While driving around the rainy streets of Detroit a few weeks ago with one of my best friends, I learned something new: Kid Rock makes punk rock. Not only that, but guess what - he mixes it with hip hop!
Oh yes, that’s right - more bad music coming from supposedly one of rock’s elite. The only thing this song got out of us were some really big laughs and my car almost crashing into a pole. Is he serious? I wonder what Joe Strummer, formerly of the Clash, would say if you told him Kid Rock is all about the punk rock.
While I don’t want to go on a rampage about what is and what isn’t punk, I just want to ask, how many more songs can Kid Rock possibly make about how he’s the “Kid Rock”? Who cares anymore?
This is the classic example of what is happening to rock music today. It seems as though no one has anything to say anymore. It’s like modern rock could be a soundtrack for “Seinfeld,” the show about nothing. Because today’s mainstream rock is just that - songs about nothing.
Worse yet is when listening to a band, you really cannot tell if it has a lead singer or not. All you can hear are screams and noises that sound like someone is beating a dog to death. Take Slipknot - probably my least favorite band ever. What is this dude saying? Actually, you know what? I don’t care what he’s saying, so it is actually better that I can’t understand what he is complaining about.
But the other day, something hit home. Green Day, my favorite band, released its greatest hits CD, “International Superhits!” The part that almost brought me to tears was hearing one of the new songs, “Poprocks & Coke.” You got to be kidding me! This song sounds like it could fit nicely onto a “Friends” soundtrack, or even worse, a “Dawson’s Creek” episode.
However, primary songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong’s lyrics are the wild card that lets me know not to count the band out. Though I’m a bigger fan of the band’s harder, faster tunes, I’ve been known to get sentimental when it comes to the band’s more introspective songs, such as “Macy’s Day Parade” or “Waiting,” both featured on its “Warning” album. Of course, that side of me is usually featured alongside some alcohol - but hey whatever.
The most important bands have always had something to say to keep people interested. This theory can be applied to life in general. People who seem to be the ones who I tend to want to stick around the most are the ones who I can never tell what they are going to say or at least have something interesting to talk about.
Don’t get me wrong - some of life’s best moments come when you are just sitting around with friends talking about nothing in particular. It only seems like yesterday that my friends and I used to sit outside of Rally’s at 2 a.m. talking about how hot one of my friends’ mom is. OK, we still do talk about how hot Mrs. Winczner is, but at least we don’t write songs about it, then get mad when people just don’t want to listen anymore.
I could just imagine hanging out with some of today’s radio darlings, discussing how they were recently “dissed” by Carson Daly on MTV.
“Yes Fred (Durst, frontman of Limp Bizkit), I get it - Staind is phat. Now why don’t you go duet with Christina Aguilera.” Now that was definitely the greatest moment in rock ’n’ roll history.
However, as soon as you convince Durst that two plus two actually does equal four, you have to convince the men in Nickelback that everything will be all right.
And then there’s Blink 182. When was the last time a word of intelligence came out of one of the members’ mouths? But not to fear, kids - they are wearing black now. Don’t you get it? They are deep now. Wearing black means you are deep. Good - I don’t get it either.
Something hit me the other day. While watching MTV2, DMX’s new song, “Who We Be,” came on. It then clicked - hip-hop and rap have been out-performing rock for a few years now. The artists in these genres still have messages to convey to anyone who’s willing to listen.
Admittedly, I’m someone who would rather laugh for hours and have fun rather than having to think about anything serious. I prefer “The Daily Show” to ABC’s “World News Tonight” (although Peter Jennings is the man). But when it comes to trying to gain the respect of others, please don’t claim something that you are not - for the sake of my car.
Chad Previch is a State News intern. He can be reached at previchc@msu.edu.
