for the most part flies under the radar, on the other hand there are a lot of awful songs that get all the praise from the public.

I'd argue it's always been that way, you only hear the popular songs from decades ago that people liked enough for them to stick around. You don't hear all the catchy songs that got replaced a couple weeks later.

azero said:
Cardi B's WAP, I want anyone to look up the karaoke/no lyrics version of the song and to tell me that the beat by itself sounds good, you might say: "Well, it is rap, lyrics are meant to make up most of what you hear.", and yes, that would be correct, but a good beat makes a great deal of how good the lyrics sound.

also not to say WAP is some great song but I feel like it's worth explaining. The beat isn't meant to sound good on it's own, it should sound incomplete. It's kinda because the lyrics make up most of what you hear but more specifically it's because the rapping is an instrument in the song. The beat and rapping form a cohesive whole so take one of them out will make it sound incomplete a lot of the time. This is true outside of rap as well. Just pick any popular song then listen to the instrumental. You'll see what I mean. It'll either sound incomplete or the song changes based on whether someone is supposed to be singing at that part.

mr_throwaway5678 said:
I think the thing that really "grinds my gears" is when some newer songs will interpolate lyrics or melodies from older music and put it over some generic sounding track.

I work retail so I hear a lot of songs like that playing on the speakers through out the store.

This video kinda explains it more in depth
https://youtu.be/VIWSNTRNVfE?si=JCgM6djy2J4NMijS

yeah I think that's mine as well, that "i'm good" song drove me nuts

I don't have strong opinions on music aside from "I like this song" or "I think this song sucks", but two things that consistently grind my gears in terms of music is:

-Random rap segments that break the flow of the rest of the song
and
-Bad "trap remixes"
Especially the bad trap remixes. I've heard hundreds of them thanks song requests on a streamer I watch, and it's always the same drumline and sound effects laid over a song that is otherwise unchanged. There's been a rare few that have been good or otherwise decent.

mr_throwaway5678 said:
I think the thing that really "grinds my gears" is when some newer songs will interpolate lyrics or melodies from older music and put it over some generic sounding track.

I work retail so I hear a lot of songs like that playing on the speakers through out the store.

This video kinda explains it more in depth
https://youtu.be/VIWSNTRNVfE?si=JCgM6djy2J4NMijS

Now this guy gets it. Instead of adding more to the track, it feels like the most bare bones minimal effort to get the listeners to go "Hey I remember that, that's from (insert song name)" in the hopes that people will like it. Older songs like "Girls,Girls,Girls" (samples Tom Brock) and "Back In The Day" (samples Teddy Pendergrass,) would take the samples and build on it for their own things. And even some songs like "Don't" from Bryson Tiller or "Alone With You" from Alina Baraz make the song special with background ambience to add to the atmosphere. But like you said, the lackluster music does occasionaly drag the day down. Also if I have to hear "ThIs AiN't TeXaS" at least once every two days for the work week, I might have to go from a cancer to an aquarius or a taurus.

just_lurking said:
yeah I think that's mine as well, that "i'm good" song drove me nuts

Is that the vocal diarrhea track that uses the "I'm Blue" instrumental you're talking about? "I'm Blue" already felt like a "well, you exist" type of song. There didn't need to be a way to make me wish for the original song to play that wasn't even that noteworthy to me.

grab-n-stash said:
Is that the vocal diarrhea track that uses the "I'm Blue" instrumental you're talking about? "I'm Blue" already felt like a "well, you exist" type of song. There didn't need to be a way to make me wish for the original song to play that wasn't even that noteworthy to me.

yeah, it's that one

azero said:
It do be like that sometimes, but I do agree on the whole "love songs" being sexual in nature, I am not a puritan, but it does make me...cringe a little bit, it feels no different to hearing corny/poor porn dialogue, it kills the vibe, of course it is all subjective, but I feel the lyrics should find a balance and not go overboard with, I find it that more of than not, these "love songs" sound like someone reading their own erotic fanfaction and are about to have an orgasm just from reading it, I don't need to be reminded how much the author wants to bang this chick/dude every 5 seconds.

My issue was never with the themes (unless it's so vulgar that'd you think a teen with raging hormones who's probably thinking of screwing whatever moves wrote the song,) it was only that they got the the words "love" and "lust" twisted to be anywhere near the same ballpark.

Also,

azero said: Like bro, I'm a furry and I am not even THAT horny.

post #3539600
Well, you got me there. It does check out.

Very glad to know this finally got some traction after a bit. Wasn't expecting this much interaction.

arrow189 said:
I can't stand when human voices are reduced to just an "instrument" in a song. For example voice samples were one of Skrillex's signatures and it's the only thing that kept me from enjoying his music. Another example is in pokemon scarlet and violet, several of the battle themes have a children's choir singing; but they wanted it to be international so instead of lyrics they would have to translate, they have the choir chanting non-syntactic noises like "ah ah ra ra da da" to a melody instead. Feels uncomfortably uncanny to me.

You definitely wouldn't have been a fan of Doo-Wop.

arrow189 said:
I can't stand when human voices are reduced to just an "instrument" in a song.

I feel like if they do it lazily like the pokemon S&V
The song I thing your referring to: https://youtu.be/w3zKEKIp-cQ?si=NsDAoPteiR1UigE7

Then it does sound pretty awful but I've seen more creative uses for vocals on other tracks, for example my favorite song that uses vocal tracks as instruments is Another me by Andy mineo https://youtu.be/LWAEpEPRJgQ?si=Grr9zuMQfSxCv4Ul

It's probably the effects and how it's used that does it for me

Also does anybody have any other love songs that aren't sappy or desperate as the first post says?

I have a couple that are more like married love songs and shows the more "Real" side of love.

For example
Bear with me by Propaganda
https://youtu.be/rTMINaybeyE?si=bWb_72K9a4JN4x-R

Another me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/LWAEpEPRJgQ?si=Zzl79_1pE-6uXRVy

Remind me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/JL4Xy_UTZ7c?si=zxYQ4tIyPJmtLVtm

mr_throwaway5678 said:
Also does anybody have any other love songs that aren't sappy or desperate as the first post says?

I have a couple that are more like married love songs and shows the more "Real" side of love.

For example
Bear with me by Propaganda
https://youtu.be/rTMINaybeyE?si=bWb_72K9a4JN4x-R

Another me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/LWAEpEPRJgQ?si=Zzl79_1pE-6uXRVy

Remind me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/JL4Xy_UTZ7c?si=zxYQ4tIyPJmtLVtm

Have you heard of "My First Love?" Not sure if that one counts.

mr_throwaway5678 said:
Also does anybody have any other love songs that aren't sappy or desperate as the first post says?

I have a couple that are more like married love songs and shows the more "Real" side of love.

For example
Bear with me by Propaganda
https://youtu.be/rTMINaybeyE?si=bWb_72K9a4JN4x-R

Another me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/LWAEpEPRJgQ?si=Zzl79_1pE-6uXRVy

Remind me by Andy Mineo
https://youtu.be/JL4Xy_UTZ7c?si=zxYQ4tIyPJmtLVtm

personally I like bjork's love songs, I think they could fall under the pet peeves listed here but I find I relate to them a lot. She also just makes great songs (and music videos). She's not everyone's thing though.

Bachlorette
https://youtu.be/JNJv-Ebi67I?si=UeUx_WFhIaa5C9VI

Possibly Maybe
https://youtu.be/iyqKy5P1Y0Q?si=9VgIkWB-AvQRKonM

just_lurking said:
She also just makes great songs (and music videos).

My favourite videos of hers are Hidden Place and All Is Full Of Love.

kemonophonic said:
My favourite videos of hers are Hidden Place and All Is Full Of Love.

oh yeah those ones are really good too, honestly it's hard for me to pick favorites with them.

when they're bad

wwwwwwwww said:
when they're bad

real

wwwwwwwww said:
when they're bad

did not consider this

wwwwwwwww said:
when they're bad

Top comment right here. Nothing complicated to read through. Straight to the point. Simplicity itself.