Wanna Be ‘The Spice Girls’ - Contextual Analysis - Task 4
1996 saw 24 hit singles in the UK. The highest number since 1980! According to UK Charts Top Source Info (http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1996.shtml), the Spice Girls got three songs into the top 100 two of which in the top 10. Wanna be, which was released on July the 7th 1996, had topped the charts in 22 nations by the end of that year. By 1997 it had hit America and topped the Billboard Hot 100.
1996 saw songs from artists like Peter Andre, Oasis, Michael Jackson, U2 and George Michael topping the charts. Although there are large differences between The Spice Girls and the above listed, it shows that Wanna Be really was riding the wave of what was normal at the time. More evidence of this in the two other songs from The Spice Girls reaching the top 100.
Looking at the music video for this song, it looks like a very clear comment on the upper classes. The majority of the video shows The Spice Girls wreaking havoc in an expensive hotel in London called St. Pancras Grand Hotel. They rush into the building, pushing past security and throwing away the guest list, dancing on the tables and generally causing trouble. While an attack on the upper classes is an easy meaning to read into this video, at the very start, the girls are seen dancing up to and then stealing the hat from a homeless man on the street. This is an act that is later repeated with a priest in the hotel. This is something that, to me, suggests that this is less a social comment video and more a statement that The Spice Girls are outside all classes and will not conform to the class system, social norms or even, in stealing from a homeless man, standard morality.
Something else that was released in 1996 was the book ‘Born to rebel: Birth order, family dynamics, and creative lives’. Written by Sulloway, Frank J, this book covers a few subjects including the affects that the order of sibling’s births, their gender and other outside influences can have on their development as people. In one online abstract, the American Psychotically Association say, “Frank J. Sulloway's most important finding is that the eldest children identify with parents and authority, and support the status quo, whereas younger children rebel against it.”. This finding, and The Spice girls flaunting a rebellious attitude in the music video, seems at odds as four out of the five Spice Girls have between one and three younger siblings. A possible conclusion that we can draw from this is that the Spice Girls, as with the majority of pop artists, were being influenced and directed by their label, manager, video director etc. Something that, in the last 21 years, does not seem to have changed.
Lyrically, Wannabe is about the girls wanting a partner that is committed, willing to contribute to the relationship and can get “Get along with my friends”.
In conclusion, this song does not seem to be doing anything new with technology, instrumentation or lyrics. While not innovative, this song reached number one for 1996, in my opinion, because it is catchy. Number one from last year (2016) was Sia’s Cheap Thrills ft. Sean Paul. Both Cheap Thrills and Wannabe have the sound of their time. This is something that shows in the more dance friendly electronic beat as well as the lyrics “Till I hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor”, something that is obviously going to encourage people to dance in a night club, places that it has become far more common for people to listen to music over the last 21 years.
• Sulloway, F. J. (1996). Born to rebel: Birth order, family dynamics, and creative lives. New York: Pantheon Books. Abstract (http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-98980-000) • Wannabe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ • Cheap Thrills - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYh-n7EOtMA
