The Virtues, Strike That, Virtue of Top 40 Music

I am largely not a fan of top 40 music.  Sure I had my phase as an adolescent when I bought a KDWB tank top at the state fair but for a long time now the top 40 has bugged me, a lot.  There are a few obvious reasons; like the degrading and overly mature lyrics that are daily piped into the school busses my kids ride, or the asinine melodies that are addictingly popular but increasingly similar, and the repetitive and commercial nature of the format itself. 

Just the other day a song came on and my oldest joyously proclaimed, “This song is always on!” to which he started singing and my wife knowingly smirked as I looked over to her, eyebrows raised, shaking my head.  Even country music isn’t immune to the top 40 tripery.  Tonight I heard an autotuned pop country song. Autotuned!

But this post isn’t about the breakdown of society through commercial music it is about the virtue (yes singular virtue) of the top 40. The top 40 makes my family happy.  There are few greater joys than to hear three boys belting out lyrics with passion and delight and for that reason I’ll forgo my news or talk for silly lyrics, autotuned voices and drum machine beats.