The themes that dominate our pop culture are often only truly apparent in retrospect. You need a couple of years for it all to sink in. But I’m detecting extreme levels of virgin (rather than teenage) angst and wonder what this means for the younger generation. The high point for this movement has to be Avril Lavigne’s Don’t Tell Me. It all starts off innocently enough ‘You held my hand and walked me home… you gave me the kiss… that made me go oh-oh’. But poor old Avril’s unleashed feelings her boyfriend can’t contain and before we know it she’s ‘Really upset (really upset)’ and threatening ‘Won’t get you in my pants… I’d have to kick your ass’. Oh dear! Avril shouldn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do, but hey – give the guy a break!

Meanwhile, metal’s made something of a comeback with bands like Linkin Park, vying for supremacy over the ridiculous Evanescence. Both offer lots of shouting, but Evanescence have the edge by virtue of a female lead. A typical lyric; ‘I’m going under…I won’t be broken again… I’ve got to breathe… I can’t keep going under’ over which a backing singer shouts ‘Can’t get up… Won’t get up’. Total nonsense. But I can see how it might appeal to a teenager made grumpy by hormones and a girlfriend like Avril Lavigne.

The virgins are coming……Keeping it real……‘Madonna don’t preach’, say (some) fans……Winding up the Observer…… Avril Lavigne songwriters paid by the word?

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