What's up with that?

So tonight, my youngest son and I were walking into Walgreen's when he asks me a really interesting question. He wanted to know why most of the songs today were about "sex, drugs and money." That stopped me.

I looked down at him and said, "I think it's because those songs sell. People listen to them and buy the music."

"Huh," was his reply.

I do like my pop music. I also like dance music and techno and stuff that makes me want to shake my tail feathers. I always have and I probably always will. So I'm pretty in tune with what's currently popular these days and boy....it's a far cry from the songs of my parents' generation.

I remember when "Wake Up Little Susie" was a shocker. I mean, look at those lyrics! They fell asleep at the movie show and now, boy oh boy....trouble!

And let's not forget Olivia Newton-John's song, "Physical" which was...um....stimulating, indeed. I remember when stations wouldn't play the song and it was banned and there was this HUGE outcry. What filthy lyrics!

Hah. Hah hah....hah....what would those people think of the songs today?

Let's see. We have Rihanna singing about "S and M" in the song with the same title. We have another group of men singing about the "backseat" and yet another man singing about "loving you" in the clean version but the explicit version is more blunt: change the verb to the F word instead.

And boy, those explicit versions are explicit. There's the F word. The B word. The Ass word and even sexual organs are named. I think the naysayers from the sixties and seventies would dead away faint if they listened to the lyrics.

Which brings me to another thing. What in the world is up with this Autotune business? T-Pain sounds all right but he can actually sing. It seems as though Autotune is a tool to give even the worst rapper a sideass way to carry a "melody", as laughable as that is. It's getting to the point where my sons and I groan when a song comes on and it's almost all Autotune. Bleagh.

As for drugs, it seems that I should be smoking a joint or a blunt these days to be sexy and all that. Mostly, weed is the drug of choice in songs but alcohol is also strongly suggested. After all, as Jamie Foxx sang, "Blame it on the Alcohol" when it comes to dumbass behavior. Gosh, that's an example to set, isn't it?

And then there's the money. I know that's part of the appeal of the glamour but ye gods. Money money money....and the stuff money can buy. All that bling and status stuff.

My boys and I talk about the songs we listen to. I have them listen to songs that aren't about the money or the sex or the drugs. My current favourite songs are by Taylor Swift and by Janelle Monae and by P!nk. Empowering songs and by women in different musical genres. That's pretty sweet.

So I'm glad my youngest son brought up his astute observation. It gives me the opening to tell him that even though some songs are about sex and drugs and money...there are plenty of good songs out there that aren't. And it's OK to like a song because of the music or the beat and the bass. But it's OK to say, "I like the music but NOT the lyrics because they're degrading to women/gay people/minorities."

I think it's important to not shame our kids if they like songs that we aren't comfortable with--it's important to find out why they like the song so much. And then, it's crucial to talk to them about the message the song is putting forth--so they, too, can say, "I can embrace this whole song" or "I'm not OK with this part of it" or even "I won't listen to this song because I don't want to support any part of it at all."

As for me, I'll keep on listening and singing along and keeping track of the music my boys are listening to. It lets me keep a pulse on what they think and feel. And if I can dance around the house to it, that's not necessarily a bad thing, either.


K.