Perhaps better than any solo artist or group in pop music today, The Black Eyed Peas excel at taking innocuous—and, one might say, mindless—song ideas and spinning them into gold. Or, more accurately, platinum.
The band’s latest hit, “I Gotta Feeling,” has been enthroned as the No. 1 song in the land for the last 14 weeks. Thus far, 2.7 million people have downloaded it. (Incidentally, the 12 weeks before “Feeling” started, um, feelin’ it, another track from the Peas, “Boom Boom Pow,” reigned.)
Lyrically, “I Gotta Feeling” is nothing more than a synth-pop daydream about heading out to the clubs for a night of dancing. “I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night,” we hear over and over. Twenty-two times by my count.
What constitutes a good night, you ask?
Well, a couple of things, according to the Peas. Having fun is first and foremost (“Let’s live it up), which means partying with no constraints on behavior (“Let’s go way out, spaced out and losing all control”).
And then there’s a bit o’ girl-ogling (“Look at her dancing/Just take it off”) and burning through cash (“I got my money/Let’s spend it up”).
If things go really swimmingly—and the band has a feeling they might—it could mean a good night of partying turns into a never-ending soiree: “Get with us/ … Party every day.” Along the way, we hear the phrase “oh my god” three times.
On Will.i.am’s dipdive.com blog, the Peas frontman said of the track: “This song is dedicated to everyone who is getting ready to go out.”
See what I mean? Hardly profound, but certainly platinum.
For everyone who thought shallow hedonism went out with skinny ties, pink polos and mullets in the ’80s, well, The Black Eyed Peas beg to differ.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
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