Hello once again and welcome back. No time for love, Dr. Jones – we’re getting right to it this week because we have a continuation of sorts from last week.
Last week, Bob Geldof’s address at SXSW was addressed with the thought that maybe the main issue of the times, sadly enough, is the obsession with celebrity and how that – despite much more important things going on in the world – can unite a culture. This past week, there has been no greater evidence of that than Rebecca Black.
For the uninitiated (which I think there are very few of by now, but just to cover bases), Rebecca Black is a young girl that released an innocuous single called ”Friday” via YouTube. The song, issued by Ark Music Factory (known for other teen pop fare such as Alana Lee’s “Butterflies” and Kaya’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind”), was released back in February.
A few facts and some disclosure before we get too deep in to this: Rebecca Black is 13 years old. The song, which I’ve heard approximately once in researching all of this, is just the sort of airy, throwaway pop I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to. I’ve long grown out of the hatred of this sort of thing; I tend to ignore it as best as I can nowadays.
And really, one pass with this track was all I needed. Repetitive beat, auto-tuned half to death, and such poignant lyrics as:
7am, waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal
Seein’ everything, the time is goin’
Tickin’ on and on, everybody’s rushin’
Gotta get down to the bus stop
Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)
Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards
I don’t want this weekend to end
In other words, when you think about it, exactly the sort of song you’d expect from a 13 year-old girl. There’s nothing really to hate there. Consider the source! Anyone expecting a pop masterpiece is asking entirely too much out of a girl who likes to sing and, according to her Ark Music Factory, is excited that she has “landed the lead role in her school musical, Oklahoma!”
Article comments
1 - weesnaw25
sooo.... rebecca died??
2 - zetus
yes she died. It's been confirmed. such a young kid
3 - kristina gjolaj
wait soo she seriosly died?
4 - captain stupendousnessman
Sounds like Mike's trying to make the case that the only thing that unites people is popularity, and the hate-Rebecca-Black movement is the proof.
Not so fast, my music industry friend. It's a lot more plausible to think of this as monkey wrenching the process of contrived popularity. This is precisely the kind of girl who should be popular, but now she'll only enjoy a pyrrhic win; she'll only be famous for being hated. What's interesting here isn't whether she's famous or not, it's the mechanics of fame being ripped by brute force out of the hands of people that would ordinarily control it and manufacture another teen idol.
The real lesson here, though, is how anonymity makes people cruel. To think that millions of people commenting online could drive this poor girl to suicide is tragic... just tragic. My thoughts go out to Rebecca's friends and family. She's in the front seat in heaven now. God bless.
5 - boehmi
yup she died, she hung herself cause of the depressions.
6 - trololol
Ding dong, the bitch is dead
7 - Robert Hansen
I guess it's true. On the news here in Denmark. Said they suspected suicide.
RIP sweet princess :'(
8 - Kimmo Rauttapaa
also on the news in Finland. So young, so sad.
9 - grimmless
Get a fucking life people.
10 - Jason
I think that we (the haters) are wrong in despising her - but her voice is absolutely terrible. I think that her "record" company is more to blame for this entire situation.