Music and Money: It’s Apparently Not Cool to Be Frugal

How often do you hear people in mainstream media celebrate frugality, as opposed to sensationalizing people spending money on lavish homes, cars, engagement rings, and the like?

While there are some instances where frugality is discussed, such as home makeover or couponing type shows, we hear a lot more about lavish lifestyles celebrities have.  The idea of having money and spending it on fun things just seems more interesting, and worthy of celebrating, than being frugal. Actually, more so than even simply being financially responsible and paying bills on time!

I had previously shared my thoughts on a Katy Perry song “Last Friday Night”, where it discussed maxing out credit cards.  Actually, the lyrics said “maxed our credit cards”, but you get the idea.  A fun song about a fun night out just had to include references to spending like that.  Nothing about getting a deal, saving for retirement, etc.  Clearly, my expectations are way too boring 🙂

Well, I recently heard another song that included a reference to money that wasn’t exactly celebrating frugality or a conservative approach to financial responsibility.  Did I say my expectations are boring?  Anyway, this time the song was by Nicki Minaj, called “Starships”.  In the song, the following lines jumped out at us:

And I ain’t paying my rent this month

I owe that

Clearly, my definition of cool is way different than what I assume it is for the typical audience.  Except my young daughter, who upon hearing that line (in a thankfully clean version on the radio) immediately brought it to my attention.  She said “Daddy, did you hear that? Maybe you can write about it.”

So, here I am after listening to her.

At the obvious risk of sounding old, I wonder why in the world these popular songs that clearly resonate with younger listeners have to include references to maxing out credit cards and not paying rent that’s owed? Music and money seem to go together when it comes to spending. What about lyrics on something like what expenses to cut, or celebrating the ability to spend wisely?

Again, being responsible must be too boring 🙂

My Questions For You

• What do you think of such lines in music, listened to by impressionable kids?
• Why do you think it is that spending seems to be glorified in many cases?
• Have you ever heard a song where people talked about saving money or getting a deal? I can’t recall one off hand!