I am about to touch on a subject that even Jason and I have not discussed yet. I never thought about it before, but now that I am a mom I guess I need to figure out my stance on this subject. Are you prepared for what it is?? (I highly doubt it)
Ok...the subject is music. Lets face it...music today is not good ol' Johnny Cash and June Carter. (I am not hating..I LOVE me some Johnny and June...just stating a fact) Music today is not all about dogs and butteflies (Thank you Heart for throwing that one out there though...possibly your WORST song ever) or filled with achey breaky hearts. (Billy Ray, I almost lost my ears from trying to cut them off due to that song) It is now filled with female police officers really proving their..service (Oh but I do love Lil Wayne and his tribute to the female police force) and girls attracting male attention (its ok Theory of a Deadman...I'd be your bad girlfriend if you'd let me) and necks being broken (its cool Em, I understand true love). I am just saying..things have changed. This leads me to wonder what I will and will not let Bowen listen to when he gets older.
I am very torn on this subject. And no...I am not debating this with anyone else. (fiiiiine maybe Jason...maybe)
Ok so here it is. (get ready, I used to be on the debate team and I might throw out some mad LD skills) EVERY generation has had the "rebels" of the music industry. The Doors were rebels..back in the day it was a HUGE ordeal that he mentioned getting higher in 'Light My Fire'. And then there was KISS with 'Lick It Up'...pretty sure oral stimulation was not something talked about. Actually...lots of KISS' songs were looked down upon. And then there was Eminem talking about killing bitches...and the list goes on and on and on and on. And it will never end. (I skipped a lot of artists in there...but it was for the sake of reading an 18 page thing, not my lack of musical knowledge)
So when I was like 13 my little brother had a Limp Bizkit album called Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. (seriously..I like this album and still bump it in my car..so suck it) One of the songs talks about there being 46 f-bombs in it...well my stepmom walked in on that part of the song...and flipped the F out. I am pretty sure the cd got broken in half (yep..this was before iPods) and Chance was in deep shit for it. The thing was we already knew all the words in it. We weren't off saying, "F this and F that" just because we listened to the cd. So I think it was stupid. BUT...I see why she flipped out like she did. It is a mom's job to make sure her children are not ruined by the cruelty and hate of the world. (or some shit like that) I disagree with it, but I see why she did it...now...if it was Bowen who was like 11 (thats how old Chance was) I don't think I would have an issue with it. He DOES have me for a mom, so by the ripe age of 11 I am sure he will be fully aware of all the different cuss words out there. I, OF COURSE, will teach him he can't repeat these in my home. If he does...I will beat him within an inch of his life. (obviously exaggerating...don't call CPS)
Ok..so I am sure you are already saying, "OMG What a bad MOMMY!" Yea yea..suck it...the next topic is the violence in music today. However, violence in music has been around for a LONG time. Johnny Cash's famous 'Folsom Prison Blues' talks about him killing a man just to watch him die. Pretty hard core shit right there. But people LOVED him. And still do. (me included) Violence is a fact of life. We are in a war for crying out loud! It is legal to kill babies in many different countries! (including ours...lets not get into the abortion debate, but obv I am pro-life) The world is not a pretty place. It is up to the parents to decide what we teach our kids. You can't hide them from everything. Eminem (I have his new album so he is stuck in my head) got a lot of press for his violent music. He has songs talking about killing his ex wife and raping his mother. I get it, its bad. In his song 'Who Knew' he says, "But don't blame me when little Eric jumps off of the terrace. You shoulda been watching him, apparently you ain't parents". Gotta agree with him. Guns don't shoot themselves and music doesn't suddenly turn people into psychos. There was something there to help it along...
And then there is the sexuality in music. Before Juvenile was talking about backing asses up (and he didn't mean to move it outta the way) and before Lil Wayne was using handcuffs for different kinds of restraint there was a guy named Prince...and Prince had a song called Darling Nikki. Darling Nikki is a pretty dirty song...lets just say Nikki was promiscuous. And, like I mentioned before, KISS was talking about licking things..and they weren't talking about lollipops!! Once again I don't want my toddler listening to this stuff...but obviously at 13 he will know he is a boy and what boys can do with their...stuff. As parents Jason and I have to teach him how to respect women and to practice safe sex. (dear God I hope I don't have to worry about that when he is 13)
So here it is folks...I know the music isn't suddenly going to be a soundtrack to Mary Poppins. I know he will like whatever rapper or rocker is cool at the time. So when he is 12, 13, 14 years old...I am probably (I said probably) not going to worry too much about the cussing and sexuality or the violence. At that age he will know right from wrong and if he doesn't, Jason and I will have FAR more serious things to worry about. I think people (some...I know not everyone is like this) need to stop blaming the music, tv, and video games for bad kids. MAYBE it is the lack of parenting going on! I think it is up to the parents to teach their kids right from wrong and just because someone pops a cap in someone else in a song, does not make it right. (Duh) In the mean time...until my baby is not such a baby and is closer to a man...we will be travelling in silence..or with a lot of Justin Bieber on.
Ok...the subject is music. Lets face it...music today is not good ol' Johnny Cash and June Carter. (I am not hating..I LOVE me some Johnny and June...just stating a fact) Music today is not all about dogs and butteflies (Thank you Heart for throwing that one out there though...possibly your WORST song ever) or filled with achey breaky hearts. (Billy Ray, I almost lost my ears from trying to cut them off due to that song) It is now filled with female police officers really proving their..service (Oh but I do love Lil Wayne and his tribute to the female police force) and girls attracting male attention (its ok Theory of a Deadman...I'd be your bad girlfriend if you'd let me) and necks being broken (its cool Em, I understand true love). I am just saying..things have changed. This leads me to wonder what I will and will not let Bowen listen to when he gets older.
I am very torn on this subject. And no...I am not debating this with anyone else. (fiiiiine maybe Jason...maybe)
Ok so here it is. (get ready, I used to be on the debate team and I might throw out some mad LD skills) EVERY generation has had the "rebels" of the music industry. The Doors were rebels..back in the day it was a HUGE ordeal that he mentioned getting higher in 'Light My Fire'. And then there was KISS with 'Lick It Up'...pretty sure oral stimulation was not something talked about. Actually...lots of KISS' songs were looked down upon. And then there was Eminem talking about killing bitches...and the list goes on and on and on and on. And it will never end. (I skipped a lot of artists in there...but it was for the sake of reading an 18 page thing, not my lack of musical knowledge)
So when I was like 13 my little brother had a Limp Bizkit album called Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. (seriously..I like this album and still bump it in my car..so suck it) One of the songs talks about there being 46 f-bombs in it...well my stepmom walked in on that part of the song...and flipped the F out. I am pretty sure the cd got broken in half (yep..this was before iPods) and Chance was in deep shit for it. The thing was we already knew all the words in it. We weren't off saying, "F this and F that" just because we listened to the cd. So I think it was stupid. BUT...I see why she flipped out like she did. It is a mom's job to make sure her children are not ruined by the cruelty and hate of the world. (or some shit like that) I disagree with it, but I see why she did it...now...if it was Bowen who was like 11 (thats how old Chance was) I don't think I would have an issue with it. He DOES have me for a mom, so by the ripe age of 11 I am sure he will be fully aware of all the different cuss words out there. I, OF COURSE, will teach him he can't repeat these in my home. If he does...I will beat him within an inch of his life. (obviously exaggerating...don't call CPS)
Ok..so I am sure you are already saying, "OMG What a bad MOMMY!" Yea yea..suck it...the next topic is the violence in music today. However, violence in music has been around for a LONG time. Johnny Cash's famous 'Folsom Prison Blues' talks about him killing a man just to watch him die. Pretty hard core shit right there. But people LOVED him. And still do. (me included) Violence is a fact of life. We are in a war for crying out loud! It is legal to kill babies in many different countries! (including ours...lets not get into the abortion debate, but obv I am pro-life) The world is not a pretty place. It is up to the parents to decide what we teach our kids. You can't hide them from everything. Eminem (I have his new album so he is stuck in my head) got a lot of press for his violent music. He has songs talking about killing his ex wife and raping his mother. I get it, its bad. In his song 'Who Knew' he says, "But don't blame me when little Eric jumps off of the terrace. You shoulda been watching him, apparently you ain't parents". Gotta agree with him. Guns don't shoot themselves and music doesn't suddenly turn people into psychos. There was something there to help it along...
And then there is the sexuality in music. Before Juvenile was talking about backing asses up (and he didn't mean to move it outta the way) and before Lil Wayne was using handcuffs for different kinds of restraint there was a guy named Prince...and Prince had a song called Darling Nikki. Darling Nikki is a pretty dirty song...lets just say Nikki was promiscuous. And, like I mentioned before, KISS was talking about licking things..and they weren't talking about lollipops!! Once again I don't want my toddler listening to this stuff...but obviously at 13 he will know he is a boy and what boys can do with their...stuff. As parents Jason and I have to teach him how to respect women and to practice safe sex. (dear God I hope I don't have to worry about that when he is 13)
So here it is folks...I know the music isn't suddenly going to be a soundtrack to Mary Poppins. I know he will like whatever rapper or rocker is cool at the time. So when he is 12, 13, 14 years old...I am probably (I said probably) not going to worry too much about the cussing and sexuality or the violence. At that age he will know right from wrong and if he doesn't, Jason and I will have FAR more serious things to worry about. I think people (some...I know not everyone is like this) need to stop blaming the music, tv, and video games for bad kids. MAYBE it is the lack of parenting going on! I think it is up to the parents to teach their kids right from wrong and just because someone pops a cap in someone else in a song, does not make it right. (Duh) In the mean time...until my baby is not such a baby and is closer to a man...we will be travelling in silence..or with a lot of Justin Bieber on.
No comments:
Post a Comment