16 March 2009

Cutesy-Wutesy Popular Music

“I think the popular music has gone truly weird. It's either cutesy-wutesy or it's hard, nasty stuff. It's good that this has life again with the youth.” –George Harrison

Head on over to Kidz Bop Kids or Billboard and preview some Kidz Bop songs. I'll wait.

Back already? So what did you think? Can you believe that Kidz Bop 14 made it all the way up to number 8 in Billboard 200? The current album, Kidz Bop 15 is number 52 on the list this week, but peaked at number 7 shortly after it was released on Feburary 3, 2009.

The general gist of albums is to have some professional (bonus points if they sound as similar to the original artist as possible) adult sing, with kids singing along on the chorus or the ‘Yeahs,” “Ohs” or other vocal interjections. Think “Now That’s What I Call Music” meets karaoke night at your local elementary school.

The songs are cleaned up to be free of swearing and other inappropriate language so impressionable young minds are safe, no radio edits required.

Lyrics Changed from Kidz Bop 15 (when comparing on Metrolyrics):

“Distrubia” by Rihanna
Original:
Faded pictures on the wall, it's like they talking to me
Disconnecting on calls, the phone don't even ring
I gotta get out or figure this shit out
It's too close for comfort, oh

Kidz Bop-ized:
Faded pictures on the wall, it's like they talking to me
Disconnecting on calls, the phone don't even ring
I gotta get out or figure this thing out
It's too close for comfort, oh


“Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf
Orginial:
Now the son's disgraced
He, who knew his father
When he cursed his name
Turned, and chased the dollar
But it broke his heart
So he stuck his middle finger
To the world
To the world
To the world

Kid Bop-ized:

Now the son's disgraced
He, who knew his father
When he cursed his name
Turned, and chased the dollar
But it broke his heart
So he raised his hand and waved it
To the world
To the world
To the world

Ironically, the intended audience apparently isn’t “grown up” enough for the original lyrics of “When I Grow Up,” by the Pussycat Dolls.

“When I Grow Up” by Pussycat Dolls
Original:
Boys call you sexy
And you don’t care what they say
See, every time you turn around
They screamin' your name

Kid Bop-ized:

Boys call you crazy
And you don’t care what they say
See, every time you turn around
They screamin' your name

When it comes to kids, people self-censor all the time. But aren’t there enough popular songs out there that wouldn’t need to have their lyrics tweaked? And then there’s the question of content. It’s not exactly Raffi. Take another look at the songs. Any that jump out at you as being questionable for kids?

This reminds me of a time a few years ago I was walking by a playground, and a girl, four at most, was belting out Britney Spears “Oops, I did it again,” at the top of her lungs. The scene stuck with me because, somehow, it just seemed so wrong. There is a good chance that this girl still thought of boys as “yucky” or possibly even “icky.” Why she was singing a song about stringing some poor boy along? Was it just because it had a catchy tune? Did she even know what the song meant, or did she just know the words? And come to think of it, she just kept repeating the chorus, over and over.

I can’t see too many in the target demographics identifying with Pink’s bitter break-up anthem “So What,” or “Take a Bow,” by Rihanna, or even with Miley Cyrus singing “7 Things.”

Granted, I’m not their target market, as I don’t like most pop music and am tall enough to ride all the rides at Disney World. I’m not even a parent. But my thought: ouch! Don't kids deserve better than recycled and dumbed down top-40 pop music? Give me more like Bearnaked Ladies "Snacktime." And if not, please, let this trend die before I have kids. I’d rather not have "Kidz Bop" blaring from my mini-van when it's my time to drive the carpool to soccer practice.

Your thoughts?

For more, check out:
The Kidz Bop Website to check them out for yourself.
A great article in Consumers, Commodities & Consumption, entitled "Kidz Bop, 'tweens,' and childhood music consumption," by Tyler Bickford.
The Billboard "Artist Biography" for Kidz Bop Kids.

4 comments:

  1. Ugh....Kidz Bop! Yes, it's hugely popular in our library, because it's been "sanitized" for patrons' protection. I can't say I blame them; one wouldn't want lil' dumplin' to scandalize Grandma over Easter dinner by hollering out some inappropriate lyrics. "I like big butts and I cannot lie..." over the ham & deviled eggs?! Call 911! But, yes, kids do deserve better than sanitized muzak.

    If I may get in my rocking chair and reminisce a bit, we used to take our kids (now 14 and 19) to concerts by the Chenille Sisters http://thechenillesisters.com/kids/) a quasi-retro folk trio that harmonizes beautifully and entertains all ages. We’d also seek out kids’ shows by “normal” artists like Jon Langford of the Mekons http://www.jonlangford.de/whb.htm and They Might Be Giants http://www.tmbg.com/index1.html. The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago saved our lives on many occasions by hosting kids’ concerts that didn’t make our ears bleed and/or our molars fall out due to excessive sugary sweetness (or “cutesy-wutesy”-ness!) I'm proud to say I NEVER took them to hear Barney the Dinosaur in Concert.

    For home listening, we liked the Klutz Press music for kids called KidsSongs; these were recordings of classic folk tunes by Nancy Cassidy http://www.nancycassidymusic.com/. She has a nice mellow voice and accompanies herself on guitar. No chirping choruses of kiddies backing her up either—hooray! Another artist in the “kids’ market” we liked was Tom Chapin (brother of the late Harry Chapin), who’s still out there performing & even has a MySpace page! http://www.myspace.com/tomchapin
    He writes folk songs that are listenable for kids and grown-ups. Finally, I can recommend Jim Gill, http://www.jimgill.com/ whose “Silly Dance Contest” is the hit of our preschool story times, as well as Laurie Berkner, whose “Dinosaur Stomp” is beloved by the same clientele. Tom Pease is another artist http://www.tompease.com/ who has a nice folky touch. When his cassette of “Apple Pickin’ Time” got stuck in the car’s cassette player on the way to the apple orchard, it was a black day indeed!

    Finally I'd like to make a pitch for good old Pete Seeger, a national treasure and folk singer who has numerous CDs for kids. I don't know if kids learn folk songs in school any more--or if they even have music class that isn't focused on band and/or orchestra. Seeger's music is a great entree into the American songbook.

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  2. Ugh, I hate Kidz Bop! I hate that they have commercials for a CD. I hate that they change the song lyrics and get creepy kids to sing pop hits. I hate that they don’t give kids the benefit of the doubt: surprise! Kids like good music when they get to hear it. My parents were fine with letting me listen to whatever I wanted, but I wasn’t about to go off and discover my new favorite indie band at age six. That meant I listened to, and enjoyed, whatever my parents were listening to: oldies and TOOL.

    But then there was that awkward time around third or fourth grade where I wanted to like the “cool” music that older kids were listening to. But where to begin? What was babyish? What was too grown up, like oldies? What kind of music did I like? Pop? Country? I settled on Weird Al Yankovic. His songs were familiar but funny, his music videos catered to my sense of humor. He was a good transition-artist in my music listening career.

    And then sixth grade happened. We went to dances where Deejays played pop music. So then I liked the Spice Girls, Aqua, the Backstreet Boys, and all that other pop music. I usually listened to these songs on the radio, because my family doesn’t really listen to music unless we’re driving or in “the wood shop”. the problem (as I saw it) with radio songs is that they’re edited, and if you don’t know that, you learn the edited version and then sing along at dances or cosmic bowling or whatever, but you sing the wrong lyrics. There is nothing more embarrassing than singing along to Jay Z or Eminem and saying “ish” instead of “shit” but being none the wiser. Everyone will make fun of you if you do that. I feel really bad for all the kids out there who learned the Kidz Bop lyrics, because when middle school rolls around, they are going to be laughed out of the streamer-strewn gym.

    I’m an advocate for cool, age appropriate music written for the intended age group. I’m also a fan of “clean” classic bands that young kids can listen to. Examples include the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Does anyone else have any suggestions/good bands that are NOT Kidz Bop knockoffs? Kim has started a great list!

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  3. Re: the four year-old singing Britney songs -- Although we cringe as adults to hear something like that, I'm sure we can all probably look back and pick out questionable songs we knew and enjoyed as kids, but didn't really KNOW at the time. For example, I remember hearing "Laid" by James on alt-rock radio quite often as a child. It was incredibly obvious what THAT song was about, but I don't think I really "got it" until I was thirteen or fourteen. Oh my! (Then again, I hadn't gone around singing it on the playground years prior.)

    That said, I think I died a little when I first heard the Kidz Bop version of "Float On" by Modest Mouse. There's just something about hearing a line like "I backed my car into a cop car the other day" followed by a chipper, emphatic chorus of "YEAH!" that makes my brain feel like I've just entered bizarro world.

    There *are* musicians out there who are reaching out to kids in ways that aren't wildly inappropriate or unbearably Raffi-esque. I’d like to echo Kim’s mention of They Might Be Giants. TMBG has delved into creating music for kids in recent years with the albums No! (2002), Here Come the ABCs (2005) and the Grammy award-winning Here Come the 123s (2008). The band also contributed the Other Father's piano ditty to the recent film version of Coraline. Lisa Loeb (Remember her? Man, I loved her glasses!) has also released a couple of kids' albums, Catch the Moon with Elizabeth Mitchell (2007) and Camp Lisa (2008). I haven't heard any of these releases in their entirety, but the snippets I've seen on YouTube seem to be promising alternatives to watered-down Kidz Bop dreck:

    TMBG - "Apartment Four" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR14sT7cG5U
    TMBG - "Seven" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9PNoJuP
    Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell - "Catch the Moon" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epRWUbgw9V4

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  4. Oh, the lyrics to Katie Perry's "Hot and Cold" were changed, too - from "we fight, we break up/we kiss, we make up" to "we fight, we break up/we hug, we make up"...I was surprised that THAT would be changed.

    My daughter REALLY wanted this, and I was really torn over whether or not to get it for her, because frankly, as music, KidzBop stinks. My kids are 6 and 3 - they are not going to be able to figure out the words to a Rhianna song...even if they could, would they have any idea what it meant?? Probably not.

    When I was 10, the movie version of 'Grease' came out, and I had the soundtrack. I can honestly say that I was well into my twenties before I realized what half of the lyrics in the songs were - not to mention the double-entendres in the movie. Kids just are not that sophisticated. So I don't really worry about what my children listen to on the radio. I don't care if it's sanitized or not. I mean, we're not going to be listening to Lil' Wayne, or anything like that...and "I Kissed a Girl" might not be the best choice for a little kid (although I like it) - but i prefer to do the selecting for my children, not have it done for me.

    This brings up something for me...I watched the Hannah Montana concert movie with daughters last summer, and I was frankly (and I am not a prude by ANY stretch if the imagination...) disturbed by what was, at the time the movie was filmed, a 14 year old girl dressing and acting like a much older woman. Sure, the songs were peppy and "clean" - but she was still dressed like a little 'ho'. Thankfully, my kids don't really dig Hannah Montana...but it bothers me that parents live this double standard of "I don't want my kids to hear 'bad' lyrics...but I'll let my 10 year old dress like she's 18." HUH?

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