There are always those songs that you love at first, but then the radio stations ruin them by playing them over and over again. Eventually happy feelings toward those hot new singles vanish into a bottomless pit of hatred, and you're left wondering how you ever liked the songs in the first place.
I find this particularly problematic when I'm home during breaks because that's when I actually listen to the radio while driving around town. Last Christmas, I developed a passionate loathing for Hinder's "Lips of an Angel." I never really loved it, but thought it was pleasant and didn't feel the urge to turn the dial to look for anything better.
However, as time progressed, the radio stations began playing it nonstop. Every time I turned on the radio, "Lips of an Angel" would be playing.
At first I laughed about it, but in the end I embraced that oh-so-familiar feeling of hatred toward both the song and Hinder. A close examination of the lyrics reveals that this "love song" is about a cheating lover yearning for someone other than his current squeeze.
It's not exactly what I want to be singing along to on the radio.
I never thought I could hate a song as much as "Lips of an Angel" until this summer - the summer of "Girlfriend." Every time Avril Lavigne releases a single, the radio stations feel the need to overplay her songs more than any other artist's. Don't get me started on my dislike for "Sk8er Boi" or "I'm With You."
I'll admit that I loved "Girlfriend" at first. I was still abroad in Spain so I was able to listen to the song at my discretion. I thought it was fun and I could totally see it being in "Bring it On 5: It's Already Been Brought IV Times." Turns out, it's already been featured in a preview for the early Oscar front-runner "Bratz: The Movie" (which happens to be the only movie preview that's ever been booed at a movie I've attended).
Eventually the song wore on my nerves. I grew tired of Avril's "Hey, hey, you, you!"'s and her continual girl-bashing. I mean, does Avril hate every other female on the planet except for herself? Did the popular girls make fun of her in junior high?
So this summer I entered into yet another battle with my favorite Top 40 radio station. Every time I got in the car, I would hear the shouts of "Hey, hey, you, you!" until I switched to rap or soft rock.
Anything but Avril.
One day, my patience was wearing thin as yet again, "Girlfriend" was playing as soon as I turned on the car for my drive home from work. I quickly turned the station, but then made a tragic mistake. I thought to myself, "This reminds me of when they kept playing Hinder all Christmas break." I must have angered the radio gods with my resistance to their master plan of killing all enjoyment from the radio. Surely they heard my mental footnote because what would you suppose was playing on the Top 40 station a minute and half after I turned it from Avril?
That's right - "Lips of an Angel."
You've got to be kidding me.
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Cassie Belek at cbelek@nd.edu
