Sunday, May 27, 2012

Tell me what it means "to be young."

ALERT: This post will sound be douchey and pretentious! But I think that's what blogs are for, right? Because everyone - don't even try to argue with me - is douchey and pretentious. Even your parents and priests. Imagine that.


I drove home from work last night and fun.'s "We Are Young" came on one of the six radio stations offered in this bum-eff area. Strong language, I'm sorry.
The lush fields are nice though. Paired with the rich, natural smell of manure it's like a free trip to the zoo. Minus the animals and elephants that can paint.

But sassy nature rants aside, this anthem of our youth came on and I naturally sang along. No, I naturally fucking BELTED IT OUT.**

** side note: I work at a very small hospital in a very small town. (picture population: 4,719) where I answer phones behind a large and lonely desk for five hours with minimal human interaction. Given that, it could be concluded that my  post-work energy and adrenaline rush that pulsated through my blood had a direct effect on my driving and belting.
That, and the fact that I'm just young, you know?!

Right when I hear that taiko drum, or whatever, introduction, I'm just like oh helllllllllll yeah. Hell yeah. Guys, it's about to get real. I don't even feel guilty about it either, you know, like when people secretly like a song and they're afraid to say it because everyone else likes it too? It's a song, people. You can judge me if I secretly support seal clubbing. But I don't. I swear.

So I'm going about 85 through the hills of Wayland, N.Y., screaming. Screaming, heaving my words out, only turning it down when I come to a red light in a village with a restaurant where diners are sitting outside. That's when I picked my dignity up off of the floor, rolled up the windows and turned the volume down to a dull roar.

But this song, and so many others, I think is the sole reason why our generation is h8d on. That, and the fact that we use letter-number combinations to abbreviate things. Apparently it means we're lazy; I think it's genius and innovative. They think our reading and writing skills are depleting. B.S.

So what does it mean to be young, and are we all on the same page with fun., Wiz Khalifa (So what we get drunk? So what, we smoke weed!? Livin' young, and wild, and free!), Alphaville (It's so hard to get old without a cause. I don't want to perish like the fading horse) and Madonna (Touched for the very first time)?
Maybe that last one is a little too young. But I can't speak for everyone, I know that, and I know that my large fan base has a wide age range.

But these songs almost sound like we feel the need to stand up for ourselves, don't they? My friend, Katy Boland, and I had this discussion before about the defensive tone of these songs and how they're like a backlash against some sort of reprimanding we've received. I, personally, have not experienced this sort of punishment, have you?

fun. is saying that our lives are really really hard - for them it seems like a post-breakup song, at least that's what the verses indicate - and if we want to let loose and forget about all of our hardships, then we will. And no one can stop us, because we're young. And someone will be there to pick up our slack if we want to fuck up, and we "feel like falling down."



Wiz, well, that's pretty self-explanatory I think. The whole "so what" thing basically is him being like, say what you want bitches, I'm young. Ok. This particular song, I think, might be the bane of my existence. The bridge is my favorite: "Yeah, roll one, smoke one. When you live like this you're supposed to party. Roll one, smoke one, and we all just having fun."






Alphaville, I don't know, 1984? Then both the O.C. and One Tree Hill? Need I say more? Young folks complainin' s'all. But I can't insult these German dudes. They re-released "Forever Young" like, 19 times. That's determination right there.




From these songs - and so many others - it's obvious that we've been so, so, sooooooooooooooo oppressed that now we're all like IDGAF Mom, Dad and cops, last time I checked, I was young AND wild AND free and you were what, fifty fucking four? Yeah, that's what I thought. Go back to playing bocce ball and whatever the hell you do and let me be young. BTW lend me forty bucks? Gotta buy new textbooks three handles of Odesse.

We're saying that we're still young, so we will use that to our advantage to spend your money and party like a rebel without a cause. (heh).
My skin is not sallow and my breasts do not sag, and if by the time the bar closes, and I feel like falling down, you will fucking carry me home tonight for those reasons.

fun. even threw in a background choir of small children just to add to the whole young effect. God help the first seven-year-old to wear a bandeau and a crop top. We'll all read about it on Yahoo!.

Maybe, just maybe, I am an asshole. But just because I'm young doesn't mean that I need to stand up for myself. I will rid myself of the stigma that accompanies my age and I will present myself in a mature and positive fashion that will enrich my environment and those around me. As I develop and grow, I will improve as an able-member of the society in which I live and I will work to make an impact on the world, one community service hour at a time.

Does it count of the community service hours are a requirement after being arrested for public intoxication?
What? I'm only 20.






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