Explicit Lyrics: Going Overboard

OK, I'm still in college, have gone over the hill yet, don't have any kids, but yet I feel old. I have reached the point where I am tired of hearing every song on the radio and its graphic language.

Now don't get me wrong. I understand that cursing and swearing and language of the such have pretty much become mainstream. But does anybody else think it is being taken too far? I mean, I cuss like a sailor-- and so do most of my friends, but when it comes to music, we are talking about having younger children being exposed to it. I know I watch my language around children (and most women). Unfortunately, 50 Cent (pronounced: fiddy scent) being played on the radio (or worse CD) does not have that control.

Anybody remember the Simpsons episode when Sideshow Bob gets paroled? "We object to the use of the term urine-stenched hellhole, when you could have used pee-pee-stenched heckhole." OK, doesn't have the same ring to it, but it makes the point and isn't as fiery.

My point is that 50 Cent does not need to sing (or whatever you call it) about being a "Mother-F***ing P.I.M.P." Mother-Loving would have fit just fine, a little cleaner. We know he has several illigitimate (and some legitimate) children-- OK, that's an assumption, but he gets action-- you can't deny that. Not only is he a mother-f***er, he's probably also a cherry poppin' daddy, in the truest sense.

The alternative above doesn't sound as great, and if he wants to talk about that-- fine. But is it really necessary f*** this, and f*** that.

There was a time (and probably a few people still) when Paul Anka's "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" was considered obscene. It's not. Nor is Bowling for Soup when they tell us that Jenny "was gonna shake her ass on the hood of Whitesnake's car." (and that gets edited by some radio stations). I also don't mind a few dropped in. But when there are so many edits that it sounds like the CD is skipping at the radio station-- there is a problem.

And I really don't mean to pick on 50 Cent-- but he has crossed the line. I also take offense to "I'll let you lick the lollipop" and "unbutton your pants just a little bit, take 'em off, pull 'em down just a little bit". Is this what we really want to hear? Is there a point to those lyrics? Not really-- just glorifying himself for pressuring someone into sex. And that really has no place on the airwaves. I'll give him credit for an attempt to mask it by calling it a lollipop-- but we all know what he means. He is just Mike Tyson without the helium and without the dictionary. And for those who don't agree with me: feast on the rump-- if you know what I mean.

It used to be that a few CDs a year would have a parental advisory on them. Now you almost have to try to find one without.

Now, I am working on a music history minor, so I have read/learned about the roots of hip hop. I know it is based on standing up against opression, and has roots in the music of slavery. And believe it or not I am not offended by "F*** the Police". Why not? Because it could have been much worse. And while it is repeated in the song many times, in today's language, it just does not seem as bad-- as obscene. Just about everybody says "f*** that", so much so that the f-word almost isn't a bad word anymore. Yes times have changed, and some words are more accepted, but others are just outright offensive.

I know, obscenity and offensiveness are in the eye of the beholder, but should we really be pushing the limits on this? We have reached a point where we are turning words that used to describe an innocent act, dirty. The context of these lyrics almost make you want to shower after hearing them-- and I just have to ask: where the hell are the people who were offended by TV shows like the Simpsons and Married With Children? This is like ten times worse.

I write lyrics, a friend of mine writes music, and in the dozen years we've been writing as a team, we have not stumbled into such graphic terms. I guess I'm saying we need to leave some of this to the imagination-- don't force the visuals on to people.