Popularity Softens Edge Of Alternative Rock ‘N’ Roll

In today’s teen society, as in all adolescence, it seems everyone is trying to be different.

There isn’t a shade of the rainbow that hasn’t been used as a hair-dye color, a body part that hasn’t been pierced, or a piece of clothing that hasn’t been disfigured to fit the grunge fashion.

Some teens follow the alternative movement because they’re honestly indignant toward mainstream coolness. They have philosophical and political opinions, and they were sick of the race to be “hip.” The music they listen to and the clothes they wear were originally intended to be ugly, abrasive and crass. However, most teens appear to be wearing plaid because everyone else is; they’re being different just to be different.

The sad irony here is that this angry rejection of the mainsteam has become, as usual, socially popular. The unorthodox clothes, long hair and rejection in mad defiance of popular fashion and ultraconservatism, much like in the 1960s, is now the fad. Being different has become the cliche. Being a loser is cool.

This is the irony that killed Kurt Cobain. Fame brought him all the stereotypical coolness that he hated. The “pop” culture put him up as their poster boy, when in fact they had no idea what he was about. The music that he intended to be abrasive and angry backfired and has become a worldwide fad.

The trap that many alternative bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam struggle with is that of being too popular. This popularity is the death of a lot of art in general. Too many people with little understanding or appreciation of an art ruin it by making it generic. How can a song lyric keep its personal meaning to someone who appreciates it when there are millions of airheads running around singing it?

The destruction of art by the “cliche crowd,” however, is especially apparent in rock ‘n’ roll music. There, the death takes on a literal meaning. In the rock ‘n’ roll world, rebellion and living on the edge are the requirements for entrance. It’s the James Dean appeal. When that rebellion is made generic, the young icons must counteract or they themselves will become the status quo that they hate.

One way is to stay hip and a step ahead like the Rolling Stones have. The other is to keep rebelling. This includes rebelling against popularity, against society, and the ultimate rebellion: rejecting life.

Neil Young’s famous quote, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” has become a rock ‘n’ roll creed that has taken great artists like Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. However, by dying young, they have immortalized themselves and remained rebels.

Not only have artists like Cobain and Hendrix been killed but their music is ruined in a figurative sense. Nothing is more nauseating than seeing one of those “shiny happy people” singing Nirvana or Pink Floyd.

Now nobody has the right to tell people what they should or shouldn’t listen to, but this music is personal. It is great music that is more than just the superficial pop which too often has love as an overused theme. Alternative music is vital to a large number of cynical teens who share it with others who feel indignant about the world. When seeing someone who has not struggled with teenage angst get into this music, it loses the personal meaning and is made trite.

Lead singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam deals with this feeling explicitly in his song “Not For You,” on their new album “Vitalogy.” This song is a strong statement directed at the “shiny happy people.” To paraphrase, it’s a cry for all the “phonies” to stop ruining our music. If you can’t relate, don’t try. This does not mean one has to be depressed, from a broken home, or have no feelings of love to understand, but the music does have substance beyond the cliche loveand-love-lost story. It requires a deep look at one’s self and the world where one lives.

In other words, it requires introspection. That is the key to appreciating art. Without it, the art is just a fad. In this music, feelings of frustration, doubt, confusion, hate and angst are brought out. Not so in pop music. If they are dealt with, it’s like a sitcom: as trite easily-solved problems.

But these are difficult feelings to deal with and not everyone feels them on a regular basis. Also, most people don’t want to feel them, so they shelter themselves. They entertain themselves with music that doesn’t require thought. But not everyone can pacify themselves with “feel good” music. Luckily, there is pop rock and pop country music for people to listen to. There needs to be a balance.

However, important music will stick around and rise above the banal garbage to classic status. It will become classic because it requires introspection and thought. The pop songs will fade away and be forgotten due to new pop songs.

And, accordingly, the people who do not know why they are wearing plaid will move on to the next fad.