Taio Cruz says it like this:
'I came to dance, dance, dance, dance
I hit the floor
'Cause that's my, plans, plans, plans, plans
I'm wearing all my favorite
Brands, brands, brands, brands
Give me space for both my hands, hands, hands, hands
Ye, ye
Cause it goes on and on and on
And it goes on and on and on
Yeah!'
...riiiiight
or if you prefer Usher:
'I feel like a zombie gone back to life (back to life)
Hands up, and suddenly we all got our hands up
No control of my body
Ain’t I seen you before?
I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes
Cause baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again
Yeah, baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again
So dance, dance, like it’s the last, last night of your life, life
Gonna get you right
Cause baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again
Keep downing drinks like this
Not tomorrow that just right now, now, now, now, now, now
Gonna set the roof on fire'
Okay. Am I missing something here, or are these like the lamest lyrics ever? 'Give me space for both my hands' and 'keep downing drinks like this'. Who on earth is listening to this nonsense?
Well, as it turns out, millions of people are!
These are a just a tiny snapshot of the lyrics of the 'chart-topping' music for 2010. Sadly, the airwaves are littered with more where that came from.
Whatever your view of music may be, there is no denying that these sorts of messages are being accessed, voluntarily or otherwise, by some very impressionable ears. You can't turn on the radio or television and not have to endure some regurgitated form of this sort of drivel.
These songs are attached to catchy beats, and before you know it, the children are mouthing their messages without even noticing. Some may be too young to comprehend the meaning or understand the implications, but others are having these irresponsible ideas embedded into their psyche, to be retrieved or called upon some other day.
Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, our children are learning a lot about gender relations, gender identity, social roles, 'norms' and practices, drugs and alcohol, domestic violence etc etc and are having some very unsavoury practices normalised and even idealised both implicitly and in some instances like those quoted above, quite explicitly.
I worry about how we, as parents, combat this other dimension of social pressure, how we can ensure that our children don't accept these practices as 'cool' or as 'part of everyday life'... how do we market to them a responsible, ethical, safe (and in my view, moral) alternative without appearing too strict or rigid or uncool.
Just my little rant for the night...
