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| Article Summary: Discussing the increasing self-love (translation: vanity) of today's generation as determined through popular song lyrics. It was an unusual read. According to statistics, there has been an upward trend in the use of the words "I" and "me" across songs and a corresponding decline in the use of the words "we" and "us" over the past 27 years. |
Author: Study Funds Network
You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you.
A few days ago, The New York Times published an article discussing the increasing self-love (translation: vanity) of today's generation as determined through popular song lyrics. It was an unusual read. According to statistics, there has been an upward trend in the use of the words "I" and "me" across songs and a corresponding decline in the use of the words "we" and "us" over the past 27 years. Multiple examples were cited: Justin Timberlake's "I'm bringing sexy back," Keri Hilson's "All eyes on me when I walk in, no question that this girl's a ten," and even lesser-known artist (but personal favorite!) Little Jackie's "The world should revolve around me."
College students, the primary audience for these singers, are scoring higher than ever on questionnaires testing for narcissism – though not everyone considers this a new development. Some psychologists argue that "it may just be because today's students are more willing to admit to feelings that were always there." Either way, the article ended with some well-meaning advice for young adults: "As much as possible, take your ego out of the situation. Stop thinking about winning all the time."
While I generally uphold The New York Times to biblical proportions, I find myself bothered by the presence of this article, particularly by its presence in the Science section. For one thing, the Narcissism Personality Inventory that students filled out asked them to choose between statements such as "I try not to be a show-off" and "I will usually show off if I get the chance."
These are the only options? No middle ground? With no clarification as to what kind of behavior "showing off" encompasses and in what context it is taking place, students can hardly be expected to answer realistically. Those that chose the former probably did it out of subconscious social guilt, and those that chose the latter probably did it out of defiance. Realistically speaking, most people usually find themselves caught somewhere in between.
Furthermore, it's a bit unfair to compare the song lyrics of today with the disco song lyrics of the 70s. After all, anyone that has any basic knowledge of sociology and subculture knows that disco was primarly popular as a form of "escapism," a way to ignore the mounting economic and political problems of the time and slip into denial. The happy-go-lucky lyrics of those songs were far from the truth, and using them as markers by which to judge today's songs is just ironic. You could say what you want about today's music, but I would certainly argue that it is at least accurately representative of our generation and our values, however perverse they may be.
And when it comes down to it, what's so bad about loving ourselves a little too much? Young adults experience more pressure than any other age group; they are constantly held to enormous expectations – from parents, teachers, friends, significant others, ad infinitum. For years, books, movies, and magazines have been encouraging us to collectively raise our self-esteem, to believe in ourselves no matter what anyone else says, and all the like. And now that we are finally starting to become a little more comfortable with ourselves and a little more open about that confidence, it's being shot down? Really?
While I can respect the originality of measuring "self-absorption" by the Billboard Hot 100 chart, I am hardly inclined to take it seriously. We need that music for when we stroll along the streets on our way to class or work, each of us on our own personal runway, self-aware, and self-satisfied.
And aren't we all fireworks? We are. Katy Perry told us so.
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By Marina Charny, Next Gen Journal
Article adoption [http://www.usatodayeducate.com]
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Visit Scholarship for University and learn more about student funding and student financing.University can be one of the most expensive time periods of a young person's life, especially given the fact that when they attend university they are not yet established with any source of respectable income in most cases. Innovative Solutions for Students. (Please note source if reprinting this article.)
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