Romanticism in popular music.

There is something about soft rock that makes the genre very relatable and enjoyable to listen to by a very wide range of people. The genre includes many artists recognized around the world including Journey, Elton John, and Coldplay. What I noticed about soft rock is a theme that is more prevalent in soft rock as a genre than many other modern day “pop songs.” Love and infatuation are both reoccurring themes in many soft rock songs. Such a theme is essentially relatable to everyone, whether it is love of a sexual or marital partner or love of a close friend or family member, it is universally relatable. The politics behind writing such a song are blaringly obvious, to both sell records and to gain popularity, not to mention what Freud would say about the motives behind writing a song strictly about love to evoke emotions. While love songs are often considered romantic, they have been romanticized to the point where even the most casual of listeners knows that the songs are a load of crap. For instance, when one hears the song “Faithfully” by Journey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVs4jDL-JBo the listener is so moved by the song and the notion of maintaining a relationship with a lover through difficult experiences. When one looks past the first impression of the song however, and knows it was written by Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist, there is a strong sense of irony to the song. The reason for this irony is because Cain wrote the song about his relationship with his wife, who divorced him. The message behind emotion evoking songs such as “Faithfully” seems to be significantly more superficial than the songs’ messages. Whenever I personally hear a soft rock song about love, I immediately think back to when I was fourteen and almost every male I knew began to teach themselves guitar because “chicks dig guitar.” While the underlying message is seemingly contradictory to the lyrics of many love songs, the songs are very relatable and still evoke strong emotions in many listeners.