Friday Video: Current Songs That Would Fit In The 80s

I've mentioned several times that my kids only seem to want to listen to current pop music. Sirius XM's Hits One station ends up being played much of the time when we're in the car. There are two current songs by major artists that could easily fit into FM radio in the 1980s. The first is Music for a Sushi Restaurant by Harry Styles.

If you go to just after the 1:00 minute mark, the horns could easily be in a Phil Collins song. I'm thinking Sussudio.

The second is 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) by Lizzo.

The chorus sounds like a song that The Pointer Sisters could sing. Maybe on the next track after I'm So Excited.

There might be more, but the drive from the school to my home is rather quick, so I'm turning off the car and turning the music off. Get out of the car!

Best Musicians of the 2010s

This blog is so old that I'm taking an idea from more than 10 years ago. Let's say that there is a 2020 version of "We Are The World" designed to raise funds to help people impacted by COVID-19.* The only catch is that this edition features artists that either started or had a major breakout between 2010-2019. That means no Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Janelle Monae, Rihanna, Pink, Justin Bieber (just missed the cut-off), any "American Idol" judges or "The Voice" coaches, and many others. This is basically your all-decade team.

Here's my line-up in no particular order:

Billie Eilish
One Direction
Ed Sheeran
Childish Gambino / Donald Glover
Ariana Grande

Khalid
Kacey Musgraves
Fifth Harmony
Shawn Mendes
Bruno Mars

(Although "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars was released in December 2019, the song didn't reach #1 until May 2010.)

Chance The Rapper
Dua Lipa
H.E.R.  
Drake
Nicki Minaj 

(Although Drake and Nicki Minaj both had mixtapes and were part of Young Money before 2010, each had their first major solo studio albums released in 2010, so they make the list.)

Chris Stapleton
Wiz Khalifa
Lorde
Sam Smith
Lizzo
Fun

(Although both Lizzo and Fun really only have one big album, they each have among the biggest songs of the decade.)

Post Malone (He makes it for his face tattoos alone.) 
Kendrick Lamar
Cardi B
The Weeknd
Maren Morris

I'm sure that I'm missing artists and groups since I'm not as "hip" and as knowledgeable about the music scene as I used to be. (Basically, I'm old.) Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below and let me know how I did and who I'm missing. Are there any Hall of Famers from this group?


* This post is about musicians and not a commentary on the fact that so many people really do need financial assistance for essentials like food and healthcare. We should be much better about this as a country.

Ariana Grande photo by Steve Granitz/Getty Images. Nicki Minaj and Drake photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images. Maren Morris photo from Sesame Street. I may have watched the video of her and the Sesame Street characters singing "Oops! Whoops! Wait, Ah ha!" a few times. And by few, I mean a lot, but that's for a different blog post.

Sean Analyzes Song Lyrics - Summer 2019

The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards took place on Monday night. This isn't a post about how I'm too old for MTV or me complaining about how MTV doesn't play videos anymore. Instead, this is the return of Sean analyzing song lyrics featuring some of the songs from Monday night. Please note that I'm including videos of the songs below. Some of them may not be suitable for work.

Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - "Señorita"

Land in Miami

Before I talk about the first line of the first verse, let's look at some other Shawn Mendes songs.

Shawn Mendes - "If I Can't Have You"

I'm in Toronto and I got this view

Shawn Mendes - "Lost in Japan"

Do you got plans tonight?
I'm a couple hundred miles from Japan, and I
I was thinking I could fly to your hotel tonight

Okay we get it. Shawn Mendes is a successful 21 year-old pop star who gets to travel the world. I'm happy for you Shawn. Really I am. Now, correct the spelling of your first name.



Lizzo - "Truth Hurts"

New man on the Minnesota Vikings

I actually thought that this line was "No man" which would have been quite a shot at Kirk Cousins, Stefon Diggs, and their teammates. Oprah Magazine has a thorough break-down of this entire song, and while there was some debate about whether or not Lizzo is/was dating someone on the Vikings, it appears that she is/was not. Therefore, let's take a look at some other options about the meaning.

Terence Newman played in the NFL for 15 years most notably for the Dallas Cowboys. Now, he's the nickel/defensive backs coach for the...Minnesota Vikings! So yes, (Terence) Newman on the Minnesota Vikings.

Another possibility is that Lizzo is a Vikings fan and does some PR for the team. After every draft pick or free agent signing, she announces "New man on the Minnesota Vikings."

Lizzo may also be involved in player personnel. Perhaps she's trying to recruit Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman to the Vikings, or, no. She couldn't do this. No way. It's not possible!

Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus - "Old Town Road"

Can't nobody tell me nothin'

A triple negative in a 5-word sentence. This is really impressive!



Taylor Swift featured Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco - "Me"

And you can't spell "awesome" without "me"

I actually originally thought that this was "can't spell us without me" which makes no sense at all. So let's take another line from this song.

Hey kids, spelling is fun.

This reminds me of a post I did, um, several years ago where I looked into the Britney Spears song, "3." In that song, counting was fun. Now, spelling is fun. What a world!



Taylor Swift - "Delicate"

Oh damn, never seen that color blue.

This song is a few years old, but this line really jumps out. Apparently, Swift has never been to the paint section of Home Depot or to Sherwin Williams.



Please click here to see other posts where I look at song lyrics. Some of them go back, um, several years.