Cleverness In Pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Do you appreciate what I'm going to call 'cleverness' - wordplay, allusion, non-standard structures, etc. - in pop music? Is it something you look for? Who does it well?

Do you think there's an opposition between cleverness and directness (in emotional or physical impact)? Should pop be cleverer?

(Qn arising from today's Popular entry)

Comments

Re: Guess I'm gonna have to tell 'em that I got no cerebellum

[koganbot]

Do the Village People count? (I was thinking of "Robot Song" as coded gay, and then "YMCA" and "In The Navy" popped into my head.)