It's All About the Music...not...

        It is extremely difficult to be consistent with the phrase, “it’s all about the music.” I have argued with someone about musicians and their roles outside of music, and found myself stretching things pretty thin to support my view, needless to say I lost my argument. It’s all about the music when it’s only the record and the listener, but there are so many other things that prevent the purity of the phrase. From TV to magazines to the internet, it is impossible to avoid the media, almost as impossible as celebrities avoiding the public eye. The radio is supposed to be an outlet for music, but DJs often include their own opinions and gossip on the artist.
        Many parents complain their children are too influenced by musicians. Sure, I love bands that get drunk and hung-over, and do tons of drugs just as much as I love sober and clean artists, but I’m not thinking “I’m going to get so drunk tonight and do tons of drugs.” Instead I’m thinking, “That’s not healthy...they’re going to die sooner, which means that they’re going to stop making music sooner.” It’s morbid, but I paid attention to D.A.R.E. and all those other mandatory health classes. Seriously, the want has to be there, before someone can influence that want into an action.
        I was flipping through an issue of Spin at the bookstore, and there was an article on lawsuits (fake/real...I have no idea) against specific artists. This one lawsuit was against The Strokes for being too influential on a kid that was filed by his mom. She claims that her son rarely bathes and has picked up bad hygiene habits along the way. That is ridiculous. The son has a lack of character, one can only be influenced if one wants to influenced. If he’s so easy to influence just give the kid some clean-cut straight-edged artist and he’ll eat it up. As for wanting to be influenced, there’s no help for you there, but suing is not the answer. Case closed. NEXT!
        The Fabulous life of [fill in blank]and Cribs is to show off celebrities gluttonous or not lifestyle. Okay, so celebrities have a lot of money, shouldn’t they donate some if it? Even Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears donate to various charities. But is it enough? Is it? They have enough cars that I will ever have in my lifetime and my children’s and their children’s and their children’s life time. Get the picture? But they donate enough for VH1 to show their charitable side at the end of the show to prove that really really rich pop stars at the end of the day can also be very nice too. Yea...okay. Why do we care about how much they make and how much they spend or what they’re wearing? It has nothing to do with their music, but maybe pop stars rely on an image, because they usually don’t write their own music.
        One of the reasons why people want to meet an artist in real life is to discuss their songs and what they mean, not to attack the artist. For the artists that don’t write their own songs, it becomes an awkward experience, because they are not the ones who had those feelings; the paid songwriters did. The songwriters might not have those feelings about falling in love with a “hot” guy or girl, they might’ve even stole an angsty teen’s diary and exploited their feelings! Most likely not, but that would be humorous. Does it matter if they act like their music? It would make it more believable.
        I don’t like gimmicky bands like a certain band that only wears red, white, and black, but I saw one of the members wearing jeans in a picture. BLUE jeans...shame shame. Color schemes are too gimmicky and restricting, and materialistic. In the world of entertainment, “image is everything.” Does it really matter what the artists looks like as long as they write good music? Maybe music is at it’s lowest point, and artists must become image-dependent...or has it always been this way? Being a tiny bit jaded ruins everything.
        Hot Topic is a fun store; it is the only place I know that sells current LPs and 7"s without being an hour or two away. However, they should consider changing their pitch, “everything about the music.” They sell band tees, pins, patches, records, and among all of this, the store is decked out in black and shiny silver accessories. It’s the polar opposite from Old Navy where clothes come in every color under the sun. They both sell clothing, but there’s a “huge” difference; Hot Topic is a store focused on music.
        There should not be a relationship between clothing and music. Somehow there is, and I’m not going to list the stereotypical images, because most people probably are well aware of them. These stereotypes cause rivalries and constrict music lovers to one genre. It makes it difficult to get dressed in the morning. The stereotypes have even gotten to my head. I won’t say it out loud, but sometimes I’ll think “Well you don’t look like [insert artist’s name here] fan.” I don’t actually think this often, because people (including me) somehow carry themselves to assimilate to their type of music. It’s very strange and unexplainable [insert twilight zone music or X-Files theme song here].
        “Anything involved with money can never be pure.” It’s sad, but true. In my perfect world, I would want to believe that it’s all about the music. In real life, it’s not all about the music; it’s all about personal affairs, connections, money, image, and sometimes talent if it exists. It was so much easier when I was younger and unaware of practically everything around me; I could listen to music and sit with my headphones on, telling myself “it’s all about the music...it’s all about the music.”