A mundane and yet potentially problematic fact: I don't pay attention to lyrics of songs. I'll just hum along innocently to whatever is blaring from the vans during our 600 meter repeats at the Golf Course. Granted, I'm not so blithe that I don't perceive the message of Latest Musical Genius that composed the more-than-tedious "Sexy Bitch...la la Sexy Bitch...". But encouragement (euphemism: mild derision) from the peers has of late instigated an interest in lyrics/content...dare i write "substance"?

Wheeling through the songs on my ipod and juxtaposing two particular specimens:

"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun", proclaims Billy Joel playfully.

Meanwhile, Ms. Spears in '3' surveys modernity and astutely pronounces (in a voice that is what plastic converted to sound waves would sound like) that "Living in sin is the new thing".

I wonder what it is about the musicality of the pieces that makes Britney so much more offensive than Billy (other than the obvious fact that Brit's lyrics are slightly less subtle about the nature of her sexual escapades). Also questioning how either of these songs ended up on my ipod.