Have you listened to the radio lately?

I turned 21 for the 11th time this week.

If you’ll indulge me, I think this new age entitles me to one fun squashing, grown up rant.

Have you listened to the radio lately?

I didn’t know how out of touch I was with popular music until I Googled the phrases “turn down for what” and “turn up” after seeing them show up as hashtags over and over in my twitter feed.

Realizing I was hopelessly unaware, I emailed one of my 16 year old sisters, who is much cooler than me, for her top 15 favorite songs. Then I downloaded them on iTunes and Freegal Music and slowly got up to speed during my commute to and from work.

I repeated this process (bugging the sister, downloading, listening in the car) for several months until I finally felt like I had a grasp on the latest artists and songs.

So now I can sing along and I don’t (always) look like a deer in headlights when people throw out pop culture references. But I’m also really bummed out about it because some of the most popular songs have lyrics that I can’t even. (See what I did there with my new knowledge of teen lingo.)

Take “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift for example. I can’t get this song out of my head, and that’s probably because I had it playing on repeat when it came out. It’s so catchy and fun to sing. But check out these lyrics…

Got a long list of ex-lovers

they’ll tell you I’m insane

Real classy, Taylor. Make teen girls think it’s cool to have lots of ex-lovers. I’m sure that’s just what every man is looking for in a wife. 😐

And the music video for “Turn Down for What”? No. Just no. Do not watch it on YouTube. It’s offensive.

I could go on and on, but I’ll end my rant here with a plea. Tell me your favorite new songs, with lyrics and messages that aren’t the worst!