How rockin' was ABC's Rockin' New Year's party?

If you're like me, you don't spend much time watching the television on New Year's Eve. I just wait until just before midnight so I can officially know when midnight hits. I don't care about the rest of the nonsense that happens on the show. It's a matter of habit from growing up to pick ABC because my Mom always wanted to watch Dick Clark. (I think she may have had a thing for him.)

I'm not here to talk bad about Dick Clark. He had a stroke and that slowed the poor guy down. He hasn't recovered from it, and as a result he has a hard time being up until midnight, and looks a little weird when he gets to that point, but if you'd had a stroke, you wouldn't be doing nearly as well.

I do want to say that if Dick Clark is going to be a part of the show there needs to be something for the younger viewers to understand why he's involved with the show. All there needs to be is a short retrospective explaining that Dick Clark was the man who was unofficially in charge of what was good in rock music.

Anyway, back to what I really want to say: I'm no longer the audience for Dick Clark's Rockin' New Eve. (yeah, it's supposed to have the Ryan Seacrest tag on there, but I don't really know who Ryan Seacrest is, so I'm not adding it.) I'm not interested in seeing that Korean band that sings about G6s that don't actually exist, or unpopular songs from bands that I don't like. I don't want to see the aging lead singer for Train even if he isn't singing to his soul sister, and that "Cooler than Me" guy isn't any better when he isn't talking about how uncool he is.

I guess I'm glad the TV will tell me when the new year is officially here, but I think I need to find a show where they just have the count down and then go to bed.

Is this seriously the top iTunes single of 2010?

I don't know about you, but I've found several songs this year that I really enjoy until I pay attention to the lyrics. I still can't decide which is worse, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train, or "Cooler than Me" by Mike Posner. I love the music of the songs, and I usually find myself singing along until I realize what I'm actually saying. Think about the message behind "Cooler than Me." The song basically boils down to "You won't have anything to do with me because you think you're cooler than me." Here's the problem with this statement: the fact that you have to make such a big deal about her thinking that she's cooler than you means that she is cooler than you.

This brings me to my real topic: Train has the number 1 downloaded song on iTunes for 2010. Just typing that sentence makes me want to cringe. So what's so bad about "Hey, Soul Sister" that has me writing about it now?

Every time the song starts, I think that it's a different song that I actually enjoy. I think it's the strumming of the mandolin. I don't know what song I think it is, but after the singer starts in, I know I've been tricked again. The worst part is that the song is popping up everywhere. It's in commercials. It's on the radio all the time. It was even covered by some kid on the beach on an episode of "Hawaii Five-0." You just can't escape it.

But what about specific examples of what's wrong with this song?

Let's start with the use of soul sister. I'm sorry, but a goofy white man has no right singing the phrase soul sister, or pairing the term with a question about Mister, Mister just because it rhymes. Then there's bizarre word images like lipstick stains on my brain. Wouldn't it be easier to simply say "your kiss is on my mind?" I also have a huge problem with him describing himself as a gangster, not because I have a problem with gangster musicians, but look at the guy. There's no way he's a gangster. There are plenty of other snafus, but I think that's more than enough for now. Besides, if I keep ranting about the song I may never stop.

Let's just say that I find it hard to believe that it is a sad state of affairs that this is the most downloaded song, but that's my just my opinion. Leave a comment below to let me know how you feel about it.