A Critical Analysis of the Lyrics to Tik Tok by Ke$ha

I’ll admit it. The first time I heard “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha I thought to myself, “Oh, god dammit, what is music coming to these days.” But then. I listened to the lyrics. I mean REALLY listened and I tell you what. I was stunned. Beneath all the loops and autotunage and stupid dollar sign for the S was a real anthem for social activism. Let’s take a look.

Ok. So. We’re gonna start with the easiest lyrics to interpret:

“And now the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger
But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger”

Wow. You know? This COMPLETELY rewrites social norms that say men need to be attractive. Ke$ha basically says that it doesn’t matter if you’re old, disgusting, wrinkled, skinny or what – she cares about your personality. It’s quite a rebellious statement in a society so caught up in looking “good”. I think Ke$ha needs to be applauded for such bravery.

“Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back”

What empowerment. Ke$ha is basically saying, “I’m going out and I’m going to hook up with a guy and have ignorant sex – and I don’t care.” Usually society makes it seem like women want “relationships” and men want to “hook up” but, again, Ke$ha is not so easy to figure out!! She’s really owning her sexuality and proving that being a woman in 2010 is a whole new ball game. As much can be implied from her lyric:

“Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy”

She feels like a rich man who is also the owner of the popular Bad Boy record label as well as clothing line and many other pursuits. Quite a statement coming from such a young woman! But with such confidence and guts as to completely throw away all of society’s conventions, I think she can achieve it.

Now, let’s take a second to examine this idea of Ke$ha empowering women’s sexuality:

“I’m talking about – everybody getting crunk, crunk
Boys trying to touch my junk, junk
Gonna smack him if he getting too drunk, drunk”

Realize. She’s not going to smack them if they touch her “junk” but only if they get too “drunk”. That shows us that she’s saying, in essence, go ahead and grab me… but you’d better be able to seal the deal later! By playing the role of aggressor she flips traditional gender roles. I can’t help but be impressed by this young lady.

All in all, I’d have to applaud this brave new artist and her opening salvo on gender roles and social norms. I hope she has a long and successful career.

However. I could be wrong. She could just be another awful, auto-tuned, soulless pop singer.