I spent some time in a rental car this weekend. This always gives me the opportunity to listen to top 40 on the radio (of course, I was out of town and Co-op Radio, CFRO was not an option). I heard two pop hits that stuck in my head. The first was by some shitty boy band (the next generation of boy bands!) and the chorus went like this:
“When you smile at the ground, it ain’t hard to tell you don’t know you’re beautiful.”
That actually makes my skin crawl. This song advocates powerlessness — “darling, your lack of self confidence is so alluring. I love women who defer to my judgement.”
The next tune was by Mission, BC’s Carly Rae Jepson. It was her hit song “Call Me Maybe.” I know this song is so sickly sweet that it’ll rot your teeth. But take a look again at the chorus:
“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy. But here’s my number, so call me maybe.”
There you go! A girl in charge of her own destiny.