Ke$ha’s pop song has somehow become a lightning rod for artistic excess in the wake of the Newtown school shootings although it has nothing to do with schools, young children or murders. It doesn’t even really deal with dying, according to the lyrics.
Even the artist seemed to be overreacting today when she apologized for the song.
“I’m so so so sorry for anyone who has been effected by this tragedy.and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. words cannot express,” she wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.
KeSha’s ‘Die Young’ Lyrics
I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone
So while you’re here in my arms
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die youngWe’re gonna die young
We’re gonna die youngLet’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young
[Beat break]
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young
Young hearts, out our minds
Runnin like we outta time
Wild childs, lookin’ good
Livin hard just like we should
Don’t care whose watching when we tearing it up (You Know)
That magic that we got nobody can touch (For sure)Looking for some trouble tonight
Take my hand, I’ll show you the wild, side
Like it’s the last night of our lives
We’ll keep dancing till we dieI hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone
So while you’re here in my arms,
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die youngWe’re gonna die young
We’re gonna die youngLet’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young
[Beat break]
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young
Young hunks, taking shots
Stripping down to dirty socks
Music up, gettin’ hot
Kiss me, give me all you’ve got
It’s pretty obvious that you’ve got a crush (you know)
That magic in your pants, it’s making me blush (for sure)Looking for some trouble tonight
Take my hand i’ll show you the wild side
Like it’s the last night of our lives
We’ll keep dancing till we dieI hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone
So while you’re here in my arms,
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die youngI hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone
So while you’re here in my arms
Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die youngWe’re gonna die young
We’re gonna die youngLet’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young
“I had my very own issue with ‘Die Young.’ … I did not want to sing those lyrics and was forced to,” she later added.
Ironically, Kesha assumed co-writing credit on the electropop song with Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut and Nate Ruess, who sings with the band fun. Blanco told MTV the song was “old hippie rock.” They wrote it last year for her new album Warrior.
It’s one thing to pick a fight with her handlers over a song she may not like, but it’s another to wrap it in the Newtown tragedy. It seems far fetched to say the least.
The whole brouhaha got started after radio stations began to scale back airplay of the song in the wake of the shootings. “We gave it a rest,” a CBS Radio spokeswoman told The New York Daily News.
While the song has fallen out of favor at some stations, it’s still being played. “Die Young” was played just under 10,000 spins before the shooting and fell to about 6,700 plays after the shooting.
Oddly the song is a club anthem like most of the popstars other songs. It’s about going out for a fun night and partying “like” you’re going to die young. It has nothing to do with dying. It just plays off an common expression.
The official video for the song has been viewed more than 22 million times on YouTube since it was posted two months ago.
In contrast, Foster the People’s song, “Pumped Up Kicks,” makes direct references about shooting people at a school, most likely inspired by the Virginia Tech shooting. It’s also being pulled by stations, according to Nielsen, which tracks radio airplay.
And it’s not like murders haven’t been inspired by pop music. Charles Manson, who led a band of followers on a Hollywood murder spree in the 1960s often cited The Beatles White Album as an inspiration.
The shooting is unconscionably tragic, but such over-reaction to a pop song is idiotic. Check out the lyrics and watch Ke$ha perform the song below.
