Krall 1

Michael Krall
Jonathan Lehtonen
English 15
19 July 2013
Ch-Ch-Changes (Thats Not The Way It Feels)
1

A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile,
sang Don Mclean.
In a music world like today, with about 65 years of mainstream music under the worlds
belt, this is one of the most common complaints
2
. Music just is not the same, it has changed. That
complaint seems valid. If 1958 James Brown met 2012 Flo Rida, it is doubtful that he would be
as proud of his blackness
3
. Highly unlikely. The odd truth is though that music is not nearly as
different as our perception of it seems to be- it practically repeats itself
45
.
Before I go any further, I have to set some ground rules here. Mainly, there is a complete
difference between pop music, and popular music. There always has been and always will be.
For instance, Billy Joels Piano Man is not a pop song. However, it was very popular. Carly
Rae Jepsens Turn Me Up is a pop song, however it is not popular. Everything Kevin Federline
did falls into neither category. Furthermore, music is entertainment. Entertainment, society
generally agrees upon, has changed over time. Look at sports
6
, movies
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, and even comedians
8
.
Music is for some reason, a huge outlier in that department from the rest.

1
A reference to David Bowies famous song Changes and Jim Croces famous song Operator (Thats Not The
Way It Feels).
2
And I cannot say I disagree all the time.
3
That joke was slightly despicable.
4
Like a chorus, if you will.
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If you want to read studies on the fact that all pop music sounds the same, there are plenty, but a lot of those
studies can be simplified that almost every pop singer minus the piano men (Elton and Billy and Jackson Browne)
use a guitar, a base, and a drum, and mathematically there are only so many beats to mix in (it is a large number)
minus the beats that sound bad to us (most). So the remainder is what pop music is. Granted it is a bit more
complicated than that (Serra 1).
6
Sports added minorities.
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A common critique among music critics is that music has gotten a tad bit moody (Lin 1).
Their claim is that music has gone from major chords to minor, as well as Beats Per Minute (or
BPM) has lowered from an average of 116 in the 1960s to 100 in the 2000s (Elan 1). Songs are
even longer now than they were on average. Conversely this was also a problem for critiques in
the 1950s. They complained Elvis got too emotional in his music. He started with more up-beat
tunes such as Hound Dog, and got into more depressing emotionally ambiguous songs like
Are You Lonesome Tonight (Gillet 55). The way to disprove that is to look at artists.
Moodiness is not a sign of changing times. That is what happens as artists get older and mature.
This can be shown in any decade by most artists. The Beatles are a prime example. I Want To
Hold Your Hand is a premiere pop tune, full of happiness and up-beat tempos. Compare that to
later in the Beatles career when they played Let It Be or The Long and Winding Road.
Those songs are more serious and have a different mood to them. Adele, on the other hand, is
someone who has never been considered a happier artist. She sings sad songs, and is the
perfect example of the moodier artist (Lin 1). Her now famous album 21 is the premiere sad
breakup album. 21 also followed the same ideas and themes as Alanis Morissettes Jagged Little
Pill from the 1990s. That album is even more jaded than Adeles. Alanis got the ideas from
contemporaries before her, and so on. The moodiness has always been there
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, and it is more a
sign of growing up than the changing times.
Moreover, every teenage boy hates the boy band. The boy band took a big step into
being a money making machine in the 1990s
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. So, of course the music industry pumps out a
new one a week to see if it hits home with teenage girls. Big Time Rush and One Direction are

7
Got bigger and louder, and less racist over time.
8
George Carlin and Lewis Black v Bob Hope and Red Skeleton.
9
One of the biggest hits that shows the moodiness in the 1950s is Teardrops On My Pillow by Little Anthony and
The Imperials.
10
Backstreet Boys, LFO, New Kids On The Block, etc.
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the flavor of the year, so of course everyone picks on them. They use beats from older songs, or
just generic ones, and have awesome hair. This may seem like something the public fell in love
with in recent times, but, everyone always wants to forget the past. Who was the bestselling band
from mid-1967 to mid-1968
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? HEY HEY, its The Monkees! A band that just took pictures
with instruments, when only 1 of its members could actually play an instrument
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. They out-sold
The Beatles in their peak. That bears repeating. They out-sold The Beatles in their peak. It would
be impossible to get bigger than that. The Monkees were the original hated boy band
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.
Speaking of high-pitched males, Justin Bieber is another source of comic-relief that
Americans choose to hate, but still love his albums. Americans treat Justin Bieber like they are
in an abusive relationship
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. Which is exactly how they treated every other version of him. Every
decade there is a high pitched boy (or band with one hit), that Americans love to hate. In the
1950s he was called Frankie Lymon
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. The 1970s featured Mr. Michael Jackson as the often
hated high pitch male. Hanson dominated the mid 90s, and The Jonas Brothers had last decade.
Justin Bieber is following in their path, a phase that passes and Americans look back on fondly
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.
Finally, the biggest musical example of music reverting back to what it used to be, is
Bruno Mars. His entire persona, and artist profile, is taken from the 1950s. It is brilliant,
whether this was his intent or not, and obviously to Americans it is aesthetically pleasing. Repeat
the past and no one who buys your albums will notice, other than maybe a critique or a die-hard
music fan. His albums are homages to the 50s. Doo-Wops and Hooligans and Unorthodox
Jukebox - two of the biggest musical phenomenon of that time. He is an Italian man, who wears

11
When Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band came out.
12
Eventually most of them learned.
13
The Beach Boys could be considered this as well, but their musical compositions were very advanced, unlike say,
NYSNC (Robins 68).
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Can you think of any other abusive relationships in the music industry?
15
With his hit single, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?.
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Granted, Lymon and Jackson did commit suicide in the same way, an overdose. An eerie way of being the same.
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old fashioned clothes and a fedora
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. His songs even feature a piano and sing about how much he
wants and misses his women
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. He is the 1950s personified. People ate it up then, like they eat it
up now.
Now, a few concessions must be made. Music has made some changes. For instance,
musicians really like to make more sexual references and swear much more than in the 50s.
Now-a-days there is on average 598 references per Top 100 songs, compared to 55 in the 70s
(Haug 1). In the 1950s there was maybe one popular song on the radio that made sexual
references
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. In the 1960s The Rolling Stones were sometimes social pariahs because of their
vague references. Hell, The Beatles were risqu back then to people. Unlike today when your
head can get spun right round when Ke$ha goes down. Also, music has simply gotten louder
(Serra 1). The pitch in songs has tripled since the early 60s
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. The last way music is different
that no one thinks about is that when people listened to albums, vinyl, there was no skipping.
Now, artists go for a small 30 second sound bite that is better than the rest of the song (Ollison
1). Fun, and now Daft Punk, are huge culprits of this
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.
All-in-all, music has changed some but the majority of music, and musical trends, repeat
themselves. Music dominants are lives like no other. The majority of teenagers listen to music
over two hours a day (Serra 1). From the 1950s to 2013, musical aspects have repeated itself in
a new way. Music, unlike most forms of entertainment, has not changed, and maybe that is
why Americans love it. Billy Joel said Its still Rock and Roll to me, and while he claims you
cant get the sound from a story in a magazine, maybe you can get it from old records.


17
Google Bruno Mars, and google 50s fashion.
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Teardrops On My Pillow, again.
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DAMN YOU ELVIS AND YOUR GIRATING HIPS!
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When the study we have on that starts. There was not a time in the 50s that was studied.
21
The songs are very catchy.
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Works Cited
Elan, Priya. "Longer, Slower and Sadder: How Pop Songs Have Changed." The Guardian.
Guardian News and Media, 13 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 July 2013.
Gillett, Charlie. The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll. New York: Outerbridge &
Dienstfrey, 1970. Print.
Haug, Victor. "LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions." Washington Times n.d.: n.
pag.LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions. 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 July 2013.
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Lin, Hellen L. "Pop Music Became More Moody in Past 50 Years: Scientific American." Pop
Music Became More Moody in Past 50 Years: Scientific American. N.p., 13 Nov. 2012.
Web. 17 July 2013.
Ollison, Rashod. "LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions." LexisNexis Academic &
Library Solutions. N.p., 24 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 July 2013.
Robins, Wayne. A Brief History of Rock, off the Record. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Serra, Joan. "Yup, It Really Does All Sound the Same. The Evolution of Modern Pop
Music."Neurotic Physiology. N.p., 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 17 July 2013.