The Pop Thread

My teen daughter likes Olivia Rodrigo, who is pretty popular evidently. I was quite surprised at how heavy and punky this song is.
 
My teen daughter likes [some newer pop artist], who is pretty popular evidently. [..]
My 12 year old son does not listen to current/modern pop music. We do not play it ourselves and he does not check modern pop (which is a period of a few decades in his eyes) himself either. His negativity is not that mild. He loathes it, totally disrespects and hates it.

He's very much into The Beatles for quite a while now (and Paul McCartney) and before that it was especially Maiden, Queen, Zeppelin, and some Helloween. He also likes Jethro Tull and Bad Religion. A friend of his is only into rock and metal. So he does not look up pop music, and does not have people imposing it on him. Well, not newer stuff, because sometimes I play stuff from the 1980s and 1990s.
He hears newer pop music once per year though (just like myself). Every year, when the Top2000 comes on, there are negative comments when newer songs come on, like "How the hell can this score this high? How can people like this?".

Our youngest (not a teenager) is influenced by his big brother and only plays The Beatles and McCartney. A lot.
 
Last edited:
Two Estonian pop songs here. The first one was something I completely disliked when it came out in 2007. I was in elementary school and Meie Laul was played on radio all the time. I hated how many times the chorus was repeated and thought it had every element that deserves criticism in a pop song. Now, almost 15 years later, it's one of the best Estonian pop songs of the 21st century, imo. I love how it starts out with this strange synth sound that doesn't quite belong there at first but later returns in the chorus. Not to mention the beautiful melodies all around, especially in the pre-chorus. The lyrics are heartwarming also.

The second one is from Smilers, a very popular Estonian band. I never cared much for them but this is a pretty good pop rock song, a bit similar to the Finnish band HIM in terms of sound, maybe. I especially love the melody played on the keys at 3:08, which continues on the background of the last chorus.

 
My 12 year old son does not listen to current/modern pop music. We do not play it ourselves and he does not check modern pop (which is a period of a few decades in his eyes) himself either. His negativity is not that mild. He loathes it, totally disrespects and hates it.

He's very much into The Beatles for quite a while now (and Paul McCartney)
Is your son aware that, 50+ years ago, a kid who said he "loathes, totally disrespects and hates" then-current pop music would have totally missed out on the Beatles??

I try to avoid categorically presuming that I will dislike anything that is new or current. A LOT of it is indeed loathsome (that DJ Khaled is rich and famous should offend literally everyone), but some newer pop music is great. Just gotta remember that everything is on a bell curve -- in any era or genre, there may be only a small percentage of music that is high-quality, but that top end of the bell curve should one day become enduring classics, like the Beatles and the other bands you list (well, except maybe Helloween :p).
 
The term 'pop' itself is very skewed. But I do get a rough idea.

While not listening to Metal or Rock, I listen to Bollywood songs (basically film music). Again, it comes in a good varity ranging from modern electronic/rap based to more classical and folk influenced music.

One of my favourite singer being the legend, Kishore Kumar. Great voice, great charisma and sang some really iconic numbers. I know language may come as a barrier but anyway, just to give you an idea:


Another of my favourites being Asha Bhosle (younger sister of legendry singer Lata Mangeshkar, who is said to have even influenced Freddie Mercury to pursue music). Both great singers but I like the style of the former more.

 
@Siddharth Are you aware of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? He is from Pakistan but one of the great voices of last century.

Below (and exactly above your post) one of the best quotes I've ever read here:

Is your son aware that, 50+ years ago, a kid who said he "loathes, totally disrespects and hates" then-current pop music would have totally missed out on the Beatles??

Speaking of pop, this is my very best Madonna song:

 
@Siddharth Are you aware of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? He is from Pakistan but one of the great voices of last century.
Yes Sir! One of his songs, though recorded much earlier, got very hit here in India recently as it was featured in a film.


Talking about 'western' pop, I really like Michael Jackson.

On another note, whenever I get to hear pop songs (more recent ones) during festival time or similar occassions, around the neighbourhood. I felt that the Shape Of You beat has been mimicked A LOT by different artists. Maybe it being a standard beat but something I just observed. Its like pop equivalent of 2 Minutes To Midnight riff LOL!
 
Back
Top