Courtesy of We Know Memes.

Hey Roger, how‰’s life? Congrats on the release of your new album (even though it‰’s just a glorified Greatest Hits Record). Now, don‰’t get me wrong, I love you and the rest of The Who as much as the next college student but I have a  tiny issue with something you recently said to The Daily Mail:

“Here we are with the world in the state it is in and we‰’ve got One Direction…Where are the artists writing with any real sense of angst and purpose? There are no movements at the moment: we had mod and then there was punk, but it‰’s so hard to start a movement now. Unless it‰’s ISIS‰Û.

I‰’d rather not have to point out that cohesive movements aren‰’t actually named until they‰’re already over; that One Direction as a literally manufactured boy band is not exactly a good argument for creating a counter culture; that referencing ISIS as an off-the-cuff joke about musical movements is incredibly offensive; or that you are somehow completely ignoring the entire genre of Hip Hop.

Instead, I can show you several Pop songs that express the sense of ‰angst‰’ and ‰purpose‰’ you, as a 70-year-old white dude, simply cannot find in the wide world of music today. I know Roger, Google is hard.

1. Mary Lambert, Welcome to the Age of My Body

Before her summer hit “Secrets,‰” there was Mary Lambert‰’s 2013 EP, Welcome to the Age of My Body. All four songs have a strong purpose, but the first and last showcase it especially well. They‰’re more like slam poetry than regular songs. Nearly every line is a quotable example of the saddest yet most beautiful deconstruction of the traditional standards of beauty we, as a society, hold above women‰’s heads.

For just a taste, though, here are a few gems: “But when do we draw the line?/When the knife hits the skin?/Because we‰’re so obsessed with death/some women just have more guts than others.‰” And it‰’s even better because Mary is putting herself on par with women who battle eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and depression: “I know how to split my wrists like a battlefield too/but the time has come for us to/reclaim our bodies.‰Û

2. Marina and the Diamonds, “Sex Yeah‰Û 

“Sex Yeah‰” is all about subverting the Pop Music/Pop Culture apparatus of which Marina Diamondis is a central part. If you really want an angry anarchist anthem, you should probably listen to the entirety of “Electra Heart,‰” as well as Marina‰’s new single “Froot.‰Û

“Sex Yeah‰” isn‰’t subtle: “If sex in a society/didn‰’t tell a guy who he should be/cause all my life I‰’ve tried to fight what history has given me.‰” I chose it because I thought you would like the angst imbedded into a song you probably believed was going to be about glorifying promiscuity. I‰’m gonna go out on a limb and say Marina intended the song to be that way, Roger.

3. Natalia Kills, “Saturday Night”

It turns out that “Saturday Night‰” is an extremely literal song. Natalia grew up in an affluential family, her father went to jail for reasons as yet unknown, she ran away when she was 14. Her mother was a victim of abuse. She was a homeless youth. They lost all of their money.

A song as powerful as “Saturday Night‰” is definitely angsty, but just because it‰’s autobiographical doesn‰’t mean that it has no purpose. By singing about her experiences as a homeless youth, as a child with an abusive father, as someone spiraling from a position of wealth to extreme poverty, Natalia is making herself naked and relatable to the lived experience, to “fucking teenage tragedies‰” everywhere.

4. Kendrick Lamar, “i”

“But wait!‰” you‰’re shouting over me angrily. “Where are all the men!? This list you‰’ve compiled is full of girls, they can‰’t possibly know what it‰’s like to be angry at our socio-political system!‰” I see your point, Roger. I chose this song especially for you. I know, I know, he‰’s not a White Britsh Punk Rocker, but he‰’s part of this wild new counter-cultural movement called “Hip-Hop‰Û.

It may not be Pop per se, but it is played on the radio enough that people in the mainstream have actually heard a radical black self-love anthem that samples The Isley Brothers‰’ “Who’s That Lady‰Û.

5. “Fuck You‰” – Lily Allen

“Fuck You‰Û, Roger Daltrey, projects a similar lack of subtlety to “Sex Yeah‰” – probably even less so. A call-out (much better than her attempt at a feminist ‰anthem‰’ “Hard Out Here‰Û) to all of the racist, homophobic, pro-war jerks, “Fuck You‰” is the epitome of the saucy, angsty, purposeful punk.

I used to work at a country club in the podunk town of York, Pennsylvania. Catering to some of the richest people in a town of not one but at least three trailer parks within a five mile radius wasn‰’t exactly my idea of fun in high school. Whenever I was in a really bad mood, furious at these rich privileged piss-babies, I would speed out of the Club with “Fuck You‰” on full blast and all of the windows of my car down. And that‰’s what punk‰’s really about, isn‰’t it Roger?

It‰’s true; these songs aren‰’t part of a cohesive movement. There is a movement within the songs though, and maybe it‰’s because I‰’m a product of my own generation, but I like it much better than punk or mod.

Our generation of music isn‰’t just about screwing over the system, about anarchy in the UK. It‰’s about social inequality, the support for disenfranchised and voiceless people. It can be tame (Janelle MonÌÁe, BeyoncÌ©) and it can be harsh and wild (Ke$ha, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj). But the movement is one towards justice, a progression forward using the values from the movements you‰’re so fond of, Roger. These artists layer over them with new inequalities and new systemic transgressions.

The new movement is always going to be there, making sure the old ones die before they get old.