Saturday Morning Bait & Switch
June 27, 2009
Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with gaming, and is pretty much just a rant on my part.
I consider myself to be reasonably well educated, and while I may not be the most loquacious of individuals, I consider that I’ve got a decent vocabulary. Maybe it’s just that I was brought up in a different country, where naturally the ‘norm’ differs from North America, but still…
… random profanity really bugs me.
I’m not much for obscenties one way or another. I’ve uttered them from time to time, but they’re not part of my standard speech, so every time I hear someone randomly inserting f-bombs and the like into their sentences I’m reminded of a scene from a movie or tv show (don’t remember which one) wherein a girl swears in front of her father, and he drags her into her room, slams the door shut, sits down and explains to her that the only people who use profanities are people too stupid or too uneducated to know alternatives.
Now that’s a blanket statement that can have any number of holes poked in it – s’why blanket statements aren’t a bright idea, kids – but I can’t say I disagree with some of the thinking behind it.
If you’ve had a reasonable education, if you’re comfortable with the language, why devolve into profanities when you could be being so much more creative with your wordplay?
The point of all this is that I received a new iPod Touch for Father’s Day, and I got all excited, and next thing you know I was downloading apps and geeking out, and I thought to myself, Self, I thought, Why don’t you download some tunes on this nifty little wireless toy while you’re at it?
I’ve been enjoying a particular song that’s been receiving heavy airplay on the radio lately, it’s had a fun rhythm, the kids like yelling “boom boom” in the back seat of the car when it’s playing, so I thought, Self, Let’s get that one, and I responded, Mm’kay, and I paid my $1.25 CAD to iTunes and downloaded it without a second thought.
Then I listened to it.
I admit it’s my own fault for not checking to see if there was an explicit tag on the particular track I was downloading, but seriously 8 completely pointless excremental references just inserted into the track. They add nothing whatsoever to the song, and call me a prude if you like, but there’s no way I’m playing that track while my kids are around.
The radio stations have been giving the sanitized version of the track serious airplay, and because of that I was keen to purchase the song for my personal enjoyment – and instead I get an insulting attempt by the band to appear more edgy through uncreative lyrics.
Frankly, I’m very disappointed with my purchase.
I hear ya there Gday…as my kids get older, this will continue to become a bigger concern. Music is a big part of my wife and my life. We don’t listen to popular radio…at all. We listen to talk radio when we are listening live and the music we like when we are listening to recordings.
Our kids are getting a steady diet of Grateful Dead, Dave Brubeck, Jack Johnson, Vince Garaldi (music from the Peanuts specials from the 60s and 70s)…
They don’t get to hear Rage Against the Machine, Crystal Method, or other such fare until we can have a rational discussion of what music is and what it means.
Word of advice when you are downloading Music from Itunes Gday. #1 always look for the parental advisory. #2 for songs with explicit lyrics, there is also typically a Radio Edit version that is safe for your little ones to hear. My daughter loves that song as well, so I got the Family Friendly version of it.
I used to be pretty careful around my kids when they were younger (now they are 17 and 15). I work construction, and while I agree with appropriate use of the language, I fall under the other side of teh blanket statement. I am fairly well educated, but often find many of the seven words you cannot say on the public airwaves (thank you George Carlin) escaping my lips. Maybe because I am an American, or just because I am growing older, that I use my internal censor less and less. Maybe my goal is to become one of those crotchety old men that don’t care what they say.
Seriously though, as a musician, I can’t stand repetitive swearing in music. It is great to get the point across and use words sparingly, but for a band to verbally vomit for three and a half minutes does not make it art art. There is no craftsmanship in music these days. I do like RATM and other bands for the message they are getting across, but I did cut my teeth on the old school punk of the mid to late 80s. I also think it is cute when I see kids with Mohawks trying to look like British punks, like it is something new….
I appreciate your rant, though I do like the song you refer to. I don’t listen to much radio these days, it is much easier to plug in the iPod and listen to what I want to hear. Usually happens when I am painting.
Thanks-