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Hear Father John Misty’s Tongue-in-Cheek ‘Generic Pop Songs’

Singer and Lady Gaga songwriter winks at formulaic Top 40 singles with three new tracks

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March 20, 2017

Hear Father John Misty’s Tongue-in-Cheek ‘Generic Pop Songs’

Father John Misty, who dabbled as a songwriter for hit makers like BeyoncÃ© and Lady Gaga, posted a trio of tracks with the title “Generic Pop Song.” Photo: Ana Viotti/Side Stage Collective via Flickr/ cc by sa 2.0

Father John Misty, who has dabbled as a songwriter for hit makers like BeyoncÃ© and Lady Gaga, posted a trio of numbered tracks with the title “Generic Pop Song” on his SoundCloud Sunday. None of the three songs appear on Father John Misty’s forthcoming LP Pure Comedy.

As the song titles suggest, the tracks are not meant to be taken too seriously; instead they showcase how formulaic radio singles can be. “Generic Pop Song #3” is perhaps the most winking of the pop-taunting trio of tracks, opening with the so-called “millennial whoop” that dominates the Hot 100 singles.

The other two cuts, “Generic Pop Song #9” and “Generic Pop Song #16,” are similarly deviations from Father John Misty’s usual work, but while both tracks satirize pop music, the songs are strong in their own right.

“#9” starts sparsely before blossoming into a fist-pumping dance song, while “#16” is slow-burning breakup jam with lyrics like, “If you stay or leave / It’s the same to me / Pick me up for the last time, baby / Never make you see me like this again.”

Daniel Kreps