critical thinking

i read cd sleeves like novels. song lyrics. yum. 
i found this quote today on the internet:


"The best lyrics are the ones that give you goosebumps, or make you cry in public, or help you realize the answers."
-katy perry


i reflected on katy's words. 
yes, katy perry has written many goose-pimply, tear-jerking, insightful songs, which include lyrics like these:


I saw a spider, I didn't scream
'Cause I can belch the alphabet, just double-dog-dare me
And I chose guitar over ballet...


and if these don't make you cry in public, i don't know what will:


If she's the one
I've heard about
I'm disappointed
If she's the reason
Why you left
I'm not impressed at all
Well
This looks like the end
Yeah
We can still be friends
Congratulations


in katy's defense, i don't think pop artists write their own music anymore. 
i think it's like mad libs, where someone the record company hired sits down with a young pop star and he goes, "ok, tiffany, let's write a song. you fill in the blanks: we can still be ______... and she goes, "uhm...friends!" and he goes, "ok, tiffany, what rhymes with friends?" and she goes, "congratulations?" and he goes, "well, not really, but if you pronounce it funny, it might work. and let's throw a 'yeah' in there somewhere so that the timing doesn't get wonky."
and so on and so forth. 
and then they scroll through the list of beats and loops available on garageband, pick one, and auto-tune said celebrity's voice to match.
the state of radio-play these days is lugubrious.