The classic cliche, “they don’t write songs like they used to” is a clarion call of the middle-aged and old, but seemingly ignores the existence of old songs like “Hoots mon, there’s a moose loose aboot this hoos” by Lord Rockingham’s XI, The Police’s “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”. There is a subtlety that seems to have been lost in pop music though. Take California Girls by The Beach Boys. We all know what the singer is talking about, what he wants, what he likes, but he tells us in what’s quite a witty way. Compare and contrast “The Girls” by Calvin Harris, which reads more like a Soho shopping list…
