I Really Like This Song

Today's song, I Really Like You by Carly Rae Jepsen

"I am now a Tom Hanks fan."  That was my introduction to this song.  It is certainly an interesting way to introduce a song.  Then I see it is a Carley Rae Jepsen song.  At this point I know what some of you are thinking, "Goddamn Canadian bubblegum princess, can't she just go back to Canada and take justin beiber with her?"  You people are wrong, at least partially.  Wanting bieber to disappear is a fine sentiment.  Wanting to get rid of Carly on the other hand is just short sighted and pointless.

Carley Rae Jepson music is the music of the thirteen year old girl tribe.  If you hate the music of this tribe I feel sorry for you.  This tribe is the reason we get singers like Carly Rae Jepsen.  This tribe is also the reason we get movies like Twilight and Mean Girls.  The influence of this tribe is a mixed bag.

I hate that thirteen year old girls are the reason justin bieber isn't working at a Tim Horton's in Stratford Ontario.  I also dislike the fact that now I have to deal with sparkling Vampires.  But the fact is without thirteen year old girls we wouldn't have any new women at all.  It's like little girls who are the sweetest creatures in god's creation after kittens have to undergo this stage before they can become women.  In these transformational years they may be the most annoying creatures on the planet.  Babies would probably come in ahead of them if they didn't spend eighteen hours a day asleep, but they do so the title goes to teen girl tribe.

Some of what is aimed at this market segment turns out to be good.  If you don't like Mean Girls there is something wrong with you.  Seriously wrong with you, and you should go to the island where we should be shipping sociopaths and people who still think voting for obama was a good idea.  Carly Rae Jepson is another one of these incidentally good things.

There is always going to be a need for bublegum pop and Carly does it well.  Her lyrics in this song aren't the most clever ever put to paper but they suffice.  I think the video works especially well.  Getting Tom Hanks to do this was great.  It subverts the expectations of the listener without being disturbing.  I really like this song.  Not in the way I really like Blank Space, an intense satisfaction that comes over me when I get to hear it.  I really like in the sense that I am not being ironic.  This song hits a sweet spot.  It is not unlike cotton candy for the brain and cotton candy has its place in a balanced diet.

I showed this a friend of mine this song and he said, "I think everything about it is awful it makes me feel sorry for Tom Hanks."  He has two preteen girls.  He is going to be in for a tough few years.

As one parting thought, at one point adults would have lumped the Beatles into a product of thirteen year old culture.  Occasionally, rarely even, something created for this tribe turns out to have real value.  I am not talking about the Beatles, I am talking about Mean Girls.

Later

Bob