fuck that last entry, i think i'll write something of substance.

i've seen a few "you say x, i say y" comments floating around - signatures, youtube comments; the original is even here on dA but i'm not going to mention it by name or artist simply out of fear of inciting conflict. the exact lines vary from copypasta to copypasta, but the general mindset of the thing is 'you laugh because i'm different; i laugh because you're all the same', or something of its ilk.

and here's the thing - it's simply astounding how the shallowminded teenagers parroting off this philosophy can so completely fail to realize the hypocritical irony of the whole thing. i'd like to analyse the original line-by-line, but that would take up too much space and make me seem so loquacious as to drive off readers, and after all, there's nothing more valuable than my opinion.

(for those of you slow on the uptake, that was a joke.)

one inevitable line in this so-called poem is "you say (band currently popular in the mainstream), i say (band currently popular in the "underground" emo scene)". let's say, for example, "you say rihanna, i say escape the fate". (that's something you kids like isn't it)

i'm not here to compare the musical merits of rihanna or escape the fate, but the "poem" seems to imply that rihanna churns out shallow pop ditties while escape the fate's musical compositions are deep, masterfully woven tales of true human emotional struggle.

or something.

what makes you (general 'you', just aimed towards the teenagers who tout this motto) say this? what makes rihanna so unforgivably terrible? etf and rihanna do pretty much the same thing, you know, only in different genres. they wear the same amount of makeup, too. being angry and screaming about how all women are whores does not a ~*~true artist~*~ make. is it because etf is "true to the spirit of music" or something like that while rihanna is a shallow sell out?

let's see. major record label, overpriced merchandise for sale at hot topic (which - believe me, i'll tackle that whole load of bullshit soon), looking like they spent more time on their hair than their lyrics...

...oh yeah, they're TRU PUNX all right.

(note that i have nothing against etf, but the above can go for any give "emo"/"scene"/"screamo" band.)

which brings me to my next point - i saw one variation on the poem that contained the line "you say abercrombie/i say hot topic". this is - the very - i don't even - okay, i'm just going to start from the beginning.

abercrombie & fitch sells overpriced clothing and merchandise aimed at your average teenage mallgoer.

hot topic sells overpriced clothing and merchandise aimed at the teenage mallgoer who likes to think they're rebelling by listening to screamo/emo/grindcore (a mishmash of genres hereafter referred to as "myspace punk") and spending money (most likely their parents') on mass-manufactured shirts with "witty" taglines declaring their individuality. (it should also be mentioned here that, as was pointed out in a nn2s strip, hot topic sells merchandise instructing the purchaser to 'support [their] local punk band' while at the same time having store policy forbidding sales of independent or unsigned music in their store.)

i don't think i need to say anything else on that subject.

AND ONE MORE THING! i believe the original poem contains the line "you say magazines/i say twilight", or something like that. my thoughts on this line in particular would make up an entirely new journal entry, so i'm not going to waste space here. if you're still curious, however, ask me how i feel about twilight! :D

i've already gone...much much further on this than i had ever intended to in the first place, and i haven't even touched on half the things i would have liked to. perhaps some other time.