Incongruent Interaction

 Sellnow describes incongruent interaction as the emotional meaning of music and lyrics contradicting each other and is probably the most fascinating concept in the study of music to me. When reviewing incongruent interactions, a song that came to mind was “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. It is one of my favorite songs because of its upbeat catchy tune, but lapses into some slightly depressing themes when some verses become heavy with references to tragic historical events. Probably one of the darkest examples I can think of is “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People. This song is incredibly catchy and was popular when I went to high school. For a long time, I would listen to the song, based on major chords and up-tempo beats without realizing the message. Finally, I paid attention to the lyrics, particularly in the chorus which read as follows:


All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks you better run better run

Outrun my gun

All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks you better run better run

Faster than my bullet


Slowly I put together that even though this music was upbeat, happy, and carefree sounding, it told the story of a kid shooting up a school. It's an interesting song because it kind of makes you do a double-take. Because of this, I think incongruent interaction could be a really powerful way of getting people to pay attention to certain messages. If someone comes up with a catchy happy tune but includes lyrics about a potentially difficult topic, it might have the same effect on others as it had on me with “Pumped Up Kicks”: I got caught in the catchy tune and when I was wrapped up in the tune and enjoying it, the real meaning of the song caught me when I finally started paying attention to the lyrics. In what other ways can incongruent interaction be used as a tool in social or societal issues?

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