There are many certainties in nature and in life - things that happen outwith our control and that we are powerless to influence or change. Most of these, we take for granted and we carry on through our everyday lives without giving them the slightest thought... the world keeps spinning, the tides ebb and flow, the plants grow and die. These are all global certainties, but some aspects of life are a little more insidious, sneaking up on us with each passing day. Contrary to what you might think, I am not referring to death (after all cryonics will save us from that ultimate destination, apparently), but to a much more subtle aspect of the human condition. An affliction that is so worrying because it has stood the test of time and, despite the many advances in modern science, still has no known cure, Yes my friends... it is perhaps the most worrying issue that will affect each and every one of us, as surely as night follows day - I refer, of course, to that strange, un-nerving phenomena whereby as you get older, you slowly turn into your own parents.
"Not a chance!", I hear the youngsters amongst you scoff. "I'll never turn out like them - I'll be open-minded, footloose and fancy-free forever." We've all been there and denounced the idea, brushing it aside with an "it won't happen to me" attitude. This is understandable - after all, no-one I know has every consciously decided that they want to ape their elders. The whole foundation of teenage rebellion is based on doing precisely the opposite of what your parents would want, or liking what they like. And even though they wouldn't admit it, even your parents would find it odd if this were to be different. Imagine how strange it would be for them if you were to proclaim one evening, "Aww dad, I've had enough of this Jay-Z rubbish... put some Genesis on and let's get some quality music going!". It would just be wrong. However, as the years go by, the slow morph from youthful hipster to boring old fart will begin to take hold - it'll be slow, so you probably won't even realise that its happening. One day though, you'll be listening to the radio and a song will come on - something that is popular with the youth of today and is riding high in the charts. And then it'll happen - you'll recoil in horror at the atrocity of the "music" you're hearing, before beating it down with a withering put-down... something along the lines of "What is this rubbish? Call that music? When I was younger, we had proper songs...". Only then, will you realise that you're already well-advanced towards being an old fogey with no hope of reversing the process.
As I approach the grand old age of 31, this incessant slide into middle-age means these types of reaction are becoming more and more common. Most of the time, I'll just accept my fate of living in the past (frequently harking back to the happy days of my own youth!) and get on with it, but sometimes a song will come along that really stokes the fire and sets me off in an rage. The latest incidence of this happened last week, while I was being driven to work*. A song came on the radio, which the DJ cheerfully announced was a request from the pupils at a secondary school somewhere in the Glasgow area... "and now, here's The Pussycat Dolls with When I Grow Up". It had the usual non-entity melody and annoying vocal parts that are the trademark of any commercially-aimed pop dross, but that wasn't what annoyed me. No... what really fuelled the grumpy old man within me was the lyrics.
Take these lines from what purported to be a chorus: "When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies, When I grow up, I wanna see the world, Drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies, When I grow up, Be on TV, People know me, Be on magazines". God in heaven...
I mean, seriously - what kind of message are they trying to put across with this? Now, I know what some of you are thinking... "It's not aimed at the likes of you though, it's aimed at pre-pubescent girls" (although if its aimed at them, why do the PCG's dress as though they're going out for an evening's work in the local red light district?). I can understand that pop music is predominantly aimed at the young - indeed, its part of the nature of commercial pop... but if we accept that as being the case, surely the subject matter of these lyrics is actually even worse? Are they really encouraging young girls to think, "Well, I could work hard, go to University then get a job and contribute something worthwhile to society - but instead, I'll just try to become famous so that I can go to parties and appear in the newspapers."? I mean, am I missing some deep hidden irony in these lyrics? Of course, the PCG ladies didn't actually write it themselves, as is the way of things - but if they were prepared to record it and get it out there as a single, they must approve of the message to some degree... it's pathetic. And let's not even begin to delve into the notion of men in their thirties writing about what its like to be a young girl...
It's a classic example of piggybacking on the fact that society and the media (particularly here in the UK) seem obsessed by this whole notion of "celebrity" and of convincing people that in order to be successful and happy in life, they have to be famous and be seen at hip parties with the latest movie star or it-girl on their arm. Don't get me wrong - being famous is something that's always been desirable, but this type of rubbish seems to be suggesting fame for the sake of it is the be-all-and-end-all. Children have always want to be movie stars or pop stars, even back "when I were a lad"... but nobody simply said "when I grow up, I want to be famous", which seems to be the mantra of many of today's young people. Now, don't get me wrong - fame is not necessarily a bad thing (in fact, if someone is lucky enough to be in that position, they can be influential through their actions and opinions), but I've never liked the notion that people can become famous without actually having done anything worthwhile to earn that position. The true greats in their field (be they actors, musicians or artists) have always had to work their arses off to get where they ended up, even though they've had real talent - they've had to work at it, to build it up from nothing. Now, the society we've bred as a result of the whole Heat-X-Factor-OK-Big-Brother zeitgeist seems to promote the belief that fame is the important thing and that there's a quick fix way to get there without actually needing to do anything to earn or justify it - and that being famous is the root of all happiness. God, we're all doomed!
Once again, hearing such a degree of crass codswallop like that PCD song made me appreciate quite how pertinent the lyrics of Keane's new song Better Than This are. It really is refreshing to hear that a band is willing to try to tackle these types of issues that seem to have infected our society over the course of the 21st century. I'm not deluded enough to believe that it will change anything, of course... but I am glad that it's not just me that looks at the way things are today and the ideals that get put forward for people and thinks "Jeez, is this really the best we can do?".
It will be interesting to see how the celebrity culture we live in is dealt with in some of the other songs on the forthcoming album. I'm sure Tim has said that it was one of the two main threads that run through the songs (the other being the uncertain times we live in as a result of war), though I wouldn't be surprised if it is dealt with in a more oblique manner on other songs compared to the direct message of Better Than This. The band have always managed to do a good job of staying out of the trash mags and tabloids, save for the obvious exception of Tom's stint in rehab. Again, thinking back to that, its amazing how even a tragic personal situation like that is twisted into some more easy celebrity fodder - remember all that guff about the "rehab supergroup" with Tom, Pete Doherty and Justin Hawkins? Or the obligatory "Elton John helped me through my drugs hell" non-story that always gets trotted out whenever a young musician goes into rehab for drug addiction? It's all nonsense, and in a way we're all to blame - we buy this rubbish and fund it, we watch all the crap that comes on TV, giving the media free license just to keep doing more of the same. I'm sure the writers of When I Grow Up were well aware of this - they're tapping into the common mindset and they know it's an easy way to make a quick buck. They're exploiting the poor saps that readily buy into all that crap, but in that sense, who's more of the fool - the one that pedals it, or the one that believes and buys it? It's a really sad state of affairs!
It may just be another instance of getting old and looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles, but I don't remember things seeming as grim when I was younger. Whether that is just because I was too young to properly appreciate the situation back then, I'm not sure... but wouldn't it be great if we could get back to appreciating the real values in life, rather than promoting all the superficial nonsense that seems to be the order of the day? Maybe that's unrealistic and things are too far-gone to be salvageable - a sad situation if ever there were one. We live in one of the wealthiest societies in the world, with so many opportunities - yet we seem to be disappearing into a vacuous, materialistic self-obsessed hole. We've lost touch with the real values of humanity and instead want to focus entirely on a fruitless quest for vanity and fame, when it's really just a dead-end street. Where did it all go wrong?
So, even if you believe that Better Than This is nothing more than Keane trying to be David Bowie, hopefully you'll agree that lyrically its at least got the sentiment we need to wake people up and make them think, even just a little bit. Take heart from the fact that they still believe in some positive values and still try to put across a worthwhile message with their songs. Quite a few dissenters in the ranks have also been critical of some of Tim's recent lyrics, but c'mon... weigh them up against most of what's getting passed off as meaningful pop and surely we can see the merit and value of Mr. R-O's prose?
Right, now I've got all that off my chest, I'm away to watch some telly. Did I ever tell you about how TV programmes were so much better when I was younger?
* I hasten to add that I get a lift in with a colleague who lives around the corner from me, rather than my own limo and chauffeur!