Understand that you have the golden spoon, not the silver one.
It used to be once upon a time, that the phrase “Born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” used to imply that a kid was rich and had all the luxuries. These days, kids have golden spoons, and I don’t mean in terms of riches of glamour; I’m talking about technology.
You have tablets, internet, WiFi, 3G, iPhones, PlayStations, Microsoft, YouTube, editing software, Photoshop, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, Google, OpenOffice, and plenty of other creations that make it easier to create. Hard work goes into creation, yes, and while these tools make creation that much easier, the networking also makes things easier. Twitter, Buzzfeed, Reddit again; between these anyone can make anything so long as it’s catchy and make it pop like lightning along the internets. We can all be stars; we can all be recognized for something. We can all have our fifteen minutes of Andy Warhol fame.
Which is why I shudder and grind my teeth whenever I hear that song “Royals” by Lorde. We will never be royals, she croons, and that’s bollocks. Moreso now than ever, we all can be royals if we put our minds to it. One of the great things about Tyler the Creator and Odd Future is that they built themselves. They worked hard and did it. Anyone can do that nowadays if you’ve got the drive and creative energy to make it happen. So when a pasty little girl crooning about never being “royals” becomes something akin to a battlecry against a status quo, I’m like, “Wait a minute. You just became a royal. You are a royal. You just did it. By decrying the idea that the everyday teen won’t be a royal, you just became one.”
Miley Cyrus gets it: in, “We Can’t Stop” she blatently talks about partying and doing what she wants to do. Sure, it’s crass, but it’s the truth; it’s your party, you can do what you want. Lorde talks about Grey Goose, gold teeth, and trippin in the bathroom like it’s unattainable. Welp, all those albums sold off of that song will probably open that door, Lorde. Or are you saying that it’s time we stopped wanting to do that? To try for something else? Because we won’t be royals, we can’t attain those silly dreams of the mainstream media?
All the golden spoons are within reach: simple software, simple recording and writing tools, and the social network. If you’re creative and driven enough, you can make it. Saying that we “can never be royals” is millennialism at it’s absolute worst; it’s ignoring the tools that once upon a time existed for only the rich and driven. It’s like the printing press; now anyone can print books and distribute.
Don’t forget: Miley knows what she’s doing, as manufactured as it is, but Lorde is a product of the machine as well. Just because it’s a different theme or message doesn’t make it true.
