Music to listen to when justifying a bender

Is it just me, or is there a growing trend of female singers acting like complete trash and earning a lot of money for it? Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and now the darling Lady Sovereign have all graced our radios with their sordid lyrics and quite frankly, I am so over it.

Lady Sovereign drinks spirits and smokes people’s home-grown. She also might burp in your face and her nose jiggles when she spits. How do I know all this? Because the sweetheart puts it in her lyrics, and wow, hear her roar.

Now I am no sexist; I am a young woman. I live in a young woman’s world and its ok most of the time. However for some reason whenever I tell people I don’t shave under my arms, I don’t get the same reaction that Lady Sovereign does, which appears to be a shitload of coin.

So this is what ‘attitude’ has come to be. Forget politics, human rights and the environment. Lyrics about boyfriends who suck in bed and body hair will get you enough of the shock factor. Enough of the shock factor, that is, to make several stints in rehab acceptable. Even Amy Millan, the sometimes singer of Stars frequents the stage with the just-been-raped look. So who told these girls that trashy was cool? Furthermore, who the hell honestly indulges in this shit?

Oh wait, every teenage girl of the western world.

The unfortunate fact is that these jail-pending, under-fed, drugged-up young women are rich and famous and look like they have a lot of fun. No wonder they’re lives are studied through a microscope. They sell the image as well as the magazines, looking more and more attractive to the average young woman. And no wonder, word on the street is that drugs and booze are fun. Who hasn’t been to a dress up party where there is an Amy Winehouse look-a-like? Teenage girls don’t even need a reason to swear, but these ‘artists’ are writing everything they need to know to become complete embarrassments.

It does need to be mentioned, however, that as a self confessed young woman I am also sick of the ‘experts’ talking about how fragile we all are. Body image and sexual respect were issues bludgeoned into me through my schooling. I completely understand a girl’s desire to laugh at the seriousness of it all and show the man some attitude. We are, against all speculation, a lot tougher than people give us credit for. But this is not attitude. This is the raw desire in every woman to be a complete headcase. Imagine a snarling lion ripping everything in sight to shreds including man, child, and especially woman. Then hoping to be called pretty. That ultimate confusion is the closest resemblance I can think of to the inner cravings of a teenage girl. And this is the closest resemblance I can think of to these so called musicians. But this confusion in a grown woman isn't helping anything, and it certainly isn't the right, or real attitude.

Real attitude seems to be coming from the other side of the globe (I’d like to say hemisphere but alas, geography disrupts my fluency yet again) in the U.S. I speak of Peaches. What a legend. Who else gets naked on stage? Well Lady GaGa maintains she did it once but she can rot in hell for all I’m concerned; she is possibly the worst musician ever. But I digress. Peaches is the first woman artist in my life time to have that much grunt and I adore her for it. Fuck the Pain Away has to be one of my all time favourite songs.

The difference is that while Peaches looks like a complete psycho she pulls through with the goods in terms of her musical prowess. I don’t doubt that somewhere along the line Amy Winehouse had talent. I faintly remember her version of the Zuton’s Valerie being quite good. But that talent seems to have been suffocated by (pick your poison) and not even her messed up antics are interesting anymore. I heard she’s losing money now, finally.

I suppose the moral of the story is take enough drugs and booze to keep people snap happy while maintain enough musical integrity to salvage a half-decent musical career. Have enough attitude to acquire admiration, while not talk about the mindless crap that everyone thinks but doesn’t say- there are reasons for that. My vote goes to Peaches, who appears to have succeeded the fine balance. So remember girls, everything in moderation.