you wish Frank Zappa was still around

do a nice line in modern lyrics with zeitgeist-y subject matter, but then of course 'they' don't write the lyrics i suppose.
Anyway here's how some of Swinging London Town goes:

-
Do you know the me that wakes in places with faces I've never seen
The mother of all hangovers to remind me where I've been
And if I stop, I'm sickened, it really gets me down
So I step back into the city lights the queen of London Town

Soho soaks drink Campari
Free flowing bubbly, a drop of gin
Cocktails with price tags make you choke on your sushi
Dressed to impress these bright young things,
Chelsea chicks drink white wine spritzers
G&T's or bottled beer
Hooray Henries cruising the King's Road
In daddy's bentley still full of E.

Do you know the me the face that graces pages of Hello?
Try hard to die hard, united on the goal
Air kissing eligible bachelors and trust fund daddy's boys
International playgirls showing off their toys

And all these price tag starlets, a galaxy of stars
Buzzing around the next big thing and taking off their clothes
I guess I'm neck deep in it, I'm starting to drown
Along with all the wannabes in Swinging London town
-

That could almost be Squeeze couldn't it from a certain light?

Anyway it says more about London today than 'A White Man in Hammersmith Palais' or whatever.

The one that springs to mind is Just Jack but only because I heard one of hos albums last week. The other band that chronicles modern life is the Lancashire Hotpots.

Although it must be a good five years old now, I really like Vibrate by Rufus Wainwright. The embracing of modern terminology ("My phone's on vibrate for you") somehow doesn't sound contrived. But, on the whole, I agree. What a drag it is getting old. (Now there's a sentiment which still sounds as fresh as the day it was written.)

are in text speak, even though many of them pre-dated texting.

You've just written the lyrics for the next Scouting For Girls album. The singer will now take one of those words or phrases and and repeat it ad nauseum in a whiney 'pity me, it's horrid' voice. Damn, damn damn!

How about
"Meeting Paris Hilton" by CSS
Cansei de Ser Sexy, aka CSS, singer Lovefoxxx tells why Paris Hilton, got a CSS song of her own because guitarist Ana Rezende used to ogle pictures of her on a fotolog of drunk celebrities. “She was always photographed drunk, cross-eyed, falling over. She’s drunk because she’s rich and she’s rich because she’s famous and she’s famous because she’s rich. Which is really weird. It seemed kind of cool at the time, but now …”

someone said that once

no wonder there's no songs

or maybe all the songs are rubbish

maybe I'll get my coat, it's a work of performance art, made from a rubbish bag

bagism

there's an idea

"everybody's talking 'bout bagism" - were they?

I'm not so sure

"everybody's talking at me - I can't hear the words they're saying"

that's modern life whenever it was written

I reckon that if Pulp were still in their prime Jarvis could have fitted that lot into one song (and he would have made them rhyme too).

Too early to prove it though...

I just not sure the proportion has gone down any. If you lost the Kinks from the 1960's majority of the songs in the charts could have been written any time in the previous 100 years.

does a nice line in modern life is rubbish, and bloody good he is too!

On 'Release' from 2001 there's 'E-Mail' ("some things can be written down that we're too shy to say") and 'London' which is about East European immigrants coming to the capital. 'I'm With Stupid' is about the Special Relationship between Bush and Blair, and 'Minimal' is about the aesthetics of the past ten years or so – in fact most of the 'Fundamental' album is about immigration, ID cards, the war on terror and similar torn-from-the-headlines subjects.

It's all out there - give Radio 1 a try. That'll jolt you into 2009.

but the titular track from Show of Hands' current album "Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed" is about the credit crunch.

"I pray one day we'll soon be free from your absolute indifference, your avarice, your ignorance, your arrogance, your greed"

Admittedly from another era, but Luke Haines managed an entire album with "Baader Meinhof". (Looks like he's got a new album out too.)

Pre-dated the swine flu outbreak back in the 70's with "Dangerous Bacon" and were down with the kids with "Dora The Female Explorer".

bands like Hard Fi, Kaiser Chiefs and The Enemy have written some top pop / rock tunes about modern life. I know they are instantly dismissed as indie landfill but they are relevant to the yoof and songs like "Cash Machine", "I Predict A Riot" and "Away From Here" will give future generations a feel for the noughties. I'll stand back and await the onslaught!

Are you sure you want pop stars giving us their in-depth view of geo-politics, David? Do you not remember "Lebanon" by The Human League?

is about 7th July Bombs and is rather good.
sorry won't embed :(

Blue badges, bubblewrap, high visibility jackets, Ideal Home Show. It can only be Half Man Half Biscuit. And the examples I've quoted are just from their last album CSI Ambleside.

How about this?