THE HIP HOP GENERATION

I am not very fond of hip hop music. In most cases it is simple minded, vulgar, and nearly entirely musically inadequate. I realize that saying so could very well be a major faux pas with this generation; but I am also not of the mind to care if it is socially unacceptable to dislike or disagree with the musicality of what is hip hop music today. 

I say all of this because for me it is shocking and comes entirely as a surprise to find a song that I like coming from this genre of music. I have dabbled in every kind of music. My tastes have changed and adapted over time as is to be expected. For the most part I am very loyal to the classic rock era, and find very little pleasure in the majority of today's "music". I would consider myself a bon vivant so to speak. I enjoy music almost more than breathing. My collection ranges from 1920's club music to the music you may hear in a club today... House, drum and base, and who could forget dubstep. I have an ear and appreciation for music in general. In my wide collection there is very little rap or hip hop music to speak of.

As I said, to my surprise today I found a song I quite like. It is mostly lyrically appealing. The rhythm and orchestration is well put together and even pretty. When I looked up the lyrics to the song it only made me like the song all the more. Reading through the lyrics I feel the song speaks well to me. That perhaps is one reason that I so identify with and adore music. An artist putting into words thing's that I feel and singing it out with great passion; it's beautiful! I looked up more by this artist and found I like a few of his other songs. I also quite like how he arranges his music in an unconventional way. He uses strings and acoustics and piano, not just drum beats and incessant cursing. He often features artist from extremely far removed genres than his own. His voice is aesthetically pleasing as well. His lyrics hold meaning and weight. It is nice to hear someone in the hip hop industry creating music that isn't simply about sex and drugs and gangs and money. 

All of that to lead up to the fact that I just want to post the lyrics on here. When I find music I really love or identify with I love to take note of the lyrics. To archive them so to speak. I like to think that at some point I will come back to this and I will read the lyrics again and it will mean something. Maybe my life will be so different than it was when I identified with the lyrics. Maybe it won't be. Maybe I will simply reminisce. Maybe I will find I don't like them even remotely anymore. I suppose I just like to document these thing's. These thoughts and feelings. That really is it...

B.o.B
"Ghost in the Machine"

Tell me where am I supposed to go? 
And who am I supposed to believe. 
If only you knew what I knew. 
Then you could see just what I see. 

So I grab my bags and go, as far away as I can go. 
Cause everything ain't what I used to know. 
And I try to hide, 
But I just can't hide no more. 
There's nothing worse than feeling like a ghost. 

You say I look fine, 
If only you knew what's on my mind. 
You'd see a whole different side, 
I couldn't show you even if I tried. 
I must have got lost in time 
When I found out I was only free to be, 
Wherever I want to be. 

Some say I'm out of sight, 
How ironic and that we're all so blind. 
If you could open up your eyes, 
You could see what I couldn't describe. 
And then, you'd see the signs,
And then your soul would be set free, 
And then you'd be released. 

So I grab my bags and go, as far away as I can go. 
Cause everything ain't what I used to know. 
And I try to hide, 
But I just can't hide no more. 
There's nothing worse than feeling like a ghost. 

Tell me where am I supposed to go. 
And who am I supposed to believe. 
If only you knew what I knew. 
Then you could see. (Hey) 

So I grab my bags and go, as far away as I can go. 
Cause everything ain't what I used to know. 
And I try to hide, 
But I just can't hide no more. 
There's nothing worse than feeling like a ghost. 

And I'm terrified, like I've seen a U-F-O. 
Cause everything ain't what I used to know. 
(ain't what I used to know)
And I try to hide (try to hide)
But I just can't hide no more. 
There's nothing worse than feeling like a ghost. 

(I go) 
(A U-F-O) 
(And I'm so tired of hiding,
I've been running, I've been trying, to get away, to get away) 

So I grab my bags and go, as far away as I can go. 
Cause everything ain't what I used to know. 
And I try to hide, 
But I just can't hide no more. 
There's nothing worse than feeling like a ghost.

(Lyrics copied from SongMeanings.net)