music monday: pop perfection

Maybe it's a result of growing up in the era of boy bands, or attending all those junior high dances (before I switched to a private Christian school where dancing was not school sanctioned and generally frowned upon), but to this day there is something about great pop music that instantly gets my attention and makes me happy. Now, the definition of great is probably an ambiguous one, but simple, catchy, fun pop songs tend to get in your head whether you initially welcome them or not! It all started for me when TRL was in it's glory days, prompting teens around the nation to rush home from school in time to watch the music video countdown. The names and faces of pop stars were as familiar as those of friends and classmates. Behold: *NSYNC (with bonus Britney)...

Just a few days ago, I found myself continuously and mindlessly singing the latest Selena Gomez song (I will say, I only knew it was by her because the video was playing in Costco, ha!) and then realized I had passed it on to my sister-in-law, who was also humming it. And as ubiquitous as "Call Me Maybe" has become, I have definitely spent a few solo car rides to the grocery store and back belting it out like a crazy person. Pro tip: wear sunglasses to avoid awkward eye contact with other drivers and/or their passengers when you are getting your Carly Rae Jepsen on.

I know there are plenty of singer/songwriters who probably loathe the sticky sweetness and sometimes nonsensical lyrics of mainstream pop, but I am generally not one of them. In fact, I am not even ashamed to say that after months of fighting it, I succumbed to downloading "Party in the USA" and have never looked back. (That is about as much Miley as I can handle though, let's not get crazy.) I still crank up the volume and relive my junior high years with some classic boy band repertoire now and again, and there will always be a place in my heart for the time that Justin Timerlake and Britney Spears wore matching head-to-toe denim.

I will say, we do our best around Lorelei to listen to songs with family friendly, and/or spiritually enriching messages, so my exposure to current pop hits can be somewhat limited. The day I hear my toddler running around the house singing Katy Perry lyrics might send me to an early grave. What are your favorite pop hits of past and present? Any personal "happy songs" of yours I might be missing out on?