Blog 1 Nickelback

Adolescence is a time where kids feel as if they are at the top of the world, or they are nothing. Teenage boys and girls turn to videogames, television shows, movies, and music to find something to relate their emotions. Teenagers feel the emotions of rage, need, happiness, depression, desire, and eventually, lust. When I was in seventh grade, which is the age where most kids become a teenager, I turned to music for relevance in emotions. I heard songs on the radio that sounded like something I wanted to say myself, but someone, a guy and his band, beat me to it. Soon I found out that a lot of kids in my classes were listening to the same band and words. We would discuss in class and we would sing the one song played most on the radio, “Rockstar”. During my early adolescence and continuing through adulthood, I felt the same emotions and I continued listening to this band. The band, was Nickelback. Today I am twenty years old and I am hearing from all over that they are considered the worst band of all time. Nickleback does have some disgusting titles and those songs drive fans away. I find the music to be more human and honest and that bands should not be considered all or nothing. Nickleback does have some very important messages in other songs and that is what they should be acknowledged for. Nickleback in my opinion does not deserve to be considered the worst band ever because they are different in musical sound and content.

            Nickelback has songs that are about sex and songs that are about the world improving and becoming better. Songs such as, “Something in your mouth” and “Fight for all the wrong reasons” are about intercourse and are detailed in a harmless way for listeners to understand that he, Chad Kroeger is speaking to a woman and pleading for her understanding. The issues this text brings up is offensive language and content against women or relationships. Another example of a song is, “follow you home” it is spoken by a man to a woman and is looked at as assault or trauma. However, songs like “if today was your last day” or “gotta be somebody” are spoken by the heart and those are words that humans would want to truly say and how they would feel. These songs are hated by fans, however situations like this are frustrating and traumatizing and some fans like that there is something to listen to and to relate to. Songs such as “If Everyone Cared” and “If today was your last day” are about living life to the fullest and to learn to accept others no matter how different they are or how lonely they may be. These songs are important for people of all ages to hear. Lyrics to the song, “If everyone cared” refrain as, “if everyone cared, and nobody cried, if everyone loved, and nobody lied.” These lyrics are about understanding and just letting people be who they want to be. Adolescence have a very hard time letting people be who they want to be and even punish themselves for being who they are. These songs provide important messages that all should hear.

            Since Nickelback has made a transition from being an influential band to the worst band ever, Ian Crouch from the New Yorker has stated in his article titled, “our hate has saved Nickelback” that Nickelback has sold more than fifty million albums, has made it to Billboard, and songs such as “Photograph” were labeled as the songs of the decade. Nickelback is the type of band that has a personality to assist the music portion of the band. Bands such as AC/DC with humor and Metallica with an edge would not be the same if they did not have a personality trait to go with the band. I do not believe any band should be labeled as the worst band or the best band due to content or even music. Every band produces music to move the world and to support a view and to be there for somebody. Nickelback was there for me when I needed something to relate to. When I was thirteen, I wanted the world to come together, it sounded like Nickelback wanted the same in the song “If everyone cared”.

            There are many other concerns that fans have with the band. I saw a blog called “Ten reasons why Nickelback is the worst band of all time” . The writer does mention that Nickelback has been granted awards for their music and has been at the top of the charts countless times for their music. The issue fans have with the band is the content and the lack of imaginative melody and instrumentation with their songs. The lyrics tend to be vulgar and sound abusive in songs such as “Sex”. It is said by fans that half Nickelback’s music is about sex, but the song “Sex” has bothersome lyrics that read, “Sex is always the answer, never the question.” (According to my blog). Fans need to remember that there is a good half to the music. Lyrics to the song “If today was your last day” speak, “try to take the path less traveled by, that first step you take is the longest stride.” Nickelback is a little different from other bands, and the lessons they teach are it is ok to be different and important to feel and be only human.

            Thomas Bukhaltar from Between Arts Sake and Musical Protest mentions in his article that many music genres involve ideologies that are not appropriate for most settings. Nickelback is a band where the ideologies and stereotypes reinforced are aggression in males and sexual psychology in females. Some quotes in songs that describe the women he talks about are the stereotype for women and are anti-feminist. Other songs are about being a better world and they talk about a world coming together and understanding differences yet not being afraid of differences. However, an example of a setting being a presidential convention would take some of the content by this band and look at it as a threat to the people involved in the setting. At the presidential convention, no attendee has control of the music played nor can they easily walk out of the building. It is hard when people have no choice but to listen especially to music that is seen as outrageous to some fans.

Thomas Bukhaltar mentions in his article that many places around the world feel hurt and cannot bear certain topics discussed in songs. No band should ever be considered the worst due to their content and mistakes. Nickelback is liked by many and is a very human like band. The bigger picture is to not see a band as all or nothing. Nickelback, being considered the worst band is a perfect example of why bands should not be looked at as all or nothing. Some of their songs are important for adolescents especially of middle school age because they are about why there are different people and why we need to be accepting in this world.

Works Cited

Bukhaltar, Thomas. "Between Art for Art's Sake and Musical Protest:How Musicians from Beruit React to War and Violence." Popular Music and Society: n. pag. Routledge. Web. 3 Mar. 2016. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=ec91cfe6-9ee8-4f02-a66f-ce71c805c475%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4210>.

Crouch, Ian. "Our Hate Has Saved Nickelback." The New Yorker 20 Nov. 2014: n. pag. Print.

"10 Reasons Why Nickelback is the Worst Band of all Time." According to my Blog. N.p., 24 Nov. 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2016. <http://accordingtomyblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/10-reasons-why-nickelback-is-worst-band.html>.