I recently was at work when a male coworker pulled up a song on his phone to play for others. I’m not sure the name of the song, but I heard enough to know it wasn’t on my playlist. It was a rap song where the guy rapping told the story of…
You know what? I can’t even begin to think how to describe the lyrics of this song to you. I mean, I could say it described him sticking his digits in places where bodily waste exits, but even that seems like a bit much for this blog. Am I right? Let’s just suffice to say the lyrics weren’t just explicit, graphic, objectifying to women, or of an adult-only nature. No. Actually, they were disgusting. But I wasn’t surprised. There’s plenty of stuff like that around.
I found it crazy that this was what passed for entertainment nowadays, but again, I wasn’t surprised. A largely popular genre of music made its mark by calling women hoes or graphically describing the murder of others. But this is nothing new, guys. Twenty-five years ago, when I was in high school, I remember a popular group called The 2 Live Crew, and their lyrics were blush-worthy for even the most shameless of sailor-mouths.
No, offensive and obscenity-laden lyrics are nothing new. If anything, they’ve only gotten worse, or become more accepted as an “art form.” How dare we question or ridicule the creative liberties of songwriters speaking the cultural norm of their audience? If anything, we’ve become desensitized to profanity in music, and words that were once taboo to utter are allowed in our favorite television series. No one blinks an eye. Sex outside of marriage is the norm, adultery is entertainment, and nudity is the recipe for increased ratings. That’s what makes current news of banned Christmas songs a conundrum to me.
It seems like there’s no worries of offending sensitives in Hollywood, my friends! Sex scenes abound, taking the Lord’s name in vain is as common as my blood type, and I do hope you don’t wish to shelter your children from same-sex relationships because that’s just the least offensive thing on the silver screen in today’s world. So, accept it! You’re being spoon-fed pornography like it’s warm broth, and you’re going to hear a few four-letter words in the latest Pixar film. It expands the audience appeal. So, deal with it! But let’s be especially in tune to the possibility of insensitive lyrics from the 1940s.