I realize I haven't updated here in quite a while, and I apologize for that. My situation at work changed, and I was no longer exposed to the local country station every day. Because of this, I did not know about any of the new songs coming out, nor was I listening to the older songs (that were new to me) anymore, and my hatred for contemporary popular country cooled to a mild simmer.
Of course, every once in a while a song would come across my path that would stoke the flames a bit, and I thought about coming here to post, but the fullness of my schedule made it hard to find the time to devote to writing an entry here.
Well, a song has finally crossed into my radar of awareness that is so detestable, so lazy and awful, that I simply couldn't hold back anymore, and a post became inevitable. Toby Keith is one of those "artists" that I had a serious dislike for before I really knew much of his catalog. His positioning of himself politically as a "conservative Democrat" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean) and "speaking out" as a flag-wearing patriot, etc. has generally left a bad taste in my mouth. After reading about all this, and before I could easily recognize any of his songs, my dislike of him was very strong. Then I found out that I was actually familiar with one of his earlier songs. When I was sixteen, I worked for a major fast food chain, and they played the local country station back in the kitchen, so some of the songs from that time period (the late 1990's) I was aware of. One of which is "How Do You Like Me Now?", a song that celebrates the misfortunes of Keith's former flames, and assumes that they could not possibly be happy with anyone but him. Which is obviously true.
As the years have gone by, I've become more aware of Keith's work, and I can honestly say that my initial inclination to not like him was dead on. The man's songs are simply awful. They range from insipid, to mildly offensive, to downright annoying.
All of his past works, however, could not prepare the world for the wretched offering that is, "Red Solo Cup".
It would be terribly easy to point out the fact that there is hardly any actual singing in this song, but as a fan of opera, I have respect for the occasional use of sprechgesang, and although I doubt that Keith is even aware of that technique, I can let that slide. It would be just as easy to complain about the relative simplicity of the composition, but the Beach Boys and some other bands have based their career on catchy, simple songs with a lot of heart and soul, and although Keith lacks any trace of heart and soul (at least in this case) it would be wrong to condemn him simply for that fact.
No, what makes "Red Solo Cup" an awful song rests in two things. First, there is the glaring brand placement. Nothing makes a song more plastic (for lack of a better term) than to use a brand name in it, and to use that brand name as the central theme of the song makes it nothing more than a commercial jingle.
Secondly, and more importantly, this song was written with the express purpose of being played at every drunken frat party, tailgate, etc. everywhere for years to come. There was no sincerity in the composition of this ditty, only an overt ploy to entrench Keith's financial security in America's drinking culture, something that is not likely to diminish any time soon. It is with this marketing in mind that Keith made the song so simple. Not because that minimalism was what Keith was inspired by, but because it is that much easier for drunken crowds to sing. Just look at the string of celebrities that make an appearance towards the end of the video (another cheap marketing ploy) singing along.
This is not a song that attempts to be quality in any way, instead it is a faux-drunken abomination that is created with the sole purpose of hoping the video goes viral (which is the other reason for all the celebrities at the end). The worst part is, this is the first single from Keith's latest album. This wasn't released as an afterthought, or some kind of web-exclusive, this is designed as the entryway into his latest offering, and that speaks volumes about both the state of country music and Keith's (the richest, and unfortunately, most powerful man in the genre) perception of its audience.
The least we can hope for is that this song's decomposition time is faster than that of it's subject.
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