Why are these songs popular and successful?
 

In this thread I don't mean to insult anyone. This is just my view on this...
But HOW in the WORLD are songs like My Humps, London Bridge and Sexyback popular? I mean, itz all about sex and skankiness and bad lyrics... I just don't understand...

Those are songs for the clubs/dancefloor :shimmy

Lyrics don't matter when it comes to dance songs. It's all about getting down on the floor.

And people love to dance, that's why those songs are popular :D

They're catchy. They stick in your head. They're simple to follow and easy to sing to.

That's pretty much it.

Does Koda Kumi's Ima sugu hoshii counted as dance song? :P

Being drunk enough on the dance floor ... those songs rock.

Well, sex is something pretty enjoyable, and skankiness... it's an issue people talk about a lot, so bringing it up in lyrics could help it to sell... which it obviously does, in those cases.

They attract a certain kind of listeners, a group that's pretty huge. I don't enjoy those songs particularly, they can be nice in the club, although I prefer to go to clubs that plays other kinds of music, apart from that I don't care about them at all.

I don't see nothing wrong with the lyrics in Sexyback but My Humps and London Bridge takes the word "skankiness" to a whole new level!!:yes

I think it's because of the 'beat' that is in the music. Those songs just make you wanna sing and dance and move to the music. I love them :D

I have no idea. Those songs seriously suck.

By some reason I often get the feeling that people who consider themself 'serious' hate this kind of music.

I'm serious.

@Immel; yea I think that's kind of true.. Because if you REALLY like objective to the quality of this kind of music, it's not exactly seriously 'good'.. But it's just very very FUN to listen to these tracks. I'm a fan of almost any type of music, so it's no surprise I just LOVE songs like My Humps etc. It's just awesome =)

I'm relieved my post was received the way I wanted it to.

I agree with you, I can also enjoy 'songs like those' if I somehow get addicted to them, by going to clubs or for whatever reason.

Usually I stay away though, I simply have no interest in those artists.

Its all about the music I suppose, bumb and grind and all that jazz... They all have the tendency to stick in your head, even if you don't want them to. :(

Immel, weren't you just a my name's women initiate like, yesterday? D:

London Bridge is good? My god, I think it sucks.

They are only popular because they are used alot in jokes.

All 3 of those songs stirred up lots of jokes, thats what makes them so successful :P

Thank you - been wondering the same thing! If I were in a club, there's are a lot of dance songs which I would like to hear and My Humps, London Bridge & Sexy Back are not any of them! I think I'd prefer some Faithless...or Girls Aloud. Really don't get it either!

mi|kshake~

"STEP you" is something fun to listen to that makes you want to dance and sing. "London Bridge" and those kind of songs are just plain annoying. :shrug

Those 3 aren't bad at all. It's all a matter of taste. London Bridge, My Humps and SexyBack uses repetition a lot but still manages to sound so irresistable. Especially the SexyBack chorus where JT repeats the same thing many many times. Or "My humps, my humps, my humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps, my humps, my humps, my humps". And "London London London, be going down now, London London London, be going down now". Maybe that's why you don't like em?

Aside from an excellent beat, I find these songs rather creative. Lyrically, "My Humps" is an amazing work.

Hey don't be mean against Sexyback. At least he's singing what all the guys I know are thinking...

This is the reason why STEP you was the most successful song of 2005 byayu. Catchy lyrics, easy to follow etc. It's not that groovy as london bridge etc though. Personally I'd rather dance to something like STEP you than RnB orhip hop beats though.

THere's one more thing that I don't htink anyone mentioned. When you're on the dance floor you also sometimes try to "live into" the music, kind of act, and a lot of what's going on in clubs is checking other people out, perhapsto bring them home. If the lyrics diden't reflect this in a way that people can relate to, then how could people act into it.

If this came across as a bit uncomprehenable, I*ll try to give an example: I was dancing in a club with some friends to hip hop music. the music was great, but all of the sudden a song in which a girl "commanded" a boy to do some... vacum cleaning of her carpets...:dead2 (A bit more directly though, it was really naughty.. ) We had to leave the dancefloor. My girlfriend (and me too) just woulden't feel comfortable looking someone into the eye, grooving, perhaps even miming the song when such a thing played.
A song like "TOXIC" by Britney on the other hand makes everyone run to the dancefloor and totally act into it because there's just about enough innuendo to stand. Allthough the meaning is somewhat the same.

They're catchy songs.

Honestly, I hate them and I know the lyrics too >>

Okay, we can explain those....but can anyone explain the Chiken Noodle Soup song?

omfg...EVERYONE here is singing that stupid song...and I'm just like...why is everyone a retard?

i dont see why either....it seems like if it doesnt mention sex its labled as a kiddy pop song...like with video games...if they dont have blood and insides flying everywhere, its automaticly labelled as a kiddy game

and also they have a huge promotional budget.

I like meanings in songs but I also like songs that I can just dance to and enjoy the beats.

Promotional budget is where I put my money.

Hey, I heart My Humps cause it actually has a bit more to it than the other songs. SexyBack goes NOWHERE melodically and I couldn't even sit through London Bridge.

But I love My Humps. <3

What I'm still tryin to figure out is why a J-song is being compared to an A-song(s).....:shrug

It may sound "retarded" but it's catchy.:lech Just saying "Do the Chicken Noodle Soup" just makes you wanna..well...do the Chicken Noodle Soup!:D Come on guys, lighten up a little and just go with the flow of the songs.:cool

Because society is lame and they are a bunch of lambs. If one person likes a song, everybody goes crazy over it.

Not only that, not everybody is "bright". To be honest, there's a LOT of stupid and DUMB people in this world who think anything is good.

It's all about going with the flow and getting brainwashed by the gov.

I like to think of it as eating garbage.


my post was not to offend anybody, if it does. 'Good' is in the eye of the beholder and 'music' cannot be defined.

I honestly think that after 50 plays on the radio each morning for 50 days..

It gets a bit.. annoying.

Is 'London Bridge' really that popular? I can understand 'My Humps' and 'SexyBack' being popular cos of the beat but not 'London Bridge'.

London Bridge is not that popular. It doesn't get as much radio play as My Love [played as much as My Humps now.. aka every 4 hours]~

obviously people like sex and skankiness and bad lyrics

I hate a lot of today's like mainstream stuff in America. It's hard to imagine this crap sells like 500,000k at a time. I mean where are the talented songwriters and musical geniuses who should be following in the footsteps of number one single legends. It's like if you don't talk about sex, drugs or the thought of killing yourself you'll never reach number one of the HOT 100. It's really sad because people constantly say that other countries look towards us for musical inspiration when in fact; I wish they wouldn't in order to save their own musical-gifts.

You know it's bad when every single video they play on MTV's TRL [since they don't play videos hardly anymore] is has a booty shot somewhere and don't even get me started about BET. It's just terrible. That's why I just try to stay away from it as best as I can. It's okay for a little "bump n grind" music every now and then but it's just tacky and irresponsible when it continues to reign for like years at a time.

It's so bad down here in NC; we have little five year old girls who think they have "humps" and "lovely lady lumps" made to be you-what with instead of trying to be the independent-strong women our foremothers have been before. I guess in the end no one feels that they have any responsiblity about that as well. It just goes from the producer to the artists and the parents and so forth.
The only reason I think it's popular is because the people who make them & the people who just do whatever when they give them listening time is because they just aren't ready to see beyond well sexual chemistry and intimacy. But that's just MY OPINION.

I don't like "My humps" at all, while "London Bridge" is okay but I love listening to "Sexyback" because it's very catchy and something I can move to. However, usually I like songs with more meaning instead of just sex. But, those songs can sometimes be enjoyable too.

I do :)

Who doesn't girl? :mischief

:shrug Nobody I know

ME TOO! ^^

....can everyone else stop crying? :yes

While I have my own perception of bad lyrics, which will kind of render this post.... pointless, not everyone shares your idea of bad lyrics.

I really dont know why Sexyback is a success.His vocals are shocking on it.The worst song of 2006 for me.And after his last album i was looking forward to hearing his new stuff.Not anymore.

Untrue. I like BOLD & DELICIOUS, hardly anybody else does.

Oh my.

You are WROOOOOOOOOONGG, Deric. :|

So many people like B&D now zomg.

Hells yeah, B&D is the **** for me. When I get my license on my b-day I'm hitting Highway 70 BY MYSELF (thank GOD) and cranking that song up to the maximum that my ears can stand. I just love that song that much. It'll be my first driving alone song...wow and it's so close too.

Ok. I love "Yume no Uta" now. You don't, Anthony. I just gave it another chance and it grew so quick. The orchestral "Quartet version" is really <333

I don't agree with you there but if you don't like Sexyback, you'll love "My Love" It's less provocative than Sexyback.:P

these songs r awesome! its all just taste really. like some people will fully like something but some others r gonna hate it. every1 has different prefrences.

but to me i think london bridge, my humps and sexyback are awesome coz theyre catchy, good for clubs, sound awesome turned up volume. specially sexyback coz the sound is really new, fresh and just cool.

btw there nothin wrong with sex and skankiness

its a fact of life and a normal bodily funkshion. ;)

Because it's an example of how a song with less "deep" lyrics, but which is really catchy sells more than other songs.. =P Because it's not just true for american songs. Not every japanese is "OMG!1!" so deep and clever. It's also because the different languages have different way of writing, so translated japanese may come off as "new" or "deep" even though it might really be full og cliches etc.


Haha, this actually made me laugh allthough it's quite serious. And also I think "lump" and "hump" are such nasty words. Even just the sound of them is.. >_<.

This is no not so fdifferent from the japanese industry though, except that what's "sexy" or attractive is different. And often, like in other languages that has devellopped a more subtleness in poetry than english (spanish f.ex.), the maning of the words isen't so apparant and perhaps not understood by children allthough the sexual content may be as apparant to a grown up. A good example of this is some songs sung by France Gall in the end of the 60's. Sadly the english lyrics have often a very direct approach to such things.

no matetr how stupdi the song gets.... it';s gon be popular because of good
BEATS
RHYMING
VIDEO
and the FUN in FUNKINESS

-_-
i guess nowadays more peopel are digging the beats mroe than the lyrics but when ti comes to danc emsuic the main thing to listen to is the beats cos it;sa dance msuic...

The lyrics may be stupid, but they're catchy as hell, which will make them easier/funner to listen to. At least for me.

I personally don't think that's "amazing":
http://artists.letssingit.com/black-...-humps-dx2jt2l

The only lyrically amazing thing I can find about My Humps is how well it rhymes. And that's not anything spectacular on it's own.

It's genius. So simple yet so effective in creating imagery with mundane words. I love the way they tackle the subject matter. The protagonist with the humps seem distressed by the attention she gets and whines about it eventhough she gets all kinds of gifts from admirers. So somehow it's shows that women isn't cheap.

Poor Fergie. Must really suck to be her.

I'm trying to decide if you're being serious or not D:

I like london bridge because....it's a parody...........you're got j-kwon's ridiculous rapping style in her verses, and gwen stefani's stuff in the chorus

:P I find it amusing how she tries to capture that

my humps is just dumb..and i just can't get with the beat either...
and sexy back..is just horrible. there IS no 'beat' to follow...

:rofl I was. Not all songs that get to #1 are crappy. (this week's one is the ultimate crap though, how the heck it replaced SexyBack?) I believe some of them are good enough to be defended and dissected to bits.

This is the first time I'm hearing of a person who fails to feel the beats.

London Bridge is more popular than My Humps, at least in USA. My Humps reached 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 while London Bridge reached 1.

And they are popular because people think they are good. They have fun lyrics, good producers, catchy beats...

(I like Black Eyed Peas, but "London Bridge" is not very good. And Sexy Back sucks).

Were they released at the same time?

yep, exactly. they're catchy. they get stuck in your head and you find yourself singing them whether you want to or not. the lyrics don't really matter in that regard. and catchy means that people buy it.

Those songs seriously SUCK!!!

You've answwered your own question. The masses love that!

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!:yes

Oh... Well... Sex is sexy~!

My Humps is funny and London Bridge was catchy (but they're both now extremely overplayed). Sexyback is crap and always has been :eviltongu

I used to hate both London Bridge and Sexyback but in time both grew on m 'cos I herd them pumped up loud in my friends car. The beats are brilliant and I say....screw the lyrics I can get my groove on. XD

I agree with immel, bein' drunk u listen to those songs and u think u'r listenin to CHOPIN!!

A lot of people I don't don't even listen to lyrics, they just hear the music. Think about the first thing you hear is the music, like "Ooh, that's a nice beat" or "I like the instruments", then you hear the lyrics. For example, when I hear I song, I hear the drum beats first before I ever hear anything else.

Also, sex sells. Just accept it.

These songs are popular because they'll stay in your head whether you like it or not. They're easy to dance to and that sort of thing is typical of top 40 songs. Just because the lyrics aren't necessarily deep or emotional doesn't mean they're bad. The songs you mentioned are over the top but that's okay because music is an escape.

Haha, that made me laugh :)

I can enjoy these songs for now (SexyBack, My Humps, London Bridge). They have a nice beat, but I won't buy them.

In a year's time, I will have forgotten that they ever existed.

I prefer collecting music that I will always go back to.

Some reasons already stated in this thread (including the songs' catchiness, sexy lyrics, etc.) are why the songs are so popular. In addition, they're popular because of the people who made them. Sexyback was popular because it was catchy, but it was popular also because it was sung by Justin Timberlake, the heartthrob from *NSYNC. London Bridge was popular because it was catchy as well, but it was cool also because Fergie, the main vocalist from Black Eyed Peas, sang it.

I think an artist's prominence and popularity has a lot to do with how popular their song(s) or album will be. :yes

Go go go!

Fergalicious!

That's gonna be up there for a while, lol.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DuWYb3c5PhU

(I love the dances in this video, it's so funkay.)

And I would have to agree with the majority. Some songs are popular because it's catchy whether you like it or not. They don't have to be deep and emotional to be popular. Lyrically, it could be crap, but the beats, and how the words string together is what makes it so liked. Fergalicious for example is pretty random, but it's awesome

Because you don't affect the popularity of songs. You don't like them, other people do. The music world is not based around your opinions.

i second that ... they don't really have something to think about ... just dance to the beat and get drunk (but don't drive afterwards *gg*)