The Real Life Facebook Musical

Facebook is a brilliant platform for musicians. It allows them a means to get their music, tour dates and news out. After all, music and Facebook should go hand in hand. Music is sociable, it helps create an atmosphere and a vibe. For example, it’s at the heart of a night out on the town and everyone visits a jukebox in a pub. Music helps you find things in common with your friends, it’s a talking a point. Facebook is the ultimate social networking tool, they are like salt and pepper. You can convey feelings through it and share songs with friends if you feel they are relevant or enjoyable. Now, think about the musicians as individuals. Musicians are the poetic souls in this nasty world. They take their thoughts and feelings of an event or situation and apply them to music in a way which helps the listener relate to them. Facebook, for more and more people, is a topic of news, is a network for gossip and friends and it does impact lives. Meaning Facebook is more prominent in music than ever before simply because people can relate to it.

Yesterday I was browsing news for a personal favourite singer of mine, a UK artist which goes by the name of Passenger. He had a new song out and it was called, quite simply, “Facebook”. And the opening verse went like this,

Looking at pictures on Facebook
Of your ex-girlfriend
At three in the morning
Never helped anyone
Never helped anyone
Never helped”.

Why is this relevant?

Because for many people who use Facebook, particularly the younger ones in their teens, it’s a very true story. Facebook allows you to keep in touch with friends and family bit it also allows you to hang on to the past.  I’m not saying everyone with an ex has sat up and cried over the profile and photos of their old loves but it does happen. In fact, it must happen enough that singers now know their audience can relate to it and relate to the insecurities Facebook could offer to hurting people. Times change, Facebook has entwined itself in the day to day lives of people. The more common a theme it is, the more you will hear it referenced in conversation, adverts, and yes, even songs. Of course, not all artists will sing about social media and Facebook. The likes of Barry Manilow or Tom Jones for example, are not likely to veer away from their classic musical taste and what they are loved for by the older generations. The younger artists however, are in touch with the more popular themes and gimmicks of the times. The more the times change, the more a heart break can be made worse by increasingly overzealous technology and popular, successful singers know they could use these as topics their audience can relate to.

Singer Kate Miller Heidke, an Australian pop/folk singer (pictured above), also sings of the pains caused by Facebook after a break up. More to the point, she sings about how annoying it is to see someone spam your news feed with idiotic rubbish when really you just want to forget they exist:

At times it really felt as though I’d never smile again
You narcissistic ********
Oh you nasty, nasty man

And now
You wanna be my friend on Facebook
Are you ******* kidding me?

I don’t wanna know what kind of cocktail you are
Or which member of the Beatles
Or which 1960s movie star

I don’t give a toss if you’re a ninja or a pirate
I’d suspect you’d be a pirate
But I don’t wanna verify it

And I don’t give a **** what your stripper name is
Or if your kitty had a litter
Look – just follow me on Twitter
I don’t care about your family tree
And I certainly don’t want you poking me (again)”

Her song ends with her ignoring the Friend Request of her ex boyfriend.

Facebook, You Can’t Escape It

Whether you love it or hate it, Facebook is here to stay in the long run. Facebook allows you to be social, but it also allows you to block and hide people you no longer wish to be sociable with. Next time you’re feeling sad and are tempted to indulge on a stalking, spree, don’t. Take Passengers advice, it never helps anyone, link to song attached below.

Facebook by Passenger

~Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunrise7