Why Don’t Pop Songs Die Anymore?

Plus: TIFF movies, new Margaret Atwood and what's making us happy by Stephen Thompson Welcome! It was the week when we all felt maximally bludgeoned by hot takes on [a new Joker trailer](. It was the week when [America’s football readiness]( reached its apex. And it was the week when Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon’s presences at the [Toronto International Film Festival]( meant putting in a scrappy third-stringer so that this week’s newsletter wouldn’t have to forfeit. Let’s get to it. Opening Argument For 19 weeks of 2019 — that’d be the majority of the weeks we’ve had so far this year — the U.S. knew only one song at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. That’d be Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which has echoed into eternity with the aid of several well-timed remixes involving, among others, Billy Ray Cyrus. Those 19 weeks were an all-time record, but there was another record set along the way: Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” became the first song ever to spend nine weeks at No. 2. Eilish finally [displaced “Old Town Road” at the top]( last week, but Eilish’s reign at No. 1, itself aided by several remixes, would be short-lived. This week, aided by a knockout [performance at the VMAs]( the new No. 1 song is “Truth Hurts” by the mighty Lizzo. It’s a much-welcomed coronation for a talented and delightful star whose rise has been, among other things, a source of pride and joy for many of us at NPR Music. (Not to brag, by which I mean "definitely to brag,” here’s Lizzo’s [magnificent Tiny Desk concert]( from this summer, and here’s Lizzo at [our SXSW showcase]( in March 2017, and here’s my July 2017 [plea]( for Lizzo to play a Super Bowl halftime show, and [here’s a little something I whipped up]( on Sept. 26, 2017 for the premiere of a video filmed to accompany what was then a week-old song called: “Truth Hurts.” [scene from 'Truth Hurts' video] Atlantic Records/YouTube That means that “Truth Hurts” has been rattling around, bubbling up and otherwise existing in the world for nearly two full years. (Granted, it only really took off a few months ago, and it didn’t even hit Billboard ’s Hot 100 until May. But it’s still had an awfully long run en route to the top.) Both “Truth Hurts” and “Old Town Road” broke through in part because of their frequent use on the social-media video-sharing app TikTok — a platform that’s ephemeral by definition. But each song has blazed on for months and months, with popularity that has seemed endlessly resilient. Which raises a question that’s been gnawing at me for a few years now: How are pop songs finding such staying power at a time when cultural longevity is otherwise so hard to come by? Why do movies and TV shows usually disappear quickly from the public consciousness — during a time when news cycles spin so rapidly, it’s hard to keep track of what happened earlier in a given week — while pop songs hover in our lives for months and months? Why did Ed Sheeran’s 2017 smash “Shape of You” dominate radio playlists for so long that it actually drowned out its own follow-up single, the superior “Castle on the Hill”? Why don’t pop songs, the very definition of the sort of pop culture people think of as ephemeral, ever seem to die anymore? Much of it, I suppose, has to do with the ways we consume our entertainment. First-run movie theaters have to fill a certain number of seats to get by, which tends to necessitate frequent turnover and a laser-like focus on the new. In the world of Peak TV, there’s always something fresh to binge-watch via streaming services. But commercial music radio thrives — and survives — on the familiar, whether you’re programming classic rock or '80s hits or new chart-toppers. Online platforms like Spotify and YouTube, though containing a virtually infinite array of songs to choose from, still end up steering listeners toward the biggest of the big. And for all the talk of barriers getting knocked down in the Internet-era music business, gatekeepers remain, leaving us with little more than a top-heavy handful of current major pop hits at any given moment. Spending an entire summer with the same handful of songs can make the pop world feel a little monotonous. Still, it’s nice to have a few cultural artifacts left that still feel universal, you know? We don’t all see the same movies, watch the same TV shows, root for the same sports teams (or, for that matter, watch sports at all). But if we spend any of our time rattling around in the world — at stores, in cars, in bars or on beaches — we at least tend to know how to hum along to a handful of the same songs. In 2019, there’s comfort in that. What We Did This Week [Lana Del Ray] Darren Gerrish/BFC/Getty Images The great and good Ann Powers wrapped her great and good brain around [Lana Del Rey’s terrific new album]( Norman F****** Rockwell! and wrote a long, thoughtful essay about it for NPR Music. Sadly, it drew a sour (and, to put it gently, not terribly self-aware) [response from Lana Del Rey herself]( so when you hear me praise NFR! on What’s Making Us Happy this week, bear in mind that we recorded this episode on Wednesday, shortly before NPR published Ann’s piece. Speaking of smart, thoughtful colleagues, we’ve got a [marvelous roundup of the movies]( Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Bob Mondello and Bilal Qureshi are excited to see at this week’s Toronto International Film Festival. If you want an early look at this year’s Oscars race, their coverage gives you an excellent place to start. (We’ll have a TIFF wrap on Pop Culture Happy Hour the week after next.) Margaret Atwood is releasing her muuuuuuch-anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale on Sept. 10, and you can read an excerpt — and [hear Atwood herself read the first few chapters]( — on the site, with NPR Books’ Petra Mayer as your guide. And be sure to listen for Atwood on Weekend Edition as she talks to Scott Simon this Saturday. [On Wednesday’s show]( we very briefly got the old gang — that’d be Linda, Glen and me — back together long enough to discuss the year 1999, at least as it pertained to movies. Linda talks The Talented Mr. Ripley; Glen talks Drop Dead Gorgeous; I talk Office Space. [And on Friday’s show]( with Linda and Glen gone again, I’m joined by my old pal Tasha Robinson and my newer pal Mallory Yu to break down It: Chapter Two. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - Mallory: [Dragon Con]( - Tasha: [Steven Universe: The Movie]( - Stephen: Lana Del Rey, [Norman F****** Rockwell!]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](