Thursday, August 30, 2007

"RockStar"


Let's compare the following two songs, one from a Christian perspective, and one...not so much...but, are they really that different?

"Rock Star"
Third Day

Seeing my face up on the TV
Hearing my songs on the radio
People waiting all day in line to see me
Doing my pose for Rolling Stone
Well it's all right, yeah it's all right

I wanna be a rock star
But I ain't got what it takes
Well the drive and the determination
And the lucky breaks
I wanna be a rock star
But I ain't got the face
Yes and I wanna be a rock star
But I ain't got what it takes

Living lifestyles of the rich and famous
Turning all heads in the music scene
Flying in my own jet plane to Vegas
Riding in a big black limousine
It's all right yeah it's all right

No I ain't got nothing
But to You I'm something
Something so much more
Well it's all right yeah it's all right
Said it's all right yeah it's all right


"Rockstar"
Nickelback

I'm through with standing in line
To clubs we'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be

(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house
On an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
For ten plus me

(So what you need?)

I'll need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet

(Been there, done that)

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up a**holes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free

(I'll have the quesadilla, ha, ha)

I'm gonna dress my a**
With the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
Blow my money for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary and today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills from a pez dispenser

I'll get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync em every night so I don't get 'em wrong


Any thoughts?

Nate

2 comments:

higgie08 said...

I think the main differences between the songs is that Nickelback's lyrics have more detail on the ugly side of rock star life (references to drug dealers, women, etc). Both songs are great tongue-in-cheek stories about being seduced by the limelight. Funny how a "Christian" band and a "secular" band can write so differently about the same subject.

Anonymous said...

It seems like the main difference is that Third Day's version has more closure. It is found in the belief that the author is valued by God more than than a rock star is valued by popular culture. Whereas Nickleback seems to have an insatiable lust for material things.