Top 10 Pop Song Clichés
Hey, didn't they just play that song? Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our choices for the top 10 pop song clichés. These are the conventions that show up so much in pop music that we can't help but become a little skeptical. Listen, we love pop music as much as the next person, but we can all agree that it has become a little stale recently.
Special thanks to our user royalmonkey for submitting the idea on our Suggestions Page at http://www.WatchMojo.comsuggest
Top 10 Pop Song Clichés
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Hey, didn’t they just play that song? Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our choices for the top 10 pop song clichés.
#10: Vocal Enhancements
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Who says you have to have perfect pitch to be a pop star? With today’s technological innovations--Auto-Tune, we’re looking at you--aspiring singers don’t have to let the inability to carry a tune, or even just an “off” day, stop them from expressing themselves musically. Sometimes it’s used to create interesting vocal effects or serve as an occasionally necessary safety net, but other times technology like Auto-Tune is used to compensate for a lack of ability. Whatever the case, it’s been running rampant in pop music.
#9: Songs about Sex and Promiscuity
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Over 50 years ago, British pop group The Beatles innocently announced that they wanted to “hold your hand.” Just a few years later The Rolling Stones earned the disapproval of media censors with the title of their song “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” Nowadays, many pop singers want to do a lot more than hold hands, and they aren’t shy about going into detail about what they want to do all night. As a result, songs describing raunchy sex are common to the point of being clichéd.
#8: Key Changes
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Once more, with feeling. Or, if a singer can’t manage to wring any more emotion out of his or her vocals, there’s always the option to sing higher, lower, or in a different key. Sometimes called the “truck driver’s gear change,” this shift is usually vocal and is most prevalent in ballads, such as those by Kelly Clarkson or boy bands, but it can also be accomplished with musical instruments, as in “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by the Black Eyed Peas. It’s a hit or miss technique that has been used by artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Britney Spears.
#7: Singing about Being in a Club/Having Fun/Partying
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No one ever said that musicians don’t know how to cut loose and have a good time. Artists like Ke$ha, Pitbull, Katy Perry, and even the once-innocent Miley Cyrus are no exception. Although some performers may choose to keep business and pleasure separate, many like to share the fun with their fans. At any rate, it's such an over-exposed topic some fans probably have hangovers just from listening.
#6: Forced Rhyming
Words can hurt, and bad rhymes hurt even more. Common couplet crimes include rhyming “girl” with “world” or using “ain't” for the sake of creating a rhyme. However, some songs take bad rhyming practices to new lows by discarding even basic grammar rules, like one pop star who wants everyone to know who she “really are.” Others go too far by rhyming a whole string of words, like J. Lo's “I'm Into You,” or by forcing rhymes that present a negative impression, ala one apparently “hellish” singer.
#5: Theme: Love will find a Way
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Who knew that modern pop stars were such hopeless romantics? Mirroring a common trope in popular romantic comedies, pop musicians have adapted this theme into the genre and dug it into the ground. Like a Harlequin paperback, many pop stars apparently believe that love always wins out, and that there’s no obstacle it can’t conquer. Selena Gomez asserts that “the heart wants what it wants,” while Jason Mraz and the band One Republic both proclaim to possess an endless supply of love and a refusal to abandon hope regarding love.
#4: Repetition of Lyrics and Themes
Songs chronicling love lost, for example, seem to be so common they could practically be considered a musician’s rite of passage. While heartbreak may be a universal experience, there's no denying that nearly every song about the subject has the same melancholy sound to it. Passenger sang about regret. Bruno Mars also sang about regret. And what a surprise, Gavin Degraw sang about the same clichéd topic. If your significant other is special enough to warrant writing a song about them, try making it a little unique.
#3: Having a Urban Act "Featured" on your Single/Song
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When a pop singer is considered to be lacking in edginess, nothing says “I'm tough” like having a rap interlude suddenly materialize about 75% of the way through a pop song. Madonna has done it, Maroon 5 has done it, even Lady Gaga has done it once or twice. It's been done so many times a lot of listeners have probably stopped falling for it. But we can’t be entirely mad at the idea, as it gave us the awesome visual of Snoop Dogg surrounded by an army of gummy bears.
#2: “Baby, Baby, Baby, You Drive Me Crazy”
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One of the most commonly used tropes in pop music, this phrase is less subtly ripped off so often, you would think the entire pop music industry would be mentally insane. One of the most famous instances of this cliché is Justin Bieber’s “Baby”, where he utters the titular word 55 times in the span of the 3 and a half minute song. Justin isn’t the only one guilty of this, as Britney Spears, Ariana Grande and Sam Adams have all used a phrase similar to this in their music. Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: Artist Saying His/Her Own Name in Song Using “La La La” in a Song Duets Inspirational/Motivational/Self-Empowerment Themes
#1: Four Chord Progression
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Did you know that once you learn a particular four basic chords on the guitar, you're probably close to being able to play almost all of your favorite pop songs? Whether you like Train, Avicii, Carly Rae Jepson, Taylor Swift, or an almost infinite number of other artists, the I-V-vi-IV chord progression puts them all on common ground. In fact, this particular progression is so overused, comedy group Axis of Awesome jokingly preform a medley of songs that use this trope. Do you agree with our list? What do you find cliche? For more fascinating Top 10s every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
