Free speech in music
I think that every American citizen will agree with me when I say that freedom of speech is an essential part of democracy. This right encompasses many different areas of American life including but not limited to actual speech, clothing, what we read, what we see on television, and also what we hear in out music. But where do we draw the line on what we can and cannot say in music? I say that anything goes. It is after all only music. When I say it's only music, I don't want to make it seem like I think music is not an important thing. Far from it. My life would be completely different and far less enjoyable without it. What I mean is that it really isn't something that people need to get all worked up about. If one group or one parent has something against one kind of music or what kind of message that it is supposedly conveying, then I think it is their responsibility to ignore it or boycott it as they see fit, but it is ridiculous that everyone should have to suffer because one person is easily offended. And how does one group decide that music is profane or offensive without knowing anything about it? It is impossible for someone who does not listen to heavy metal or any other similar "tasteless" style of music to
Another thing about these artists that people fail to realize is that a lot of times these "offensive" songs have a completely different meaning than the ones that they see in them. While "Fuck the Police" certainly is a shocking title, it could just as easily have been called "I'm Tired of Being Hassled by the Police." That is the message of the song, but no one would listen if that were the title. If people would just listen to the music they would see it all differently. Another example is a song by Ozzy Osbourne called "Suicide Solution", which is about a friend of his who killed himself. This man is simply trying to express his grief and sorrow over the loss of his friend and persuade other people from killing them selves and people have the nerve to persecute him merely because at a glance the song appears to be advocating suicide. The Beatles album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" was also a source of undo controversy in its day. People heard the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and fly off the handle fussing about how it promotes the drug LSD and how it describes an acid trip. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is well documented that the song's author, John Lennon, got the inspiration to do the song from a nonsensical drawing his son Julian made about a girl named Lucy who was flying through the sky with diamonds in it. Hardly seems worth fussing over to me. Another song on the album, "A Day In the Life" was a source of scrutiny because of one line taken from by authors, Lennon and Paul McCartney, taken directly from a newspaper headline. The line "4,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire" was supposedly a reference to holes in the arm of a heroin user. People need to look before they leap. One thing I found hilarious from a video entitled "Shock Rock" produced locally by channel 11 was that when they were criticizing the song "Fuck the Police" they got some of the lyrics wrong. On the video rapper Ice Cube is quoted as saying "Yo drag I got something to say", while in actuality he says "Yo Dre I got something to say." While not a hugely "offensive" part of the song, it leaves me wondering what else these people that are so righteous and good could have misheard. They c
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1501
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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