Lately I've been listening to a lot of New Kids On The Block (SHUT. UP.). I'm honestly not sure, why, but it's got me thinking about my theory regarding boy bands and when girls start liking boys.
I've had a theory that boy bands often become popular and take over the nation every seven or so years, as a group of girls reaches prepubescent stage and others enter the teen years. In other words, the demographic is as big as it's going to get. They usually last for at least three to four years, during which girls start learning about boys, romance, dating and grow out of the whole "puppy love" thing that the boy bands sell.
Witness the songs -- they're about true love, love at first sight and unconditional romance. They promise the stars, the moon and maybe a few hearts and four-leaf clovers in the deal. Witness "Please Don't Go Girl":
Please don't go girl
You would ruin my whole world
Tell me you'll stay
Never ever go away
I love you (I love you)
I guess I always will
Girl, you're my best friend
Girl, you're my love within
I just want you to know
That I will always love you
Lyrics like that are all over the damn place. You can't move without hitting a "Baby I need you," "Girl you're the one for me," or "I'm so in love with you." Any reference of sex is coyly referred to, which keeps up the whole puppy love thing going for the little girls, but is enough to titillate teen girls.
The funny thing is that for me, I've always hated lyrics like this. Doesn't matter who sings them. Hate them. I find it kind of trite and banal. Lyrics like that make me think, "You don't know me. How can you say that?"
(So why do I like NKOTB? It was Hangin' Tough that hooked me. I've always been a sucker for the "I'm stronger than you are" song. Again, SHUT. UP.)
My favorite love songs tend to be bittersweet -- along the lines of "Well, you drive me nuts, but I love you anyways." Is it possible that I was a crotchety old woman at 15?
Editor's note: This has been kicking around in my head for awhile. It's still kind of half-baked, but that's what blogs are for, right?
2 comments:
Oh my...it's New Kids on the Smurf. From right to left we have:
Handy Smurf in his overalls
Vanity Smurf (in front)
Smurf (he was kind of the non-entity one of the group)
Painter Smurf
Dancer Smurf
Sorry, Wahlberg's attire made me think of that.
I was a little too old for NKotB, but I was a HUGE fan of Menudo back in the day!
Viv, your listening pleasures were actually an epiphany:
New Kids on the Block Reuniting
See, they really are "hangin' tough!"
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