Pop music is its own form of speculative fiction. It reimagines a dank, cold concert stadium as a heaven and a sticky nightclub as something close to a utopia; it renders heartbreak as a transformative force and love as the world’s greatest drug.
Like the most immersive speculative fiction, there isn’t really any room for nuance in the most effective pop: blunt, overwhelming force tends to be the best method of communication when trying to unite an audience.
Perhaps this is why so much pop is easily forgotten — at best, it’s more a simulacrum of personal connection than the real thing.
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