"When I Grow Up" by The Pussycat Dolls
Reviewed by: Josh Meares
Note: We focus on reviewing songs, and therefore cannot comment on the appropriateness of the album in its entirety. Please use your best judgment whenever purchasing or listening to music.
The Artists
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop quintet founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995. The group began as a dance troupe based in Los Angeles before being "re-cast" as a music group in 2003. The five members are Nicole (28), Ashley (25), Kimberly (25), Melody (22), and Jessica (25).The group released their first single in 2004, and they have become international stars. The Pussycat Dolls are currently preparing to release their second studio album, "Doll Domination," on September 16, 2008.
The Album
The single "When I Grow Up" arrived in stores on July 15, 2008. At the time of this writing, it's in the top ten downloads on iTunes. There are no surprises here for fan of the Dolls. The music is strongly rhythmic, catchy, and highly repetitive. "When I Grow Up" is typical pop music. The song avoids inappropriate language (depending on what you take "groupies" to mean), but the music video is quite provocative.
The Song
"When I Grow Up" is a song about what people want to be when they grow up. "We all want to be famous," it states. This song is not just about the members of The Pussycat Dolls achieving their childhood dreams. The Pussycat Dolls manager, Robert Antin, says that, "Inside every woman is a Pussycat Doll."
In this song, the Pussycat Dolls describe wanting to be attractive, famous, and rich. Can we argue with Antin? Doesn't everybody, women and men, want to be attractive? Don't we all want to be famous or rich or both?
Lyric: "When I grow up / I wanna be famous / I wanna be a star / I wanna be in movies /
When I grow up / I wanna see the world / Drive nice cars / I wanna have groupies"
One man turned his back on all of those things. He was the only man in history who had complete control over his physical appearance from birth, but all we know about his appearance is that, "There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him." (Isaiah 53:2)
He could also do some pretty amazing things with food, like turning stones into bread, water into wine, and making a couple of fish feed 5000 people. That skill could have made him the wealthiest person in the ancient world. But when he was asked to make some bread for himself when he was hungry, he said, "Man does not live by bread alone." (Luke 4:4)
He did amazing healing miracles, like restoring sight to blind people and bringing others back from the dead. But when his friend, Peter, told him "everyone" was looking for him, he said, "Let's go somewhere else -- to nearby villages -- so I can preach there also. That is why I came." (Mark 1:38)
He turned his back on his fans and his chance for fame. And when a few guys wanted to be his "groupies," he made the lifestyle sound so difficult that they left. (Luke 9:57-62) Maybe you have already guessed that this is the story of Jesus of Nazareth. But why does Jesus consciously reject everything that the Pussycat Dolls are looking for in their song "When I Grow Up"?
Do you think it's because they have their values screwed up? Maybe they don't know what is really good for them at all. Let's concentrate on just one issue, beauty, to see if what The Pussycat Dolls think about beauty lines up with what God says about it.
Lyric: "Now I've got a confession / When I was young I wanted attention / And I promised myself that I'd do anything / Anything at all for the boys to notice me"
The Pussycat Dolls are beautiful women. If you have watched the music video for this song, then you know that they are getting the boys to notice them. But is it right to "do anything / anything at all for the boys to notice me"? It is true that more attractive people generally have more success in life. Better dressed people have an easier time at everything from getting jobs to getting dates. But what does the Bible say about physical appearance?
"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
The Bible agrees that people are going to judge you by your appearance! But the Bible also says, "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes." (1 Peter 3:3) Even though God knows exactly how important physical appearance is to people, He tells us appearance doesn't matter. And Proverbs 31:30 tells us that "beauty is vain (useless)." It seems as if God's perspective is exactly opposite of The Pussycat Dolls' take in this song.
One lyric from this song, though, does ring very true.
Lyric: "But be careful what you wish for / 'Cause you just might get it"
From a worldly perspective, not trying to be beautiful and rich is stupid. But God tells us that those things don't matter. In fact, God says that chasing those things is wrong! So what are you wishing for? Beauty? Wealth? Fame? Or righteousness? You have to choose! And if you choose righteousness, everyone in the world is going to look down on you. But who is right: God or the world?
Questions
- How much time do you spend in front of the mirror every day? How much money have you spent on clothes, haircuts, makeup, accessories, hair products, jewelry, etc., in the last couple of months? Why?
- Is it wrong to want to look good? Why or why not?
- Walk into your closet. Look in your drawers. Do you think you are trying to use clothes to impress people?
- Do you think Christians are more concerned or less concerned about their physical appearance than non-Christians? Can you think of some examples?
- What would your life look like if you completely gave up the quest to impress people today? Would this be a sign of faith in God?
- How would your church look different if no one in it cared about what they looked like? Can you picture it in your mind's eye?
- Suppose no one in your church bought any products for their appearance for a year. How much money would they save? Do you think non-Christians would notice the change in the church's attitude? How would they react?
- How worried do you or your friends get when someone gets a pimple, a weird hairstyle, or wears unfashionable clothes?
