The 21st century is profound musically, filled with lyrical metaphors and similes that the average 10 year old wouldn’t quite understand. As college students, not only do we listen to these explicit lyrics, we practically live by them. At times we unknowingly condone the sometimes vulgar content. The fact that we find it humorous to watch our 4 year old cousin gyrate and sing every word to “Clap Them Thighs,” is allowing us to falter as a society. Our children are also singing Trey Songz’ hit, Say Ahh, which pertains to consuming liquor, and what sounds like lewd sexual acts.
It shouldn’t be difficult to decipher that there are underlying messages poking through songs that are too complex for our children to fully grasp the meaning of. The vulgarity that we tolerate is outrageous and is only getting worse.
Little do we know, we’re brainwashing our youth and making it acceptable for them to yearn for a Rude Boy, who can “get it up”. At first listen, these lyrics are simply words to a catchy beat. The next thing you know, we allow ourselves to accept a completely different perception of a song that once we once thought had harmless intentions. What woman wouldn’t want a man with a Big Ego? Because of Beyonce, we can all envision what her boyfriend rapper, Jay Z is working with. Oh, you didn’t honestly think that she was just speaking highly of his confidence, did you?
There are so many hidden meanings behind a great deal of the lyrics contemporary artists produce. If it’s not about sex, drugs or love, it’s subliminally counter phrasing the two without our knowing. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not always the case, but for the majority of them, it is. We do have Monica’s Everything to Me, that’s a beautiful love ballad that we can partially claim, but we still mustn’t forget it’s a remake of Deniece Williams’ 1981 hit Silly.
With music being as influential and potent as it is, there is no escape. It wakes us up on our alarm clocks, it’s in our cars, it’s on television, it even reminds us that we have a phone call; it is literally everywhere. How can we not expect these subliminally poignant songs to ultimately consume our young children’s lives?
It’s gotten to the disastrous point where the reciting the alphabet are null and void in the home and are replaced with the latest 106th and Park No. 1 jam of the day.
If the world is as circular as they say, we’ll have another musical period where the quality is as rich as the quantity. As the great Johann Paul Richter professed, “Music is the poetry of the air,” and our air is highly polluted.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024