This is about the tragedy of the dated song, not ‘Tragedy’ the dated song. Short of actually stating the current year in the lyrics, the easiest way to make a song sound horribly dated after five minutes is to mention recent events. It’s been done with every World Cup anthem ever, Prince’s ‘1999’ and Pulp’s subsequent ‘Disco 2000’, and that’s just the start.
This awkward reminder of a song’s shelf life has come back, with the very sad announcement of the South Korean president’s resignation over how the government has handled the Sewol ferry incident.
I won’t dwell on the horrible events surrounding the sinking. What I will say is that K-Pop idols Girl’s Day might not want to perform a concert right now – their anthem for the empowerment of women, ‘Female President’, was released less than a year ago. The lyrics from the chorus aren’t open to too much interpretation: “We have a female president.” Sadly, they don’t any more.
It’s a real shame, because (criticism of some lingering sexist notions aside) this song was an attempt to tell young women that they could accomplish big things. The lyrics aren’t perfectly executed as there’s still some pandering to the male audience, but the idea is there and being planted in the heads of avid listeners. Now this song’s only going to remind people that there isn’t a female South Korean president, and of how that came to be.
In the comedy world, parody songs are bandied about a lot making light of current events. It’s tough to write one that doesn’t start sounding like the expiry date is nigh. For example, if Lidl goes under then ‘Shopping In Lidl’ by Mercedes Benson is going to take on more of a wistful atmosphere than she was going for. Fascinating Aida are amazing at capturing zeitgeist and keeping it funny – can you believe ‘Getting It’ was released over 10 years ago? Let’s hope they’re not still fending that poor guy off…
Pictured: Girl’s Day and Korean President Park Geun-hye
