As a youth leader, I often hear about singers or music the kids are listening to. I get pretty shocked sometimes by the content in the songs (when I go home to hear what they sound like), and moreso by the content in the videos for the songs (which content in videos have always been pretty bad, but I do believe it's getting worse). I listen to underground/lesser known music so I am usually out of the loop with such popular music.
I however realize that I came from a generation as a kid hearing songs on the radio or that kids at school liked such as "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt-N-Pepa, "I'll Make Love To You" by Boys 2 Men, "The Thong Song" by Sisqo, "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by the Vengaboys, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mixx-a-Lott, "Justify My Love" by Madonna, "Booti Call" by BLACkstreet,"I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Bad, "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred, "I Kissed a Girl" by Jill Sobule, "Sex and Candy" by Macy Playground, "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "A.D.I.D.A.S." by Korn, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and the list is gigantic. These all had questionable content about sex, relationships, and drinking.
I decided to head over to Billboard.com to listen to just the top 5 pop radio songs, top 5 rock songs, and top 5 R&B/Hip-Hop songs. If you have not heard what these songs are about, it is because sometimes the music is so catchy that they "love the song" not knowing what it is about or what the lyrics are. Even so, they might like it regardless. I want to give you an idea of what these songs could be about based off of the lyrics. Feel free to add your own insight. Talk to your kids about what these songs are really about and the negative and positive things they can learn from them.
I plan on doing entries like this every couple of months, so you can understand what our youth are being fed and what is probably going to be an inspiration to them in some way.
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Top 5 radio Pop Songs
1. "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars - This song is actually very encouraging to girls, saying the main girl he's singing about is amazing just as she is. The lyrics say that the whole world stops and stares for a while when she smiles. . . rather than at sexy bodies like most other songs state. 2. "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" by Usher ft. Pitbull - He talks about how he has no control of his body and that the music given by the DJ (at the club obviously) is going to make them fall in love as they "dance". He states about how he is going to drink a lot and pretty much go wild as they touch each other's bodies. Then of course it discusses putting the girl in a headlock (obviously a sexual one, not literal one) and how they are going to have sex, and admitting he's a "hustler".
3. "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry - It starts off really sweet about how the guy appreciates her for what she is (without make up and making punch lines). Then she talks about going "all the way tonight, no regrets, just love" as if love and sex are the same thing. Apparently that makes one stay young forever. She then talks about getting drunk and "making a fort" out of the sheets in a motel. Of course throughout it she states how she likes being touched or touching him. This makes one have a "teenage dream" to do all this? Very sad.
4. Like a G6 by Far*East Movement ft. Cataracs & Dev - The entire song is about drinking. Lots of drinking. It says they live like that every single night. Is this the type of message we should send to people? Also they mock sober girls in this song, saying that they act drunk around him. Why should anyone want to act drunk? Does that make one look cool? Be sober, people.
5. "Just a Dream" by Nelly - A song about regrets. He misses a girl who was like a dream to him, and he discusses how he should have bought her a ring and been committed to her. She left him and he is down in the dumps about it. Of course it doesn't help that he is at the club trying to get over her and realizing he should have treated her better. Poor guy is looking for answers and is just thinking about what he did wrong and not doing anything to change his ways.
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Top 5 Rock songs
1. "Say You'll Haunt Me" by Stone Sour - Song about how he wants to be with his girl forever and ever and have her haunt him if she were to die, because he can't live without her.
2. "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys - A guy really wants love desperately and said he also needs it. Apparently the one he has a thing for is a wild girl and he wants to put some reigns on her to hold her tightly to himself. He talks about how much pain he is in. He said that in the past he used to move really fast but that he's "come around". Sounds like he is ready to be committed but his love interest is too much for him (possibly reminding him of his old self). Pretty sad song.
3. "Animal" by Neon Trees - Sounds as if they are very crazy sexually together. He says how he wants more and more and that they are sick like animals. He says they "won't sleep tonight". At one point he says things are getting heavier and that he wants to run and hide. He doesn't want to be denied the animal inside of the girl he's after that he wants to be "more than friends" with. Basically this is pretty known to be a very sexual song.
4. "Radioactive" by Kings of Leon - Not really understanding what this means. He talks about drinking water from where they came from and he hopes to see someone when the "roll is called up yonder". It also mentions "sons and daughters in all their glory, it's gonna shape them. And when they clash and come together, and start rising, just drink the water where you came from". Anyone get what this mean? It could be a hidden meaning yet at the same time it could be searching for answers and taken in a godly sense.
5. "Love-Hate-Sex-Pain" by Godsmack - Apparently the singer is stating he doesn't understand if he'll be complete before he dies. He is searching for answers and is wondering as he "tears away the skin". so therefore love, hate, sex, and pain are "complicating" him and "underestimating life" as the lyrics state. Again sounds like he is tired of searching for answers in things that he's wasted bits of his life into.
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Top 5 R&B/Hip-Hop songs
1. "Deuces" by Chris Brown ft. Tyga & Kevin McCall - a girl is out to get him and follow him like a vulture. He tells her she'll regret it. There is some strong language in this song. He's ready to move on and say bye to this girl. He's going to go hit the clubs and hates love and liars. He wants all his stuff back that he bought her. He talks about giving her the middle finger. He got a new chick but she's a bit of the same type of girl but it doesn't matter if it gets his old girl jealous.
1. "Deuces" by Chris Brown ft. Tyga & Kevin McCall - a girl is out to get him and follow him like a vulture. He tells her she'll regret it. There is some strong language in this song. He's ready to move on and say bye to this girl. He's going to go hit the clubs and hates love and liars. He wants all his stuff back that he bought her. He talks about giving her the middle finger. He got a new chick but she's a bit of the same type of girl but it doesn't matter if it gets his old girl jealous.
2. "Can't Be Friends" by Trey Songz - This girl dumped him and wants to be friends and it is driving him crazy since he "knows she still thinks about me too". He regrets having sex and being in love with her. He's having a really hard time recovering and even regrets kissing her because it was part of how he fell in love with her.
3. "Bottoms Up" by Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj - He's going to steal girls from guys. He wants to drink a lot and "tear this club up" and he likes how she "shakes it in those jeans". He said they'll go "alcohol insane". Someone tell me what a deuce is? He keeps talking about how he wants girls giving deuces to guys. He also talks about how his vision is blurred and there are so many girls around. He's drunk as can be. A girl raps and swears a lot and wants the keys to his car and supposedly someone is high on weed or she wants some. She also says she grabbed a "Louisville Slugger" aka a bat but says, "I'm really such a lady". She then talks about how they give money to the kids in Haiti and how she really hopes guys like her body and goes on with a bunch of garbled drunken talk. She gets drunk and so do all the other people at the club.
4. "Hold Me Down (Going in Circles)" by Jasmine Sullivan - This girl is crying a lot and went through so many tissues. She wants the boy back but he won't admit he's done something wrong. She continually goes back to the guy going in circles. She "feels so used by you just like a toy" and she takes the blame for how he acts since she continually goes back to him.
5. "No Hands" by Wocka Flocka Flame ft. Roscoe Dash & Wale - At a club and watching how girls move around, specifically their bums. There is language in this song. He's out for either blow jobs or a one night stand and doesn't care which. He sees breasts everywhere. Lots of drinking happening. He apparently paid a girl to do things with him and she takes her clothes off for him. While she's doing sexual things to him, he likes to sit back and stare at her body. He thinks he is hot stuff now because of how easily he got this girl to do things to him. He has red eyes from all the haze, so apparently he's high too? He continues to talk about such things throughout the song while throwing more cash at the "hoe".
What's sad is that most of the kids probably don't even pay attention to the lyrics that they are listening to every day- they probably just like the beat or sound and that's good enough for them, but it says something about them when other people hear what they are listening to. I don't know, maybe I was really sheltered but I wasn't even allowed to listen to secular music until high school and by that time my love was elsewhere...mostly musicals or even radio dramas. It just shocks me now when I hear little kids (like 7 or 8 year olds) listening to these songs I would never ever have been able to at their age.
ReplyDeleteBy the way "Duces" is the peace sign they call ti duce because duce usually means two, and you hold up two fingers. So when a girl gives a guy duces that means shes leaving him.
ReplyDeleteI hate how no one bothers to listen to the lyrics anymore. Evidently, all that matters is the beat, not the subject matter that is subconsciously being beaten into your head. It's sad.
ReplyDeleteThe only song I've heard out of the ones you listed is Teenage Dream, which was terribly disappointing. I thought it was going to be a surprisingly sweet simple song, but of course not, it HAS to be sexual. :/
I too am "out of the loop" as far as what kids are into these days. I listen to a Christian radio station or my Ipod or the mostly crappy music at work, and I'm not committed to regularly watching any particular show that a teenager is watching these days. I have been to several weddings these past few months so I got to hear a lot more current music and it was rather frustrating to me to hear a song that had a really good beat and/or sound but the lyrics were awful. But God is looking out for me! I recently heard a few songs on the radio that would be great for dancing AND have positive godly lyrics. People really don't pay much attention to the lyrics. What was I watching a while back... hmm... some show where this little girl had the most foul lyric-ed songs on her Ipod and was going around singing them and it was appalling. I think it was Supernanny. The parents had no idea because they never even bothered REALLY listening to the music before exposing it to their daughter. And maybe I am just a prude or something but I didn't even know half the things these songs were talking about, some of which I still don't understand. That G6 song gets stuck in my head because of the times I've heard it at weddings and parties lately, just the chorus, and I don't know what the heck its about (other than what you revealed).
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like all of these song writers are really searching for love and fulfillment but seek it in all the wrong places like sex, drugs, and alcohol. They end up feeling even more empty but still going deeper into these same things that never really satisfy especially outside of their intended context; for example, sex can be and is very fulfilling within marriage. It all reminds me of a Joshua Harris quote:
The world takes us to the silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, "This is love." God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, "This is Love."