The Internet has frustrated me again. At this point, I’m convinced that my past selves grew to push people away more aggressively as I was reincarnated. But my frustrations have to do with Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd, both artists I enjoy for different reasons.
People on the internet are comparing “Blinding Lights” to “Bad Habits,” which is understandable. Both artists completely changed their look when they announced new albums. The suits, the darker imagery — sure, I’ll agree with that. What gets me is saying that the songs are the same. That isn’t exactly true.
To start, both singles from their respective albums have different producers. This is very important in the music world.
Then the difference began to show.
“Blinding Lights” is clearly an 80s dance, pop and even rock-inspired song. It’s the reason why the song became an earworm for so long after its release. I couldn’t stop listening to it. It’s still on my workout playlist.
“Blinding Lights,” like many other songs, is sampled. A sample from A-ha’s “Take on Me” and Michael Sembello’s “Maniac.” Or, as I like to call them, standouts from that era.
Beyond that, if you take a look at 80s music as a whole (which is hard, but I picked a few so you can follow along with my madness), it all had a specific sound. Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield,” Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself” and even Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In the Dark” have a sound that screams the 80s just like The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.”
This is where things get tricky, but the 80s are (and will always be) the blueprint, the inspiration, for dance/pop music. Its influence is how things like electric dance music (EDM) became so popular in the 2000s and 2010s.
This is where Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” comes in. Sheeran’s song is more reminiscent of the 2000s/2010s era of EDM, and you can see that in other pieces. Supermode’s 2006 song “Tell Me Why,” and September’s 2012 song “Cry For You” are clear examples.
The 2000s/2010s EDM can also be defined with other songs like Chris Brown’s “Don’t Wake Me Up” and Calvin Harris’s “Feel So Close.” That’s where Sheeran’s new single fits in. “Bad Habits” vibes match the 2000s/2010s, unlike The Weeknd’s 80s vibes.
But remember, the 80s is still the blueprint for most pop songs these days, so it’s understandable that sometimes there might be overlap which is why there are sub-genres to everything. Even the 2000s/2010s EDM wave has subgenres of trance, dubstep and house, just to name a few. But that’s with every big category of music.
The point is that even the bigger genre is the same doesn’t mean two songs are the same, especially if they aren’t subgenres. And that is the beauty of music.
