Pop Pain

We grew up bashing the pop bands for their very existential nature. Though it is not something we are really proud of. We are only concern about the pop pain in here. Apparently, it was only in music that we get a hang of pop cultural concepts for the first time in our lives. Others were just tiny parts of life, but our choice of music because it is almost a thumb rule, just like a Led Zep fan, who would always sneer at those Westlife-loving, Fair & Lovely-using folks.

One thing is clear here.

Westlife's gone, so are the Backstreet Boys and Boyzone and all the boys-that-little girls-love bands. They are so ethereal and this is one prominent reason why people have reservations about pop music. The superficiality is just too deep!

Their influence is so short that we reach climax while we are still fully clothed! Boahhaha! In my hometown, those were the days of Kunjabiharis and Bidyaranis. Unsurprisingly, they did not last; their songs have gone away with their withering ages. They are gone once the passing fad is gone. So, tell me how the hell are we supposed to love Justin Bieber, though he looks very beautiful?!

There is a term called placelessness in urban planning, architecture and geographical study. Precisely, it refers to a phenomenon of losing the sense of place, which is created by a cluster of identical houses in a particular housing colony. It’s a product of urban development in popular contemporary studies. They are so similar that it creates a sense of placelessness without any sense for essence and individuality. In art, that’s pop!

All of them have the same level of wavelength, and there is no difference when we listen to Pushparani or Mariah Carey. Of course, they sing in different languages. They are a world apart, so to say.

Yet, pop music has no proverbial boundary, as all of them can be painted with the same brush. One of them follows the Manipuri art; and the other American, the American. No one can deny their helplessness in creating a sense of placelessness.

Adapted from an image from Wikimedia Commons

Many folks in my hometown are obsessed with South Korean movies and movie stars. This is not really an art but a consumerist’s necessity, possibly, because Hindi films are banned out there. And it is pathetic.

Originality is our enemy. Pop music has fallen more steps down on the level of tolerance. Or should we admit, there is a little space to talk about pop, except for those people who live by their voices. Such is the tragedy of a slowly moving traditional society, which enjoys the luxury of global exposure every now and then.

So that’s it.

Exception, however, proves the rule. Andy Warhol’s name popped up with his remarkable renditions of modern pop art. See that ubiquitous Marilyn Diptych. Its popularity questions our sheer disregard for pop-related matters.

Would it not be nice to have art forms that defy our perception of time? The only place where we can find the bulk of such stuffs are, ironically, from a niche of the popular art. Still, we have to remember that yesterday’s radical thoughts are today’s orthodoxy. In another word, we cannot ignore pop completely. Though, it does not necessarily mean that we have to like Justin Bieber’s social media fan page.