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tayfabe75 · 23 days

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Did Taylor and Matty meet on Myspace? (And other early coincidences!)

Early on in their careers, Taylor and Matty both utilized Myspace as a way to promote their music. Taylor, specifically, would message with other teenagers on Myspace:

"I'd post my songs on my MySpace and, yes, MySpace, and would message with other teenagers like me who loved country music, but just didn't have anyone singing from their perspective."

Matty, too, described himself as "King of Myspace" when he was fifteen. But he brought it up more recently on the Ion Pack Podcast, even mentioning his age as seventeen at the time. And here's a retro clip of Taylor talking about how she wasn't some corporate entity on Myspace, if you messaged her account, you were talking to her! She also filled out her profile in her own words.

She has some things in her profile that might've caught Matty's eye, a fellow teenage country fan and fan of American music specifically, that might've emboldened him to message her:

"I love people who like my music. I love people who are nice to me. I like people who are excitable. I think it's endearing when people cry when they're happy. I'm pretty excitable too. Guys don't ask me out because they know I'll write songs about them. But I'm also the girl who still believes prince charming exists somewhere out there -- fully equipped with great hair and an immature sense of humor. I'm fascinated by black and white pictures. I like people who can be sarcastic and laugh about tense situations. I'm a fan of fans."

Say whatever you will about Matty, but that man is a genuine fan of Taylor's music. When he became a fan is open for discussion, but let's just pretend, for fun, that he found her via Myspace early on in her career.

Now, here is the old Myspace page for The 1975 back when they were known as 'Drive Like I Do' in 2008. Note the James Taylor in the list of Influences! (as well as the Jamie Squire in the top 8! How sweet, I'm sobbing!)

Taylor was a bit of a firecracker on Myspace (and not just there, there's a whole conspiracy theory she used to troll 4Chan!). A few of her comments were screenshotted and you can find them around the internet. Here are some. The one from October 31st, 2005 about a queer fellow ("I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer, it's not as weird as it appears") with a Sex van ("take your shoes off in the back of my van") really caught my eye, anyway…

"Listen my queer fellow. I thinketh we shall hangeth out sometime soon, eh? yes, I do believe I am growing fond of this idea. drive over in your sex van and come pick me up, farewell knave."

Notice the spelling here, too. Thinketh? Hangeth? Knave? Feels a little bit Shakespearean, at least for say, a fifteen-going-on-sixteen-year-old girl (as we would later discover, Love Story and Robbers were both inspired by Romeo and Juliet, both written around the same time so far as I know, but it's hard to find exact dates!)

Matty, by the way, used to refer to himself as the "Prince of the Tyne". He's also got some old Drive Like I Do lyrics from 'We Are the Streetfighters' that are suspicious to me: "Well in four thousand miles we'll meet you" (The nearest airport to Macclesfield is in Manchester, and the distance between Manchester and Nashville? Roughly 4000 miles)

Two months later on December 21st, 2005, just after turning 16, Taylor says she's in England.

Did they meet? Who knows! But there's enough weirdness there to make me wonder. Speaking of weirdness… we're going to go on a side tangent about Fearless, but that's part of the puzzle, so bear with me…

I don't know about anyone else, but when I saw Matty's Fearless Love Gaze™, I was rocked to my core! Men do not look at women like that, but especially not brand-new flings. They're too concerned with trying to look cool and unaffected. For most men (stereotypically), romance and love are "dumb" and "stupid" and perceived as a "woman thing" that men can't be bothered with. But not Matty. Matty was utterly transfixed by her. Something about that touch of mischief in the lip bite when she says the bit about "absentmindedly making me want you", the way he just barely mouths along to the words at the end of the clip, well… sirens started going off for me. So, I followed my intuition and started researching all of this.

Now, Taylor wrote the song 'Fearless' sometime in 2006. The hidden message liner note for Fearless? "I loved you before I met you". Taylor describes 'Fearless' as a song she wrote about a perfect first date she hadn't had yet, about something she didn't have but dreamt of. She debuted it for the first time on April 6th, 2007 in Reading, PA (if you don't already know it, that's two days before Matty's 18th birthday). At this show, she debuted 'Sparks Fly' (yes, in 2007! Original lyrics were brown eyes rather than green eyes, by the way) and 'Tied Together With A Smile'. She also played a cover of John Waite's song 'Missing You' which seems to be about a long-distance relationship: "And it's my heart that's breakin' down this long distance line tonight"

Speaking of Matty's birthday, the release of Fearless TV happened to coincide with Matty's birthday! She dropped a sneak peek of Fearless on his birthday in 2021, and the album would release one day later on the ninth (perhaps because albums release on Fridays and that's as close as she could get?)

Taylor describes the Fearless album as her diary from when she was seventeen (misplaced my source on that quote, d'oh!) That said, 'Love Story' interests me as well. There are some interesting facts about Love Story:

Hidden message: Someday, I'll find this. Taylor wrote this song in a very short amount of time after her parents had told her that she couldn't be with the person she wanted to be with. And in her own words:

"'Love Story' is actually about a guy that I almost dated. But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn't like him. All of them! For the first time, I could relate to that Romeo-and-Juliet situation where the only people who wanted them to be together were them. That's the most romantic song I've written, and it's not even about a person I really dated."

Taylor's UK television debut (like first time ever performing on TV in the UK) was on Loose Women (Matty's mother's show). Now, Denise was not there during this period as a host, but she had been before that and would be afterward, so maybe there's some significance? Maybe not. But if Taylor and Matty knew each other, he would definitely get to be in the audience to see her if he wanted to. The song she chose to perform was 'Love Story'.

Now, 'Robbers' is also based on Romeo and Juliet (and also written circa 2007), and Matty describes that here in a fan video from 2015. We'd see Romeo and Juliet imagery pop up again in 2014, both in Taylor's video for Blank Space (where she's on a balcony looking down at her lover) and in November where she stood up on a balcony at Matty's show as he serenaded her with Fallingforyou (visual comparisons here)

Blank Space, too, might reference Fallingforyou. There's a scene where she rides bikes with her lover inside her enormous house, perhaps reminiscent of Matty's lyric: "All we need's my bike and your enormous house":

Matty even dresses a bit like the lover from 'Love Story' music video at the 2017 BRITs:

When you fall down the Myspace rabbit hole, you start noticing other strange similarities in their lyrics - like Matty referring to a "girl on the screen" in 'If You're Too Shy', which perhaps parallels Taylor's "guy on the screen" in 'Karma'. In 'The 1' (another song that lyrically parallels 'Robbers'), Taylor imagines "the 1 that got away" meeting a woman on the internet and taking her home, which might be another reference to Matty, perhaps lyrically paralleling The 1975's 'Playing On My Mind'. This theory, of course, makes the entire album 'A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships' suspect, especially given that 'Be My Mistake' is a song Matty wrote "about Nashville", the striking similarities between 'Sincerity is Scary' and 'Me!', a song called 'Mine' that references the year 2009, and the inclusion of a Drive Like I Do track Matty wrote when he was just fifteen years old, '102' (the same age he was when he was "King of Myspace"). Considering 'Love Story' was written for someone who Taylor's parents disapproved of, it makes this lyric all the more striking:

"I hope this song will remind you I'm not half as bad as what you've been told."

Lastly, if Matty is the confirmed 'Cardigan' muse and if 'Willow' is the continuation of 'Cardigan' (based on where the music video begins), the scene where she gazes into the water at her lover could perhaps represent a visual metaphor for looking through a screen, no?

Back to the NYU commencement speech! I recommend listening to the FULL clip. She talks about: feeling lonely, chatting with other teenage country fans on Myspace, and then segues into her motivation behind protecting her private life:

"Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely."

All of this seems correlated to me (also why it's hard for me to reconcile this whole football charade! But for me, it's easier to believe Taylor here about privacy being important to her, and not assume that some boyfriend kept her locked away in a dungeon against her will or something)

Now, to tie this all into a very nice bow, here's a quote where Taylor talks about how she uses easter eggs:

"Easter eggs can be left on clothing or jewelry. This is one of my favorite ways to do this, because you wear something that foreshadows something else, and people don't usually find out this one immediately, but they know you're probably sending a message. They'll figure it out in time."

What shirt was she wearing during her pap walk with Matty? Think of the "He lets her Bejeweled" meme… She had on an NYU sweatshirt.

Now, could be just a giant coincidence, trust me, I know, I get it. However… maybe she's really hinting about an old Myspace pal that she has protected fiercely. I mean, she did seem to use that speech to easter egg/foreshadow YOYOK & Labyrinth lyrics…

Speaking of 'Bejeweled'… On July 15th, 2023 Taylor flubbed the lyrics: "Sapphire tears on Myspace", and then she giggled. Freudian slip, perhaps? But this is the woman who assures us that "nothing is accidental"... and in a song that mentions a "Top 5", no less! (reminiscent of a Top 8, perhaps?)

Maybe James and Betty were involved in a "teenage love triangle" for a reason, and maybe TTPD references "teenage petulance" for that same reason… or maybe it's nothing but a bunch of eerie coincidences! Who knows! In the meantime, I'll keep on clownin'! 🤡

#tatty #maylor #taylor x matty #parallels #coincidences #early timeline speculation #theory: myspace #overlap: myspace #overlap: dixie chicks #overlap: romeo and juliet #overlap: country music #topic: drive like i do #song: fearless #song: robbers #song: love story #if you saw this on reddit five months ago in a private subreddit #yes that was me #been clownin' this theory since last july tyvm

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comfect · 1 year

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playlist meme

Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, and then tag 10 people. No skipping!

I was tagged by @rosyfingered-moon; so nice to find you here!

To be honest, this took a long time because I don't, um, listen to music that I am responsible for very much? The computer I'm typing this on doesn't actually have any music on it at all. So this meant going to my car while driving, where I do have a USB stick with songs (courtesy of @penguinity filling it with music). So I put that on shuffle, and here's what came up!

Half A Heart, Barenaked Ladies. So in general but especially while driving I have a strong preference for soft '90s/early '00s music, and all the BNL on my USB stick is my fault.

My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen. The Springsteen is all (yes, there's another one on this list) from college, specifically working as assistant technical director of The Gondoliers, when my boss was from New Jersey and listened to Springsteen's greatest hits while we worked. He gave me a copy of the CD when the show ended and I listen to it for that nostalgia hit.

Always, Rilo Kiley. This is entirely for driving vibes, which are very similar to my partner's sermon-writing vibes, which is where this song got into rotation.

Great Provider, Barenaked Ladies. I mean, I said I listen to them, but actually this is (I think) my single least favorite of their songs. Oh well.

Black Sand, Jenny Lewis. Since Jenny Lewis is the lead singer on Rilo Kiley, she's pretty well-represented here. This is a great song to not listen to but fill the air with sound while driving.

epiphany, Taylor Swift. You're going to notice a lot of repeats in the artist list. Taylor Swift is one of them. Slow, lingering, good for listening without actually distracting.

If I Fall You're Going Down With Me, The (Dixie) Chicks. (Dixie) in parentheses since they changed their name. This is the opposite of the previous songs; uptempo, makes me want to clap along. But strangely, still really good for the car.

Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis. I literally never remember the name of this song, because it should be called Liar, because she drawls that word out forEVER, repeatedly.

seven, Taylor Swift. I rarely pay attention to the lyrics, but I think this song has good ones.

Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen. You can tell I got this off a greatest hits CD because I had no idea it was a movie soundtrack song for years.

And there we are! So many overlapping artists, because there's only so many vibes I want while driving.

Tagging @penguinity (since you're responsible for most of the playlist existing) and whoever else wants to do it, consider yourselves tagged!

#meme #playlist

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scary-ivy · 5 years

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Two theories of Taylor Swift/Buddy Holly fan overlap:

Influence theory: tswift takes influence from the Dixie Chicks and other country bands that take influence from bholly, linking their music stylistically

I Just Like It When Someone Does Country and Pop Songs theory: self-explanatory

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webcricket · 6 years

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Castiel Imagine

Imagine: Castiel smites you with a smile.

You can tell by the way their voices carry, Dean’s deeper boom and Sam’s light husky laughter echoing off the concrete and tile-walled halls as you approach the bunker’s library, that the elder Winchester is well on his way to a delirious level of drunkenness and, from the boisterous sound of it, his brother isn’t too far behind. You swear the burnt caramel and oak-bite of Dean’s favorite whiskey wafting in the air is itself enough to induce a buzz.

You deserve the night off - a few cherished hours to cut loose - all of you; although, your idea of a good time falls more within the realm of an unhurried steamy hot shower without anyone going by the name of Dean insisting you ‘Hurry the hell up!’ precisely three minutes after you switched on water which never stood a chance of getting warm under the time constraints. Must be nice to be a man who wakes up looking runway ready in flannel and faded jeans every morning.

These carefree nights, they’re too far between.

Rounding the corner, cutting through the map room to the main threshold, uber-soothing essential oil of lavender clinging to still damp skin from the special super expensive organic body wash you save for just such occasions, you’re in search of your seraph’s warm vessel to snuggle. As you suspected, he’s there - at the table beside Sam, yet situated slightly too far from the animated antics of the men to be an active participant.

Strong shoulders rounded in a relaxed slouch, Castiel’s hands hide beneath the table where you guess the fingers lace loosely across his lap. He watches the brothers swim an undulating sea of booze and boast in the rise and fall of inebriation’s waves over conquests past. The boys are sinking fast, slurring syllables now and again, while the seraph simply sits, silent, observing their easy interaction, and with something rarer than a night off flexing the corners of his mouth upward - a soft smile.

Never could sneak up on the seraph, especially not smelling like you rolled in a field of fresh purple blooms and with a heart thrashing against your ribcage like a caged animal. Catching you staring, his blues shift to find you in the doorway. His smile deepens then, a manifestation of pure sunshine solidifying to skirt stretched pink lips and cut dimpled lines into his cheeks.

You grin back, warmth flushing your flesh at the sight of that stunning smile, bare feet magnetically ferrying you toward him.

The Winchesters stutter sloppy overlapping ‘Hellos!,’ Dean’s with a superfluous sweetheart attached.

Flicking a few wet tendrils of hair behind your ear, you flutter your fingers in greeting. “You boys going for a new bunker record for worst hangover?”

“You want in?” Dean quirks a daring brow toward his empty glass.

“Pass.” You pat a palm to Sam’s broad back as you slip past him.

Dean shrugs and pours another round.

Cas unfolds his fingers to catch you about the waist and pull you into his lap. “You were staring,” he murmurs while pressing a kiss to the curve of your neck.

“Was I?” You giggle, squirming at the tickle of scruff. Somehow he manages to make statements of the obvious absolutely endearing.

“Yes.” His words pirouette in exhaled puffs across your skin. “Why?”

Twisting your torso to face him, locking gazes, Sam and Dean fading forgotten to background noise thus reflected in his loving blues, you trace the square of his jaw with a fingertip. “Do I ever need a reason to stare at my handsome boyfriend?”

Forever shy of his vessel’s sex appeal, a rosy blush mantles his cheeks. Lashes lowering, the smile sweetens - so softly sweet and tempting you lean in, smitten, to savor a kiss.

Castiel tag list: (Closed, if you’d like to be removed please let me know!) @jeepangel @sammiesamness @willowing-love @blueicevalkyrie @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11 @thesugargalaxy @bluetina-blog @dont-trust-humanity @honeybeetrash @bucky-thorin-winchester @superwholockz @tistai @wordstothewisereaders @gill-ons @mrswhozeewhatsis @marisayouass @stone-met @castiel-savvy18 @samualmortgrim @trexrambling @magnificent-mantle @kdfrqqg @xdifsx @moon-and-stars-cas @rockfairy @peaceloveancolor @unicorntrooper @anisolatedship @itsilvermorny @alyssa6marie @aditimukul @calicat79 @kudosia @goofynerd-67babylove @uninspirationalsonglyrics @graceavidan @mishascupcake @mishapanicmeow @praisecastielamen @roseyhxnt @jessikared97 @let-the-imaginationflow @warriorqueen1991 @sebastianstanslefteyebrow @hisnameisboobear @kristendanwayne @fuschiarulerinthebluebox @jenabean75 @alisonkenway @anotherwaywardsister @luciathewinchestergirl @eurusholmmes @heyitscam99 @fangirl-and-stuff @selahbela @realgreglestrade @splendidcas @pointlesscasey @lovelyangelofasgard @i-larb-spooderman @thewhiterabbit42 @thelostverse @castieliswatchingoverme @beccollie18 @dragonett8 @dixie-chick @carowinsthings @pixiedusts @laqueus-ludovicus @passionghost @sherlockedtash88 @futureparent @gabbie7-11 @tsunderecamour @myfandomlife-blog @dreamerkim @missjenniferb @lexininja @samael-has-arrived @shamelesslydean @earthtokace @spookysculderfiles @neaeri @justanormalangel @lone-loba @supernaturalymarvel @lilrubixx @wings-and-halo @thehoneybeecastielfollows @musiclovinchic93 @jessiekay2010 @the-bottom-of-the-abyss

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thisselflovecamebacktome · 5 years

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I know it’s been a day and probably nothing that I am saying here is things that have been left unsaid by the fandom at this point, but I wanna put out my thoughts on the lover remix and then talk a bit in general about both Taylor’s collaborations with women versus her collaborations with men and the fandom’s response to this all.

I wasn’t big on the collaboration if I’m honest. I’m someone who sees Shawn as an average artist. In total, he has two songs that I genuinely like and about three others that I wouldn’t skip if they came on. I personally don’t think his and Taylor’s voice meshed the best, I like the original lyrics more than his by far and overall I found this collaboration unnecessary and will probably never listen to it again. HOWEVER, I think it’s sometimes lost on fandoms that collaborations and remixes aren’t usually made for the fans. Sure, it’s a bonus if they like them. But in general, it’s my honest opinion that collaborations and remixes are for the general public and fans of the remixer/collaborator to try and draw them into the original artist’s fanbase and to keep the song relevant. And in many ways, I think Shawn will keep Lover until the Grammys like hoped because he’s had two very big songs this year and is very much the ‘it boy’ of the moment. In saying that, I think it is in some ways a strange business move for two reasons. One, Taylor has basically sold this song on the fact that she was the sole writer and that has implications to it which while Shawn changing lyrics doesn’t change the fact Taylor wrote the original, does kind of distract from it if the collaboration version is what’s keeping it relevant. Secondly, while I do think Lover will stay relevant until the Grammys, I do have to question how much longevity this collaboration will have given that from what I can tell, a lot of Taylor and Shawn’s fanbases overlap meaning a lot of his fans have probably already heard the original and aren’t going to bring it as much exposure as a different artist could have. But I’ll admit that may be a moot point because Taylor may just want it in the charts until the Grammys then be planning to drop a different single in which case, yeah, the collaboration will do its job and I’ll go on just not listening to it.

As for Taylor working collaborating on her own works with more women... I’ll be honest, I didn’t really consider it an issue for this single because she identifies as an ally so it makes sense that the collaboration would be a male/female one acting as if they’re singing to each other. Would a woman on it have been amazing? Sure. But it’s not something that automatically came to mind as an issue. BUT I will say that looking back at her work like this ask I reblogged earlier today got me to do makes me agree with people who say that the difference in the way she treats women she collabs with in comparison to men she does is larger than it appears on face value. And I want to state now that I don’t think that this has ever been an intentional thing and I do think that there’s a lot of truth and validity in the idea that she works with people she feels comfortable with. But I also think that if we’re going to say that, we need to question why she feels comfortable collaborating with women but only when they’re only harmonising as opposed to the men who she gives full features to. and if we’re going to answer that with “she feels more comfortable around those men than the women she works with”, why despite having seemingly close relationships with female artists such as Selena, Haley, Kesha and Camilla, why she doesn’t collaborate with them. And maybe the answer is that the other artists she’s close to only want to harmonise. I mean I couldn’t understand that career choice (apart from Dixie Chicks with Soon You’ll Get Better given how personal it is but surely there are other songs that Taylor could work with women on, ya feel me?), but maybe it’s the truth. But either way, her working with other women in a larger capacity and allowing them space on her songs is definitely something I hope happens in the future.

Which leads us to the final topic; the fan reaction. I’ve gotta be honest, a lot of what I’m basing what I say next off is hearsay because to be honest, the only things I’ve heard said about this collaboration that I didn’t have to specifically look up outside of one comment about not liking Shawn is people adoring the remix or people talking about people being demons about it. And if there’s one thing that I took from my time disliking the 1989 era it’s that, to quote Reputation era Taylor herself “You choose your poison or your cure”. If you don’t like the remix like me, you can express that. Same with frustrations over larger parts of Taylor’s career. But take it from someone who reached this point in the 1989 era, if you are at the point that everything Taylor does bugs you and you are literally angry over a collaboration, you need to take a step back and have some ‘me time’ because there is probably something deeper going on there. On the flip side though, if you’re someone who is getting stressed out by people being critical all the time, you need to unfollow those people and start following ones more in line with your view. None of this ‘we’re mutuals’ crap. Social media is meant to be fun and I know it is hard to purge and then find more positive blogs because I did it at the start of the Reputation era, but again, you pick your poison or your cure. You are going to end up hating social media and the fandom aspects of your life all together if you keep allowing this negatively associated bridges to build between that and these people’s opinions and mental strain on yourself.

Anyway that’s my two cents on this remix and the reactions I’ve seen from it so far. Wanting to leave this on a positive note, I will say that I cannot wait for Beautiful Ghosts to come out and hope it’s as amazing as the previews made it sound.

#taylor swift #lover album #lover

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nickeldreadful · 5 years

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In Defense of Pop Punk

I’ve often heard the phrase “defend pop punk” thrown around. I always thought, defend it from what? Your parents telling you to turn that shit down? The preps in your hometown who don’t understand you? But here’s what I realize now: the genre has never been taken seriously, even at its height of popularity. It was too weird to be pop music, not hardcore enough to be punk music, and it committed the most unforgivable sin of all: it was popular with teenage girls.

Maybe this is all old news. I’ll admit I was late to the game; I mostly started listening to the genre in 2011 and onward. The glory days of emo were at an end (although the second wave would be rising up shortly). I always joked that my relationship with the music was pretty. odd. In fact, I only just found out that the phrase “defend pop punk” was originally coined by Man Overboard when I googled it for writing research. Sure, I had seen the shirts, but I kind of thought it was just something all the emo kids said. So, credit where credit is due.

Before we go any further, let me just say, genres are meaningless. Yes, they exist to help people who say, “Hey, I like this sound! Where can I find more sounds that sound like this sound?” But it’s impossible to clearly draw lines between styles of music. Fall Out Boy is the first band that comes to mind when I think of pop punk. Wikipedia has six genres listed for them: pop punk, pop rock, pop, alternative rock, emo pop, and emo. Where is the overlap and where is the definitive break? Pop punk seems often synonymous with emo, but maybe it’s an issue of a square vs a rectangle. (In that all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.) Perhaps it’s more of a Venn diagram that is nearly a circle. I’ve heard it said that My Chemical Romance were not a pop punk band, but no one could argue that they were not emo.

Emo, if anything, was even more ridiculed than pop punk. Personally, I was made fun of in middle school for being an emo kid, and I was hardly emo. I’m probably more emo now than I was then, although I wear it better. Although it had widely been “reclaimed,” the word carried negative connotations for a long time. Bands often resisted the label as it felt like a way to write of the music without giving it any serious consideration.

Okay, so. Now this is a defense of pop punk and emo.

Both genres were born out of punk and alternative rock music. Both zeroed in on teen angst. Both were a reflection of the world post-9/11. While some genres like country turned overtly patriotic, casting out anyone who didn’t support the country and its government (see: The Dixie Chicks), others turned away. Some bands were vocal about their political dissent, such as Green Day with their release of American Idiot in 2004. Others were more subtle.

Emo, being shorthand for emotional, was just that. Fear, distrust, anger, and grief clung to both our society and the music being created in the early 2000s. But emo was sad, too. It was touchy-feely. It was open and honest. This was not the way men were supposed to be acting. They were supposed to be tough and invulnerable. They’re certainly not supposed to wear tight jeans and heavy eye makeup. Those things were all seen as weak, and girly, and gay. All three were discouraged traits, even more so then than now.

Emo, and to a greater extent, pop punk, was more readily embraced by girls. And as is the great tradition of all things popular teenage girls, this further pushed the genres towards ridicule. Perhaps in time, men will claim these bands as their own. Of course, they will like these bands for real reasons, unlike the hysterical teenage girls who only cared about the attractiveness of the band members. It happened with Elvis, it happened with The Beatles, and maybe down the road it will happen with My Chemical Romance.

Pop punk, of course, incorporated pop hooks and melodies that made the songs catchy and radio-friendly. Though their melodic voices were still carried by screaming guitars, thrashing drums, and thumping bass. The lyrics were more tame than its oft-offensive punk predecessors. Rage was toned down to angst. There was less of the desire to escape society and more of the desire to escape your hometown. It was elements of punk, woven into pop. Or maybe the other was around. It was consumable, and successful.

Isn’t that just… selling out?

Taking punk and cleaning it up, making it presentable and acceptable to the masses? Doesn’t that go against the core values of punk?

Maybe it was all performative – calling yourself punk but turning around and selling radio-friendly hits. Maybe it was a Trojan horse – using pop sounds to spread the Good Word about punk music. Maybe these bands were full of sellouts who liked to talk tough but only cared about getting big and making money. Maybe these bands were full of kids who had dreams of being famous musicians and could only achieve that by making sure at least some of their music was commercial. Maybe they just liked both punk music and pop music and decided to put the two together. Whatever the motivation, the sound certainly worked.

People can like what they like. People can dislike what they dislike. It’s a matter of taste. We are all individuals with our own opinions.

But this is my defense of pop punk.

I once had a teacher who said that he didn’t like Blink-182 because they were adult men who wrote songs like they were teenagers. I could have brought up that they had actually written a song on that topic, but what I ended up saying was, “Well, they write songs for teenagers.”

I actually ran into him at a Jukebox the Ghost concert a few years after I graduated high school. I should have started an argument with him. Instead I was just like, “Hey, do you remember what grade you gave me on my final project? I was never able to access my report card after they switched to digital.”

He didn’t remember.

But I digress.

Someone has to write music for kids who don’t fit in. Kids who are angry, kids who are weird, kids who are lonely. Kids who don’t conform, won’t conform, can’t conform. They see the guys in the band put on makeup, go on stage, lament their feelings, and kiss the other guys in the band. They see the girls in the band full of confidence, full of righteous fury, taking charge and taking names. They can listen to the songs express exactly how they feel. Maybe, for the first time in a long time, they feel understood. They found somewhere they belong. It opens up a new world of music to explore.

If I never listened to pop punk, I never would have gotten into punk rock.

If you give a kid a cup of unsweetened black coffee, they’re not going to like it. If you give them a Starbucks caramel frappachino, that’s a different story. Over time you ease up on the sugar and start to enjoy the taste of the coffee. Blink-182 goes down a little easier than Dead Kennedys. Someone has to be there to open the door to punk music. You listen to the radio singles and you like them, so you check out the rest of their discography. You notice the b-sides are a bit harsher. There’s more yelling, more shredding, more thrashing. It’s faster, it’s louder, it’s angrier. You like it. You feel validated in your own anger, your own sense of loss, your own dissatisfaction. You want more music like that.

Maybe you end up dropping the pop altogether, maybe you don’t. It doesn’t matter, because either way, you’re into punk now. Next thing you know you’ll be cutting the sleeves off your jackets and sewing on handmade patches. You get knocked down in the mosh pit, and your new friends are there to pick you back up.

#pop punk #music #emo #punk #punk rock #nickel dreadful

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