how to be authentic

Eating fast food is like tasting the spirit of authenticity.

This is the analogy that comes to mind when I try to understand why I have such admiration for and disgust with mainstream pop, hip-hop, and rap. EDM (my second love) would land there too, but it is what those others pretend not to be. That honesty gives it a pass.

If you look at the number of producers on mega-hit songs you’d think of it like a football team. Several hands’ worth of writers, audio engineers, producers in the double digits, a collaboration voice or three, and on. I imagine the team behind the McDouble would have a similar girthy production staff.

But that’s just it, isn’t it? Production. Product. A product with the goal of appealing to the largest audience possible will rarely ever be authentic. Authenticity knowingly risks offense for the sake of honesty. It is hard to do this and appeal to everyone.

My nephew would say that pop music is looksmaxing. Trying to create the perfect, most widely appealing form of “something”, or more poetically, emotion. Authenticity requires filtering, some effort has to be made to be understood, otherwise, it is incoherent noise. That subjective line of when there is too much noise or too little is where the authentic lives, be it food, music, or written prose. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look hot or be deliciously unhealthy.

I think food is a real physical way to experience this, mom’s cooking included. It’s all a spectrum of quality from fine dining to Uncle Tony’s Big Footlongs, which has a 4.9 on Yelp!. Go too far the other way, toward the pure and natural, and you end up chewing on kale and tasteless grains. It can be inedible. It needs to cook more and maybe with a bit of love too.

We are all chefs in a way. Maybe chef is generous, but we all hum a tune when doing dishes or sing in the shower when no one is listening. Some of us cook better than others and for some, that starts and ends with a popcorn button. If there is nothing wrong with liking Sabrina Carpenter, then there is nothing wrong with ordering Taco Bell right now. If you think Taco Bell is unhealthy, then what does that make Ms. Carpenter? A beefy 5 layer? It is the most popular item at the Bell today. Ok, maybe not the most popular but it is my favorite.

I don’t think big, bold claims and convincing hand-waving are enough to demonstrate the balancing act. It would be interesting to use lyrics as an illustration of how it works. Keep in mind that lyrics are only one component to a song but important all the same.

First, fast food.

Save me, break me
Love me, hold me
Con-trol-and-con-sole me
Just, don't, leave, me
Baby, baby
Be my only

It is economical, catchy, and has only a hint of something interesting. Can you see what it is? Say it out loud and you will taste it.

It is the ‘control and console’ line. There is nothing special, other than it breaking up the rhythm with good mouthfeel through syncopation. The rest are pop lyrics in a common four beat pulse. You can almost hear the beat as you read it. That triplet is the only part that changes it up. I find it similar to EDM’s ubiquitous 4-on-the-floor stereotype.

But why use the easy, basic, and universal stereotypes? It is predictable and safe and well, universal. That’s because even someone like me can bob along with it. Almost offensive in how inoffensive it is. Little authentic comes through but it is also instantly understood. While trite, the words do communicate trace emotionality.

Let’s look at something less “cooked” and perhaps, more authentic.

I just can't believe
that you keep on treating me
like I'm some kind of folding chair.
Taking me out
when your friends are all about,
acting like I'm not even there.
My only friend's a spider
who stares at me and wonders
why I'm still even here.

Ok, this is different. I kind of like it. Let’s see where it goes.

Oh why, oh why
can't I be your one and only?
Oh why, oh why
must you always want another?
Oh why, oh why
do you fold me like I'm nothing
but a folding chair?

Ok, that looks familiar but I’m still having fun.

Did you know it hurts to be bent?
Did you know it hurts when you fold me?
Did you know you never cleaned that stain?
It still smells like an amphetamine.

This all looks far more complicated. It does not follow the same meter. It is inconsistent. This leans more on the performer to syncopate into alignment, which makes it harder for an audience, like myself, to sing along with. The imagery also requires more work to understand. A folding chair as an allegory for feeling used in a relationship isn’t common.

Still, it is not too complex and there isn’t much new going on. It even reuses the earlier poppy “only” phrasing with a similar basic chorus. The chocolate chip cookie is undercooked but it’s still a chocolate chip cookie. There are people who prefer their cookies this way.

What about something that borders on the inedible?

A glass is never far away
When temptation makes a pass
I smile a knowing smile
This is my redemption

Ahh, a song about alcoholism. This imagery is familiar, which isn’t always a bad thing.

And it's
Fine by me, fine by me
You won't, find me by
A liquor store or two
Out late at night
Drinking alone, you knew
It would always end this way

I think we both know where this is going. I do like the feel of ‘fine by me, find me by’. It is catchy and singable. A liquor store or two is different but otherwise the same familiar imagery.

An empty glass is never far away
Temptation makes a second pass
I smile a knowing smile
There is no end to redemption

Are you bored yet? I’m not and I am also not feeling much.

And it's
Fine by me, fine by me
You won't, find me by
A liquor store or two
At the break of day
Drinking alone, you knew
I always wanted it this way

I think I like some of this. The ‘fine by me, find me by’ is fun. It doesn’t carry much emotion alone though. It is flexible. I can imagine it in another song.

Its a heavy kind of soft
Safe in a quiet home
Gentle lips touch a cheek
And I always felt alone

This is different. The first line is a thinker and I like the tiny narrative. I think I am feeling something but I am not hearing it.

And that's
Fine by me, fine by me
You'll always, find me by
a liquor store or two
Long into life
Drinking alone, i knew
It would always be this way

There is flavor here, in a way there is flavor to sour cream. Alone, even the good stuff, it isn’t great. Lift out a few lines or phrases and add that dollop elsewhere and it works.

This is where the process is and where it is most painful. There is a structure, intent, a narrative being built but the bad must be cut away to preserve what tastes good. Sometimes, the whole thing comes out inedible and must be discarded.

This is common. In all genres there are phrases and word combinations that are almost like a specific kind of spongecake made with a blend of confectioners and all-purpose flour. You can’t buy it from a store. You have to make it yourself. You may not even use all the bits in the process.

Here is the sour cream of the first example.

You gotta save me
Cause you break me
When you leave me here alone
I promise i won't cry
As long as you're nearby
Just give me a chance to atone
Ahhh
Atone
Ahhh
Give me a chance to atone

And of course, it will repeat the same thing with a tiny change.

You gotta save me
Cause you break me
When you leave me all on my own
I promise I won't cry
Just keep me by your side
Give me a chance to atone
Ahhh
Atone
Ahhh
Give me a chance to atone

Do you see the cream though?

Save me, Break me

It is so silly but it is catchy, inoffensive, easy to say, and it has just enough contradiction to be interesting but so economical that everyone can get it. It lands perfectly on the grid too. In another way, it is information dense.

This is where I cannot help but stand in admiration of the heavyweight producers, the names on the back of the label. The same attention to detail exists at every level of the production. Imagine writing an entire song only to keep a few words in the final version.

It is easy to look down on fast food but none of us can come close to making the universal expectation of what a burger is: one that triggers the memories of all the burgers we tasted in our lives. Or maybe what it is like to break up, fall down, and stand back up.

There is a speck of real genuine authenticity in it. Not all pop has this, a chunk of it for sure. It takes a diverse group of people with a diverse set of skills to not cook it away. I find that most chart toppers, regardless of decade, are great. It is hard to not like them.

You have to respect the skill and craft of it all.

I am not sure if I will ever stop eating fast food or writing lyrics, despite how unhealthy or terrible they respectively are. Sometimes I want to feel something without effort. Sometimes I want to feel for myself.