S & M

Tonight we will take a look at S&M, by Rihanna.  If you haven't yet heard the song, here it is:

Upon hearing this song on the radio a few weeks ago, a single line stood above the rest.  Rihanna sings,

"Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it"

Now on the first, and second, and well even third and fourth listen, this line seemed to be pure nonsense.  However, earlier today, it came to me.  She is talking about our culture of instant gratification, and the sex in the air is her metaphor for this culture.  She then proceeds to say she not only doesn't care, but loves the smell of it.  In other words, she not only accepts, but embraces this culture.

She earlier speaks of how, "The pain is my pleasure cause nothing could measure."  She knows that this instant gratification can cause her problems, but she gets pleasure from it, so why not continue on the way she has?  With this thought, Rihanna has hit the nail on the head.  People do what pleases them, looking for instant gratification, with little regard for the long term.  When something goes wrong, there's no need to deal with the problem since there's bound to be some way to create more instant gratification.  Problems aren't problems if they are constantly suppressed and ignored.

Now, this culture of instant gratification may affect not only the person seeking gratification, but those around him as well.  Rihanna addresses this part of the culture as well, singing the chorus of,

"Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
I like it, like it
[repeat]."

The repetition does make the song easy to sing along to, but it also serves as a taunt to those telling her to stop.  Come on, come on, just try and stop me, because I like it she tells everyone.  She doesn't care what other people think of her or how she's affecting others, and why should she?  She likes it and shes enjoying herself, so there's not reason to stop.  In fact, if everyone thought like Rihanna, then society would have fewer issues.  Everyone would suppress their problems through seeking more instant gratification, and any problems they created for others would be dealt with in the same manner.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the secret to perfecting our society through instant gratification.