INTRODUCTION
Upon asking twenty-three Brooklyn College students for songs meaningful to them, several trends became evident to the editors at CJL Publishing. Most of these songs, though written by different artists in different time periods and covering a wide range of genres, all discussed similar social trends. Indeed, even though the songs submitted embodied a range as broad as American classics such like “Stairway to Heaven” to new hip-hop releases such as “Crooked Smile” (one might say the variety of songs matched the remarkable diversity of Brooklyn College), a common, connecting thread was evident in most of them: apparently, the dominant theme on the minds of Brooklyn College students as reflected in their music preference is a sense of disillusionment and discontent. In this anthology we will analyze and expand upon these songs, with the ultimate goal of attempting to better understand not only American society, but also the struggles and motivations of the Brooklyn College student body.
One of the most recurring trends that we observed was a significant concern over materialism, manifested through lyrics that iterate a constant desire for the most popular consumer items. For instance, in “Empire State of Mind”, we encounter an idealized city in which the identity of it’s citizens are strongly connected to things they purchase because they are “caught up in the In-crowd”. Thus, there is a strong desire for the “off-white lexus” and “Yankee hat”, etc., an obsession that ultimately leads to situations like “good girls gone bad”.
Along similar lines is the trend of superficiality, which we observed nearly as frequently. Thus, we find in the lyrics many references to excessive care about looks and appearances, which despite the intense focus on the individual paradoxically seems to have an adverse affect on self-esteem. We saw this notion reflected in “Crooked Smile”:
I got smart, I got rich, and I got bitches still
And they all look my eyebrows: thick as hell
Love yourself, girl, or nobody will
Though you're a woman, I don't know how you deal
With all the pressure to look impressive and go out in heels; I feel for you
Killing yourself to find a man that'll kill for you
You wake up, put makeup on, stare in the mirror
But it's clear that you can't face what's wrong; no need to fix.