Youth music: Please don't be too lenient!

(Baonghean) - Compared to previous music genres where every lyric and song title was carefully crafted, current commercial music only seeks to shock with its language to attract customers. And notably, this type of music is now dominant, as its target audience is mostly young people and teenagers…

Title as long as a scroll

A few years ago, many people probably remember the ridiculously long song titles, written spontaneously, such as: "Many promises, many broken promises"; "Why did you force me to love you?"; "Men shouldn't forget all feelings, but still have loyalty"; "I believe we've shared a memory,"...

Often, for any work of literature or art, regardless of its genre, the title is the most important element. Why? Because the essence of the work is carefully distilled and used as the title. It is both informative and suggestive, drawing the audience in to listen to the entire work. Even artists and writers believe that the success or failure of a work depends on the title itself. The longer the title, the more difficult it becomes to come up with a suitable title.

The title of a song is considered too long.

However, today's youth are largely captivated and seduced by commercial music with long titles like... the Kitchen God's petition.

Many young people, when asked if they ever truly appreciate the content written by the author, reply: "I like it because it sounds pleasant; I don't need to bother understanding the content." Understanding this mindset, commercial music composers strive to create songs where the title alone is enough to understand the content, without requiring any intellectual effort to create something truly good.

Some musicians believe that writing lyrics isn't difficult; the real challenge lies in choosing titles that are quick, concise, elegant, and poetic, making the lyrics more fluid and imaginative.

Recently, mainstream music has once again featured songs based on trivial stories from everyday life. For example, when a television station interviewed a drug rehabilitation patient about their dreams, the song "Only handsome guys get lots of girlfriends" immediately appeared. Then there were songs like "I Don't Ask for Gifts," "Let's Run Away Together," "I'm Also a Scorpio," "Oh My Banana," and so on...

Thanks to the media, especially social networks like Facebook and YouTube, what started as an unremarkable song—or rather, a "musical disaster"—has become incredibly popular among young people, heard everywhere. Even in cafes, bars, electronics stores, and supermarkets, these songs are played constantly.

Most shocking is the song "Nắng Cực" (Extreme Sunshine), composed by musician Phạm Toàn Thắng and released to young people in mid-2016. The song was performed by the quartet Phạm Toàn Thắng, Trương Thảo Nhi, Trúc Nhân, and Bá Hưng. According to the author's explanation to the media, the song is completely innocent and contains nothing vulgar.

It's true that anyone who listens to the lyrics knows the song is simply about the sweltering heat that makes everyone tired. That's all, but how did the song become a hit and top the charts on music forums?

In my opinion, the reason probably stems from the song's title. Perhaps if a different title had been used, such as "Too Sunny," "Intense Sunshine," or "Hot Sunshine," it probably wouldn't have been such a huge hit in the music market.

Why did the author, clearly aware of the sensitive nature of the title, intentionally choose it instead of a better, more artistically valuable title? What's even more shocking is that composer Pham Toan Thang, despite being a young musician, has had many excellent songs that have won several music awards and possess high artistic value, unlike the song "Extreme Sunshine".

It's true that nowadays, especially in the Western music market, there are many songs that don't use wordplay or rhymes, but are completely straightforward: "Fuck me i'm amous" (performed by Dirt Nasty and Cathy Guetta), "Bitch i'm the shit" (rapper Tyga), "Sexbomb" (Tom Jones)...

Is it perhaps because of this that many young musicians believe that music must be creative and innovative in order to keep up with the international market?

Don't be too lenient.

However, there's one thing we've overlooked: music is intrinsically linked to culture. And of course, each country has a different culture. A young musician confided that the music market today is fiercely competitive, unlike in the past.

To get singers to buy exclusive rights to your work, or to captivate the public, you need to be creative, that is, cater to popular taste, even if it's a "disaster." Creativity here means choosing titles that appeal to the curiosity of young people. Perhaps commercial music has a very short lifespan, dies quickly, and that over-polishing it is a waste (!?).

Illustrative image.

Why are classic Vietnamese songs like "yellow music," "revolutionary music," and Trinh Cong Son's songs still remembered by music lovers of all ages, even after decades? Or why do pop songs from the 1990s still evoke such nostalgic feelings in the 70s and 80s generations whenever they listen to them again?

That's because the composers create out of love for art, diligently innovating in their own style, with diverse content and soaring, profound lyrics. Young people should be at the forefront of creativity, developing and strengthening national music, and pushing it towards the international music market.

But current trends suggest that music is declining, even though young people remain captivated by mainstream music. Many young musicians assert that a mainstream product, though it may quickly "die out," can provide them with a substantial financial windfall if it survives for just one year.

It's time for mainstream music to change its mindset and songwriting style. Don't let our national music decline so drastically. As the saying goes, "good wine needs no bush." ​​If we know how to innovate music in a quality-oriented way, then from one person or two, it will become a system, and standard music will become established.

Dang Trung Cong