The “Hits” 2009 VS 2019
By Grace Mastroianni
2009: Fantastic songs of our youth, though if you’re anything like me, you didn’t realize they were about sex and drugs until about two years after the fact. I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas and Bad Romance by Lady Gaga are songs that I can honestly say are my jam. The beat, the music, the rhythm. The types of songs that makes you just want to get up and dance, no matter the circumstances. Then we have the ‘party’ songs, like Party in The U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus, Right Round by Flo Rida, and I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) by Pitbull. These are the songs that the cool kids at the clubs danced to. They also make a great soundtrack for a high school dance! Finally, we have some feel good songs. Fireflies by Owl City is a beautiful song. It’s the kind of song that a son would listen to with his mother. Personally, this year produced songs that I still find myself looking up every once in a while, just for some nostalgia and something to write to.
2019: I’ll be the first to admit that I, an 18 year-old college kid, am very out of touch with the rest of my generation. My roommate often hosts impromptu lessons for me, ranging from music to current dance moves to new age slang. My tastes definitely have not changed much from 2009, although there are some songs that I find myself humming absentmindedly. Old Town Road by Lil Nas X was basically the song that defined my senior year of high school, as many referred to it as the ‘Year of the Cowboy.’ However, songs like Sucker by the Jonas Brothers, I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber, and break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored by Ariana Grande are songs that I really can’t see myself being interested in years from now, nor do I feel the need to listen to them of my own volition. I’ll also admit that I don’t fully understand Billie Eilish. I admire her as an artist, as I do most artists, but her songs really don’t strike anything in me, nor do I understand them.
I’m old-fashioned. Always have been, and probably always will be. Although 2019 has produced some fantastic things, I just don’t believe music to be among them. The songs are okay, but they definitely don’t have the same impact that the songs of 2009 had.
