Pricetag by Jessie J

I get so excited whenever this song comes on the radio. It's super catchy and packed with an incredibly powerful message. It attacks the issue of materialism head on, and is therefore packed with an important message that we all need to hear.

I don't think anyone would deny the fact that money is clearly a necessity in the world today. Without a certain amount of money it becomes impossible to provide the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothes, shelter, water, education, etc. When we see people without enough money to provide for these basic things we call that poverty, which is an evil we are trying to stop! Therefore I'd say that it's not money itself that's the problem, but rather the attitude that allows one's life to be ruled by money. When we prioritize money over what's truly important in life we run into serious problems, which is something that Jessie J sees very clearly.

In this song Jessie J just can't seem to understand how people can live their life according to "Pricetags." She starts off the song right away saying "Seems like everybody's got a price, I wonder how they sleep at night." She just doesn't understand how anyone could really live with money as their primary goal in life. In the second verse she asks very clearly "Why is everybody so obsessed? Money can't buy us happiness." She is so confused as to why anyone would allow money to rule their life. Just look at the refrain...she's almost screaming it's not about the money...we don't need your money...it ain't about the cha ching...it ain't about the ba bling...forget about the price tag!

During the B.o.B. part of the song, we are given an alternative...something to base our lives on which is so much more worthy than money. He says very clearly "It's like this man, you can't put a price on the life, we do this for love." Love...the king of all virtues...that is what should rule our lives. God created us out of love, died for us out of love, and destined us to live in his his love for all eternity. No amount of money could ever possibly match the awesome power of love. Unfortunately original sin has weakened us to the point that we forget the power of love so easily and are so often lured away from love by the temptation of money. It's times like this when we need to remember the words of Jessie J "Money can't buy us happiness" and never forget that true happiness can only be found in the love of God, there is no substitute for that!

In Matthew 19:20-22 we hear Jesus Christ echoing the words of this song so clearly and so powerfully. This is the famous story of the rich man, which reads "The young man said to Jesus, 'All of these [commandments] I have observed. What do I still lack?' Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions." The young man in this story went away sad because his life was not ruled by love of God, but by love of his possessions. He, like so many of us, needed to be reminded that "It's not about the pricetag...Money can't buy us happiness."

"Heavenly Father, I know that your love is the only true path to happiness, to true peace and joy. Don't let me to be distracted by something so superficial as money. Guide me, that I may never stray from the path to holiness."