1.) Danity Kane, "Showstopper," R&B, 2006
2.) Kevin Rudolf, "I Made It," Rap, 2010
3.) Lil Wayne, "Got Money," Hip-Hop, 2008 (R-Rated)
4.) Kanye West, "Power," Hip-Hop, 2010 (R-Rated)
5.) Gwen Stefani, "Rich Girl," Pop, 2004
Liberation
1.) Kesha, "We R Who We R," Dance-Pop, 2010
2.) Destiny's Child, "Free," R&B, 2007
3.) Eden's Crush, "I Wanna Be Free," Dance-Pop, 2001
4.) Jason Derulo, "Ridin' Solo," R&B, 2010
5.) Gwen Stefani, "The Sweet Escape," Pop, 2006
If I had to choose, the aim of success was more prevalent. I think this was because success could be interpreted as fame, wealth, or power. There are so many songs out there that pertain to money, being famous, and living a high status lifestyle. There are especially many rap songs that talk about things such as cars, “ice” (jewelry), etc. I didn’t have too hard of a time finding songs about liberation though, because my interpretation of liberation meant a number of things. I felt that by feeling liberated, a person could feel free to be who they are without any care in the world (“We R Who We R”) or feeling free from a relationship (“Free”, “I Wanna Be Free” and Ridin’ Solo). The song “Sweet Escape” is about apologizing for fighting and talks about a happy life for the two lovers. I interpreted this as wanting to be free from the life they are living now and moving on to a better life together (especially when she sings “I want to get away to our sweet escape”). Concerning the songs about success, “Showstopper” is about living a high class lifestyle (which I see as power) when they sing about the latest cars, brand names, and hanging out at the popular spots. In my opinion, the song “I Made It” is about the artist finally living his dream and making it into the business he’s dreamed of working in, which completely symbolizes success, (as he was successful in his efforts to make something of himself). “Rich Girl” and “Got Money” are two songs that are obviously about wealth. And Kanye West’s “Power” says it all right there in its title. I feel that these two aims were easier to understand and find songs for than the aim of community service. Also, though I personally found both liberation and success aims to be equally prevalent for the most part, the success aim may be considered more prevalent because it’s what we all aim for in life. We are encouraged and taught to be successful in school, in our careers, and in our relationships. Nobody usually hopes for an F on their test, a failed relationship, or not moving up in their careers. We all strive for success in one way or another, and usually in more ways than one. Liberation on the other hand may not always be on people’s minds. Maybe we are all so caught up in our lives and our daily responsibilities and duties that we don’t have time to think that we even want or need freedom from it all. I’m not sure if that even makes sense. One observation I made from doing this assignment is that there’s so much meaning and interpretation to be done in what all of these songs say. Usually, I just listen to a song and like it if its pleasing to my ears. If the voice is nice or the music sounds good, I like the song. If there are one or two lines that stand out to me I also like the song. However, I never really look at the lyrics and see what the artist is really saying.
I think that American pop music does a similar job in expressing the success aim as does Hinduism. The Hindu understanding of success is that it is a social achievement and is necessary, but it also states that success is competitive and centers upon the self. These are all things that are apparent in American music. When talking about success, people usually are talking about themselves (hence the self component). When we are trying to be successful, sometimes we are competitive with others and try to be better than them at something (earn more money than them, have a higher grade than them, etc). Liberation, on the other hand is seen as the ultimate goal in Hinduism. I don’t see the same message being conveyed in American music. Instead, I feel that in the music liberation is seen as being free for the moment, or at least the present time, rather than aiming for it for the future.
