We're Smarter Than That

So it seems that most of my blog posts are about something ridiculous or something that makes me angry, and this one's no different. Really it's just that I don't understand some people and where they come up with their ideas/thoughts/opinions. So we're obviously a family of musical people. We love to listen to music, be around music, watch musical performances, etc. It's how Robert makes a living. And we love all kinds of music. Right now there is so much CRAP on the radio that it's hard to decipher what's good and what's not because you hear so much of the NOT right now. But what I do not understand is people's confusion of good music vs. the crazy, weird person who writes it. Here's the way I see it: if it's good music, I'll listen to it. If it's crap, I'm not. I don't believe that Lady Gaga is a very good person. I think she sends weird messages to children with all her body implants, weird clothes, and strange behavior. I think she's disturbed as a person and probably needs help. But does that mean that when she comes on the radio I turn it off? Nope. Because she, whether you like her or not, is an excellent song writer. Her music is good, plain and simple. It's catchy and energetic, yet it has actual musical quality to it as well. Prince is one of the most talented musicians out there, but is he weird? You bet. Michael Jackson? Weird as hell..... but an excellent musician, since he was 5. Incredibly gifted, talented musicians are not, by nature, normal people. They can't be. Normal people don't have those gifts. Most rock music from the 60's -80's was written/performed by man-whore, cracked-out drug addicts who were shooting up 4 minutes before their concerts just so they could make it through the night..... and you love them because they're "classic." That's called a double standard..... Now I'm not going to let Hayley, or Madeline, or Hannah, or Sarah go home and Google all about Lady Gaga and decide to become some big follower of her beliefs. And I know my sisters would agree. I also don't really and truly know what kind of person she is. Who am I to judge? She might do all of those things simply for publicity, and guess what? It works. You know her name. And here's the flip side to all of this. I've heard Christian music, from supposedly really good, Christian people that is absolute, 100% C-R-A-P. I'm pretty sure Caroline could write some of their music, and probably play the drums for it too. WOW. It's bad. Boring, repetitive, and just really annoying. I like to call them "7-11" songs.... 7 words repeated 11 times. Annoying. Some of it's good, and I do listen to Christian radio some days, but most days it's The Little Mermaid or Kindermusik songs for Caroline. My other gripe, is people who don't let their kids listen to ANY music that has an inkling of anything "racy" in it. All of you close to my age reading this, stop right now, and think about how many times you watched "Grease" when you were little. 147,000 right? And you still watch it when it comes on TBS, don'tcha? Now think about how many times he says "p*ssy wagon" and "the chicks will cream" in the song "Greased Lightning." We would sing our hearts out to that song, and had NO IDEA what he was talking about.... not a clue. And I didn't grow up to be a sex addict or disturbed person. I'm perfectly normal (well, most of the time ;-P). So when Caroline sings "Paparazzi" in the car and says "see barrettes" whenever she says "cigarettes" I just go right along with it and don't worry about it. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to let her listen to some vile rap songs, or even to some of that stuff on the radio, like Rihanna's Rude Boy or S&M. Now that is going too far, and I do believe in screening to an extent. And I wouldn't want my 12 year old listening to it either. But here's my thing - it's my job as a parent to teach my child that they are not allowed to be influenced by some random song they hear on the radio. We're smarter than that. I'm not going to let my child believe that because she hears a song about a thug "beatin' his b*tch" that it's ok for men to beat women. We're smarter than that. I'm also not going to let her believe that because she hears something about smoking cigarettes, that it means she can smoke. We're smarter than that. That's the moment when you teach your child right from wrong, good from bad. Instead of hiding it from them until they're half-grown and they freak out and can't handle it all. My child will grow up knowing how to think for herself and not let a few lyrics in a song influence her decisions or her beliefs. She'll know what we teach her at home, how we expect her to behave, and what's she's NOT allowed to do or say. Period. I will be the teacher of my child.... not some crappy song on the radio. Because we're smarter than that.