Showing posts with label Cool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cool. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

If Real Life Was High School...

Ah, high school. Gone, but not forgotten, I’m afraid. It can be said that high school is a kind of trial-run for the Real World, and that the same stereotypes assigned to teenagers carry on throughout the rest of life. Now, we all idolize our favourite band members, but if real life was high school, just where would they all fit in? No matter how awesome everyone from Brandon Flowers to Nathan Followill seem, I’m certain that they don’t all sit atop life’s ‘cool’ pile. So where would our favourite band boys fit in, if real life was high school?

Chris Martin: he’s a nice guy, good-natured, cares about stuff like making trade fair, and likes to sing. Nerd alert or what? There’s no way that the footballers would allow Chris at their table in the cafeteria. He’s the sweetheart that all the girls would adore as a friend, but at whom the jocks would look down their noses. Don’t underestimate him, though; one look into those blue eyes, and even the cheerleaders would be swooning.

Adam Levine: Whilst also not the footballer type, Adam would definitely be a popular kid. Not wanting to take part in any violent sport for fear of harming his good looks, Adam would spend his time clowning around in the back of the class, while miraculously still getting good grades and never being in trouble. His secret? Flashing that winning smile at Life’s teachers would never fail to get him out of any pickle.

Nathan Followill: Ah, here we go: the jock. Nathan’s effortless Coolness would ensure that he was constantly surrounded by a gang of admirers. Never shy to speak his mind, anyone who annoyed Nathan would be met with a typically scathing comment (let’s hope Glee creator Ryan Murphy wasn’t the principle, or fist fights may ensue). Causes of frequent stints in detention would most likely be bringing beer to school, or attempting to engage staff and students in golf tournaments during lessons.

Jared Followill: Let’s just say that this boy’s Tough Guy act isn’t fooling me. While he may slam lesser humans against lockers and demand their lunch money, he’s likely to shove it back into his victim’s pocket when they’re not looking. Never missing an opportunity for a photograph, Jared will pout and fluff his hair in front of the mirror for hours, but when he says he has a hot date with a cheerleader, you’d probably just find him at home on the couch with his mom.

Brandon Flowers: the sparkly outfits, the feathers, and the Vegas obsession would make Bran head of the Glee club. He’d be brilliant at anything he did, and wouldn’t be afraid to let everyone know it. Uninterested in the goings-on of the Cool crowd, Brandon would spend his break times writing songs, and gluing feathers to his school uniform.

(Credit for the idea for this story goes to Nerissa Naidoo)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Musical Taste And The Eternal Search For Popularity


[I mean absolutely no offence to Cool Kids or Popular Kids, two of my best friends are stereotypical Cool Kids, and 99% of the time, I wish I was one of them. Bro, I don’t care if you listen to Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber, I’m simply wondering why liking Coldplay makes me uncool.]

Be it consciously or unconsciously, we all crave popularity. No matter how old you are, don’t even try to pretend that you don’t wish you were the person that everyone else wanted to be. The cheerleader, the footballer- the Cool Kid. Like it or not, taste in music plays a part in popularity.

I’m not a cool kid, I never have been, and I’m under no illusions that I ever will be. I’m a concert kid, a music kid, basically, I’m a fangirl, and that’s not cool at all. Whilst normal people my age listen to the likes of Usher, Enrique and Lady Gaga, I’m perfectly happy to exist on a diet of indie rock, alternative rock, and normal rock- that is, of course, until I crack out my collection of oldies and country, but we won’t talk about that…

It probably all started when I was about nine. I don’t even know what Cool Kids my age listened to in the late 90’s, but I’m willing to bet that it was Britney, The Spice Girls and TLC, as opposed to my favourites, which included Savage Garden. I mean really now, what kind of nine-year-old is into rock bands?

But back to Cool Kids. Cool Kids simply adore dance music, but why? Why is it that liking Pitbull is cool, but liking Muse is odd? What is it that separates the two? My own humble opinion is that I’ve already answered my own question: it’s because Pitbull makes dance music. Cool Kids are always at clubs- dancing- and their lives could basically be summed up by any number of popular dance songs on the radio. They can associate with lyrics such as “hey baby, you look so good on the dance floor, baby, you’re amazing, on the dance floor baby, let’s dance baby, take your clothes off baby”, because that is what a Cool Guy says to a Cool Girl! Ha! I’ve figured it out! And the reason that un-cool people don’t like dance music is because we can’t relate to the lyrics…no guy has ever asked me to take my clothes off on the dance floor, baby!

There are exceptions, however, and I can think of one in particular. I met a girl, about four years ago, who is undoubtedly a Cool Kid. So much so, that on first impressions, I thought she’d never be friends with me. However, she has impeccable music taste: she loves Death Cab For Cutie and 1940’s jazz music, no one judges her for her it!

I am almost certain that I exist in a constant state of being judged. People ask what kind of music I listen to, and as soon as I tell them that my favourite bands are Coldplay and The Killers, I can almost feel them deciding that I’m not cool. Perhaps before answering, I should make a judgment call as to the popularity of the person asking, and if the person is a Cool Kid, I should answer “David Guetta, bro, he’s legit”. The day before I saw Coldplay live, I bounced into my lecture, squealing with excitement. My classmates’ reactions ranged from ‘I hate Coldplay’ to ‘Coldplay are terrible’ to ‘they make me feel like killing myself’. I’m not going to lie, my feelings were slightly hurt. If I had been a Cool Kid, excitemed about seeing Deadmau5, for example, they would have most likely jumped up and down squealing with me.

Whilst considering my favourite bands, I must acknowledge that even some Cool Kids were jealous that I went to see Kings of Leon live. Upon a quick Facebook creep, I find out that over 70 of my Facebook friends ‘like’ Kings of Leon…and some of these 70 are Cool Kids! However, I am soon able to deduce that Cool Kids don’t actually like Kings of Leon- Cool Kids like Sex On Fire. Sigh, there go my last hopes of ever being cool…