And now, some people might feel, we have arrived.
On last week's pop music chart, three of the top 10 songs include THE dirty word, an event so momentous it merited front page mention in The New York Times.
Whether it’s a story that deserves to share space with reports on the tragedy in Japan and the turmoil in Libya is a matter of opinion, but it’s bound to attract the wrath of plenty of parents and self-appointed moral guardians. Much like the kerfuffle in the ’60s when it became widely rumored that “Louie, Louie” had dirty words in it. That resulted in an FBI investigation, although the only conclusion the Feebs were able to reach was that the Kingsmen’s lyrics were “unintelligible at any speed.”
Not being in the music promotion business, I won’t mention the names of the latest offending songs. If you really want to know, just consult your nearest teenager. Besides, I have more important concerns, such as “how could I have gone so wrong in the NCAA pool?”
But we have, admittedly, come a long way from the days in which the challenge of songwriting involved finding words that rhymed with “moon,” “June” and “spoon.”
And perhaps I’m not the best person to comment about the influence of lyrics that rhyme with a certain waterfowl. In moments of stress or physical pain, I have been known to use all seven of George Carlin’s “7 Dirty Words,” sometimes in the same sentence. I’m not proud of that, but events such as hitting my thumb with a hammer tend to bring out the worst in me.
I just can’t work myself into a tizzy worrying about whether hearing a word, any word, is going to make this generation of kids go bad, though. It is, after all the prerogative of each generation to challenge the values, stretch the boundaries and outrage the sensibilities of the previous one. Perhaps its duty.
I’m not sure how the next generation is going to be able to do that to this generation.
But I’m sure it will.
Contact D.L. Stewart at dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.
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