may double-speak.

we're evolving into a society where once is not enough. one-car garage? so yesterday. monogamy? forget about it. saying things one time? psh. please.

take, for instance, the girl at great clips. i shall refer to her as jenny, because she reminds me of jenny from "gossip girl." part of the great clips experience is checking in with your phone number-- and it was jenny's job to type in phone numbers and verify the account. most of jenny's check-ins went like this:

mom: my phone number is xxx-xxxx.
jenny: xxx.... what?
mom: xxx-xxxx.
jenny: xxx-xx.... what? sorry.
mom: XXX-XXXX.

she only asked for my phone number twice in its entirety. but her need for repetition really got me thinking: was 7 digits really too much for her to handle (she was very tiny-- you clicked in the picture of jenny, right?), and has our society enabled this sort of aggravating redundancy? i mean, one season of "rock of love" just wasn't enough-- vh1 had to air the twice-told tale of rock star wants hawt girl but she just wants fame which is really just what he wants like totally!!!! three times.

even ke$ha agrees. in her song, "tik tok," she narrates the typical "going out" with the girls experience in all its catchy glory. (if you're so inclined, you can watch the video here.) for one part of the song, ke$he repeats the last word of each line-- perhaps for emphasis (the poet in me hopes so) but mostly for memorability:

i'm talking pedicure on our toes toes
trying on all our clothes clothes
boys blowing up our phones phones

her lyrics reveal a certain type of girl-- one who is materialistc, self-conscious, and popular. the whole song seems to celebrate the self-centeredness of partying all night until the authorities finally step in and force the night to end:

now now we go until they kick us out out
or the police shut us down down
police shut us down down
po po shut us down

both examples point to key parts of the song that reveal character and personality. considering that ke$ha has been described as taylor swift + garbage, i think a textual analysis of her lyrics is rather kind.

it gets worse though. repetitive music lyrics really begins to border on troubling with justin bieber and sean kingston's "eenie meenie" (which i've linked to previously... it's that disturbing to me...). the bridge and chorus are as follows:

you cant make up your mind mind mind mind mind
please dont waste my time time time time time
i'm not trying to rewind wind wind wind wind
i wish our hearts could come together as one

shawty is an eenie meenie mo lover
shawty is an eenie meenie mo lover
shawty is an eenie meenie mo lover
shawty is an eenie meenie mo lover

this section is repeated 3.5 times throughout the whole song. i don't know if these "artists" are just incapable of writing creative and different lyrics (much like jenny's inability to remember 7 numbers), or if our expectations for acceptable music now include incessant repetition for its catchy effect.

i know that repetition can be used in many interesting literary ways. for example, martin luther king jr's repetition of the key phrase "i have a dream" in his 1963 political speech emphasizes the disparity between reality and fantasy and the power of vision to motivate change. i realize that not all repetition is bad or scornful--

but but but
i have my doubts that most repetition is skillfully and purposefully used in productive ways. actually, i'm positive that most redundancy just takes up space, fills the void for paying attention, and allows us to get away with being lazy.

unless you can prove me wrong wrong?