“But it’s catchy!” I hear this all the time when I expose the truth about the lyrics of a song that someone is singing or playing. I think the catch-all phrase “it’s catchy” is part of what has allowed a rise in less than savory messages to permeate pop culture and popular music. We’ve reduced the checklist for “good” to “catchy.”
Now that I’ve been doing the Rising Compass for almost 6 months, I have a good handle on the content of messages that are coming through popular music. Most cognizant people, if they had this perspective, would be thinking differently about what they’re consuming.
Now, if someone says it’s catchy I’m going to reply and say “Yeah, but what are you catching?”
If we dig into the meaning of that phrase, what do we find? It’s similar to “catching a cold.” It’s not necessarily that the person listening specifically reached out and caught it like a ball, it’s more like a cold: a communicable sickness in that it’s something that happened to the person because they were exposed to an influence.
So you’re catching the vibrations of a song because the pattern of repetitiveness and melodic structure is pleasing to the brain, but what metaphysical programming are you catching along with the physical input of the soundwaves?
If you’re listening to or singing a song about sexual conquest, then you are catching the vibe of sexual conquest and further deepening those neural pathways in your brain that support and glorify sexual conquest.
If you’re listening to or singing a song about personal accountability, taking responsibility for your actions and reflecting on your past choices, then you’re going to solidify and strengthen the neural pathways that support and allow for the self to perform those kinds of actions in real life.
If you’re listening to a song about caring for and loving a romantic partner unconditionally, then you’re catching the vibe of that mentality, and you’re likely to be more unconditionally caring and loving as you go on in life.
If you’re listening to a song about being nervous and anxious about being in a relationship, then you’re going to deepen the grooves of those neural pathways, perpetuating the anxiety and hesitation of committing yourself to a relationship.
Just because something is catchy doesn’t mean it’s necessarily healthy for the listener to be listening to it. Just because something is catchy doesn’t mean there isn’t a deeper meaning contained within the lyrics that could possibly be contaminating the listener’s psyche, whether the listener wants it or not. The catchiness takes precedence and the discernment of meaning and psychological effects is nearly absent.
The catchiness is the pass for whatever message the lyrics are actually emitting. Right now, music is at such an all-time low of scrutiny, analysis and reverence that if it scratches the metaphysical neural itch of “being catchy,” whatever that is for each listener, then the song slips through and is condoned regardless of the payload lurking within the lyrics.
This is exactly why I built the Rising Compass: to catch the contamination in the catchiness. The Rising Compass reads the lyrics of our most popular songs and analyzes the true message held within.
So the next time you say something is catchy, ask yourself, “what am I catching?”