Sex, guns and booze - subjects fit for a singalong?

FRIDAY, DEC. 16: I was driving the other day, happily listening to the tunes on the radio, window rolled down, a beautiful wife by my side and a wonderful six-year-old daughter in the back seat.

She (the daughter) was behaving like all 6 to 16 year olds do — she was listening to and singing along with the songs on the radio.

It’s a common practice in our home. I do it too — after all, when you host a TV show that revolves around lyrics in songs, it makes sense to get to know them. I guess the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree cause my baby loves to sing along too.

The song on at the time was Katy Perry’s recent global number 1 — called, Last Friday Night. Now, here’s the rub.

When a six-year-old innocently sings songs with these lyrics, and remember we are talking about 45 million kids all over the world all under 16 years of age singing these words too, I get concerned.

Minibar

Tell me if I am out of touch with reality...but read these words from that Katy Perry song: ‘There’s a stranger in my bed. There’s a pounding in my head. Glitter all over the room. Pink flamingos in the pool. I smell like a minibar. DJ’s passed out in the yard. Is this a hickey or a bruise? Last Friday night. We went streaking in the park, then skinny dipping in the dark, then had a ménage-a-trois...

I bet as you read this, you, like me know what a menage-a-trois is. I bet you know what streaking is, I assume (if you had a colourful university life) that you know what a stranger is doing in your bed and I guarantee we all know what skinny dipping is (sure we’ve all done it once)... but six-year olds don’t, and they shouldn’t anyway.

Still, there she was joyfully belting out that she’d had a menage-a-trois! I asked her what those words meant and she did not know, so I let it lie.

Lo and behold, just two songs later we got to hear Rhianna, the megastar hit maker of the last few years, singing her recent global number 1 pop song called, Man Down.

These are graphic lyrics that get played all over the world to ears of all ages without any censoring...so be warned, carefully read this:

‘Oh mama mama mama, I just shot a man down, In Central station, In front of a big ol’ crowd, Oh Why Oh Why, Oh mama mama mama, I just shot a man down, In Central station, Look I never thought I’d do it, Never thought I’d do it, Oh gosh, What ever happened to me, Ever happened to me, Why did I pull the trigger, Pull the trigger pull the trigger BOOM, And end a n****a end, a n****a’s life so soon, When me pull the trigger, pull the trigger pull it upon you, Somebody tell me what I’m gonna, what I’m gonna do.’

It rightly caused a great deal of controversy, especially after the video was released which shows Rhianna pulling the trigger. The explanation for the song is that she was raped in the song and sought revenge!

Graphic

The Parents Television Council (PTC) was outraged that radio stations would dare play the song (and Bermuda was guilty of playing it a lot). The PTC also went on the attack of TV stations for showing the graphic video. Released to the Press, the PTC said: “The council disagreed with Rihanna’s suggestion that killing a rapist is a proper form of justice and her rationale that it “sends a very strong underlying message for girls like me.”

They also stated “If Chris Brown (whom Rhianna was allegedly venting toward) shot a woman in his new video and it premiered on TV, the world would stop. Rihanna should not get a pass.”

And I think they have a point.

But now here’s the ridiculousness of the censoring system in many jurisdictions.

Lyrics in the US and Bermuda (not so much in Australia and most parts of Europe) that feature a swear world here or there, have them bleeped out. Eminem’s recent No. 1 hit, Love The Way You Lie, is a perfect example. Whenever this part of the song came on Bda and US radio, the swear words were bleeped out...

Games

‘Next time I’m p....., I’ll aim my fist at the drywall, Next time. There won’t be no next time, I apologize even though I know it’s lies, I’m tired of the games, I just want her back, I know I’m a liar, If she ever tries to f.... .leave again, Im’a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire’.

Which leads me to this sad conclusion. We are not allowed to hear swear words, words that are generally spoken daily, on the radio because, presumably that offend people. Yet we can hear about threesomes and people murdering others! And in glorifying tones.

Please tell me this way of thinking is ludicrous.

Incidentally, Songopoly returns to VSB TV 11 in December... and I can assure you there will be no songs that feature images of violence, violent sex acts and anything unlawful!