Good Girl: Christina Aguilera Reflection
Christina Aguilera’s song “Hello” is representative of the “good girl” part of the life cycle with hints of “diva.” The song is very positive and appropriate for any listener. It has an optimistic tone and is reflective of a “good girl” song. There is no swearing or sexual line in the song.
The reason why I believe this also fits into the diva part of Lieb’s life cycle is because the song came out in 2011, more than a decade after Christina Aguilera’s career began. So, although it is representative of a “good girl” song, it came along later on in Christina’s career when she was already highly respected as a talented artist. Therefore, Christina can be viewed as an adult diva by 2011.
As a Diva, Christina has proven herself in the eyes of the general public and has much more freedom in producing music. Money is no longer and issue, and she no longer has to fit into a stereotype if she does not want to. Many artists that achieve stardom often try to broaden their fanbase and even change their style. Taylor Swift, for example, went from country to pop music and is now trying to rebrand herself as a “bad girl.”
Christina’s decision to produce a song like this seems appropriate if she had already transitioned past the “sexual” years of her career if she was labeled that way at any point. The song seems easy to like regardless of age, gender, race, etc. A mainstream song like this falls more into the “good girl” label. The innocence of the lyrics makes it great for young girls to listen to and may be an attempt by Christina to reach a younger audience. This would be in her best interest as younger fans have much more time to dedicate to their favorite stars. The rise of Justin Bieber, Jacob Sartorius, etc. can be explained by their connection to the younger demographic.
Good girl songs should be very easy to remember and make the listener happy. Christina’s “Hello” achieves this and shows that artists can potentially move up and down the life cycle if they know how to execute.
This YouTube comment was especially noteworthy as this high praise received support in the form of “upvotes.” The view that Christina is the “Queen of all pop singers” is intriguing as it implies she is older (not a princess) but still has massive influence in pop music.
Michael Jackson was nicknamed the “King of Pop.” While Aguilera has not received this nickname by the general public, the fact that some people believe she deserves this title is a good sign for her and her career.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see what type of music Aguilera comes up with next. She has succeeded at making pop music, but can she sustain it as she ages? As a diva, she should be able to as long as she maintains her strong fanbase and innovates in the right direction.
Part Two
Taylor Swift would be another interesting artist to do a case study on. She has evolved significantly since her beginnings as a country artist. She tried to become more mainstream by making pop music and succeeded. Many of her songs are an attack against men who hurt her and are often feminist in promoting female confidence.
Extreme example of “good girl” start of a career:
