Not So Bad In LA: Sardonic Pop Anthems (ONTD Original)
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Sardonic Pop Anthems
Pop singers live to create a life that will stroke their ego with fame and success - but it always comes with a cost. These are songs that convey a perverse reckoning between being cynical of society's superficiality, but also succumbing to its obsessive nature. You can take these as either cautionary tales, or accounts of those who sold their soul only to find out it's Not So Bad In LA (out on iTunes).
11. What You Waiting For - Gwen Stefani
Born to blossom, bloom to perish / You know you're only known
'Cause of your sex chromosome / I know it's so messed up how our society all thinks
Life is short, you're capable
Look at your watch now / You're still a super hot female
You got your million dollar contract / And they're all waiting for your hot track
In wonderland fashion, Gwen battles pressures of time and taking chances while she still has superficial and extrinsic advantages (a record deal, female youth, and potential to be huge as a solo act).
Click to view10. Not So Bad In L.A - Allie X
In a city that lives while its bright stars die / And you start to get old when you turn 25
Where else can you go when you got that drive? / And everybody says when they arrive
It's not so bad in L.A / The parking's cheap and valet
Those blue skies day after day / It's not so bad in L.A
Allie writes about her experience in LA and sarcastically agrees with its decadence.
9. Los Ageless - St. Vincent
The last days of the sunset superstars / Girls in cages playing their guitars
But how can I leave? / I just follow the hood of my car
In Los Ageless, the waves they never break / They build and build until you don't have no escape
But how can I leave? / I just follow my hood to the sea, go to sleep
St. Vincent talks about pursuit of stardom and riding through its culture.
8. Gods and Monsters - Lana Del Rey
You got that medicine I need / Fame, liquor, love, give it to me slowly
Put your hands on my waist, do it softly / Me and God, we donโt get along, so now I sing
Lana is chasing her fame through doing deeds that lose her innocence and falling into indulgence, while insisting she's not losing her soul.
7. Don't Let Me Get Me - Pink
LA told me, "You'll be a pop star / All you have to change is everything you are."
Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears / She's so pretty, that just ain't me
Referencing L.A. Reid who gave her first record deal, Pink talks about breaking free from masquerading an image she gave into due to low self esteem.
6. Controversy - Natalia Kills
Bath salts, authority / Online's the the new reality
The Internet is reality / Technology killed reality
The internet becomes superfluous with information where it becomes distorted and hard to tell what's real. Natalia is numb by things typically regarded controversial due to constant exposure. #innovatedglitchartsince2010
5. Teen Idle - Marina and the Diamonds
I wanna be a virgin pure / A 21st century whore
I want back my virginity / So I can feel infinity
I wanna drink until I ache / I wanna make a big mistake
I want blood, guts and angel cake / Iโm gonna puke it anyway
Granted anything off Family Jewels would be more fitting for the list, Marina reflects on her 'wasted youth' in "Teen Idle" where she starkly wished she lived them out more, even in a way young troubled celebrities have.
4. Welcome - Christina Aguilera
Is it all blue skies / Fun and games until you fall
Then you're left without anyone at all
You're riding on a shooting star / With a smile upon your face
But soon the shine fades
And you're left out all alone / Wondering where did they all go?
Xtina sings about the deceptions and fleeting benefits of fame/show business as if it's all a circus that eventually ends. #Happy12thBirthdayBacktoBasics
3. Intuition - Jewel
You got something that you want me to sell / Sell your sin, just cash in
You got something that you want me to tell / You'll love me, wait and see
If you want me, don't play games / I promise it won't be in vain
Jewel says that the only way to get through a rapidly changing world of fads is by following your heart, even if 'selling out' is an option.
2. Hollywood - Madonna
I lost my memory in Hollywood / I've had a million visions, bad and good
There's something in the air in Hollywood / I tried to leave it, but I never could
Madonna thoroughly lived through Hollywood and continues to fall into the allure of it even when she lost her memory, reputation, and moral compass. 'How can it hurt you when it looks so good' suggests a naive attraction.
1. The Fear - Lily Allen
I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror / I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner
I don't know what's right and what's real anymore / And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear? / Cause I'm being taking over by the fear
Lily Allen falls victim to overpowering societal pressures and what media programmed into her: intrusive ideas of longing for wealth, being thin, consumerism, and nudity for attention.
ONTD are you just a simple girl living in a high-tech digital world?
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