Programming Note

I spent four hours in the car today. It's been a rough weekend, so I wasn't in the best mood to start with, but then about an hour in, I heard "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus. I spent those four minutes morphing from a generically disgruntled driver into this:

So many reasons to be angry. The degree to which Miley is auto-tuned. The second verse, which tells her BBW friend that she shouldn't feel self-conscious about being a fatty, despite having just said that she's dancing and having a great time. The glorification of people snorting lines in the bathroom, phrased by Cyrus as getting "turnt up," which just makes me think of this twitter account. The chorus, which is basically a refusal to listen to anyone who tries to get in the way of personal hedonism, since it obviously can't hurt anyone except the person doing it. The bit around 3:00 where she sounds like a badly tuned Vocaloid. The fact that Miley Cyrus is getting radio airplay in 2013. The fact that this was one of the top five most downloaded songs this weekend, ranking higher than "Radioactive" but lower than "Cruise." So many reasons.

The next three hours were spent listening to the vast majority of a Top 40 countdown, which only further soured my mood as terrible songs climbed the chart at the expense of some really good ones. And so, sitting there in the car, I decided that I would do something about it, if only for my own benefit.

Which leads me to this programming note. I realize I broke my unwritten rule about posting at least once a month back in May, but seeing as I had finals, moved twice, and started two jobs, I can't be too upset with myself. One of those jobs has run its course, however, and I need something to occupy those hours. Combine that with some guilt about how I've not really written much of anything since school let out, and the solution becomes obvious.

So, I'm going to talk about songs on the Hot 100 and keep an eye on the Top 40, because for one thing, it's doing some odd things. For another, I've been told that you can learn a lot about people through their taste in music. This, therefore, seems like a better way for me to talk about myself, one that might at least have an interesting element (my opinions on music) for any casual reader. I'm not entirely certain of the format yet, so anticipate some trial and error. And, yeah, feel free to offer your own opinions, even if they disagree. Cheers.