The Transcript

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Opinion

Many a late night, I can be found at my desk in "Hey-Girl" Hayes as I struggle to finish whatever assignment I put off until midnight/put off until my food is done cooking in Café World on Facebook. As I am sure many do while burning the midnight oil, I often have music playing as a background to the cacophony of my own thoughts.

When I get tired of my Pandora stations or the same album over and over again, I often put my iTunes on shuffle and let the winds of fate blow whichever songs they wish.

The other night, a song came on that was very popular when it came out-and that I immediately skipped through. It was "Rock Star" by Nickelback.

As much as the rest of the free world seems to love this Canadian group of rockers, I seem to despise every new song they come out with. "Rock Star," in particular, irks me like none other.

I was a fan of Nickelback when they were-to be cliché-a shinier, newer coin.

I went to see them the summer after my eighth grade year at Riverbend with Three Doors Down and Three Days Grace and awkwardly headbanged my way through hours of power chords next to two of my good friends and my mom.

But when I got more mature-and when Nickelback's lyrics did as well-I began to dislike the band, Chad's voice, his blonde hair with brown roots and his center part.

I Began to hear the band's songs over and over on the radio and was getting tired of the same sound over and over again.

Part of what I can't stand about Nickelback, and about many other bands and artists, is what they do for attention and fans. They've got their "let's all save the world" songs and try to act like humanitarians and like someone people should respect.

And those are the songs that play on Top 40 charts and the songs that make people love them.

And then there's the songs that people rage to at their concerts and that are played on the hard rock stations. The songs about getting shitfaced and breaking stuff. The songs about having violent sex with your girlfriend in the car.

The songs about how much he loves the girl who "can't say no to many long lines in a row" and has powder on her nose. The songs about the stripper in the pink thong who "looks better with something in her mouth."

If today was your last day, Chad Kroeger, would you still be acting like you're an animal? If everyone cared and nobody cried, would you go meet the hottie with the million-dollar body? And would you still wanna be a rock star and dress your ass with the latest fashion?

Probably not.

It seems to me that many artists just cater to what the public wants them to be. Look at Nelly Furtado. Look at Good Charlotte. Look at Taylor Swift. All are artists whose sounds have changed since they entered the music world in order to please their fans.

And other artists besides Nickelback have contradictory messages in their music.

One of my favorite vocalists, Carrie Underwood, can somehow ask Jesus to take the wheel and at the same time will dig her key into the side of someone's pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive…and she don't even know her last name.

I guess that's the curse of living in such a fickle society and trying to cater to so many different needs. But I don't like it. And maybe that's just me.

Besides, I'm working on my own album, which will be an experiment with the power of the electric triangle. Autographed copies are coming soon.

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