True. I also forgot the dates of the songs in the original post. Billy Squier was very popular in the 80's. Pink is big now. Still saving my comments for later - probably tomorrow...
Lessee... One is asking for a handjob, the other is telling you you gonna have to give yourself a handjob.
And Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" And Robert Plant's "Dance On My Own" And "Turning Japanese" And how could you forget the Divynls' "I Touch Myself" BTW, "The Stroke" is a thinly veiled attack on the corporate music industry disguised as a song about tug jobs.
OK, guys. You're all aware of the <ahem> mechanics. Here's what got me thinking (with my primary brain you 'tards) on this subject. I was taking my 11 yo daughter somewhere and let her choose the radio station. She tuned in to the pop station and Pink was playing. One obvious thing that hit me was that it was pretty easy to follow along with what Pink was saying. Maybe it's just me but there's a lot of stuff my old ears can't pick out too well. The song has a good beat and I'm sure you could have fun dancing to it. But it also plays well on a couple of levels. One is the depths to which you've already plunged here and the other is what's more appropriate for a young kid. Pink tells a story of not liking some guy trying to pick her up and then giving him the old heave-ho. She's secure and doesn't need just any guy to be with. She can even be alone because she's happy with herself (a tremendously valuable thing, IMO.) My first, overly-protective-dad, reaction was to find something else to listen to. Then I thought about Billy Squier and my own youth. He's (a little more subtlely and without the redeeming qualities) telling a similar story. But it's still entertaining musically and that's what attracted me to it when I was younger. Finally, I thought about how society's attitudes about sex haven't changed all that radically in the last <mumble, mumble> years. Except being a tad more open, either song could've been released in either decade and probably would've done as well. What do you think?
You mean you actually let you daughter leave the house? You let her choose the radio station?? Well you are the prince of all dads, lemme tell you.
I know parental control is a foreign concept to you but it works well for minors. Has your daughter given you her expert opinion on the NYC condoms yet?
Too bad she can't read yet. She might learn that your ideas about sex aren't good ones for little girls.
1. call me naive but I never really thought that's what "The Stroke" was about....and don't see it as all that obvious reading the lyrics (certainly not to the extent of some others mentioned here) - always seemed to me about then use and abuse of aspiring artist bythose who would exploit them...kinda like Richard Marx's "Don't mean Nothing" 2. that second one reads like an unlistenable piece of shit, but then most new releases in the last 10-15 years are. But on the point you are getting to, in most cases by the time a teen figures out what any song with a reasonably subtle sexual undertone is referring to, they ought to have been brought up to speed anyway. After that, it's not so much about "putting ideas in their head" so much as whether you what to communicate "implicit approval" (or believe that listening to it does so). For my part, I don't usually turn off the songs I loved as a teen even though I realize what message they might communicate ...but then, my kids haven't developed the musical taste yet to appreciate what I like in most cases.
Here are a couple of others...not sure if they're about this same subject: "Walkin' the Dog" --- I don't remember who originally did it, but both The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith covered it. "Shock the Monkey" --- Peter Gabriel
That's a good alternative explanation for "the stroke". I hadn't heard that one before. I actually liked the Pink song, though. It really did have a good beat and it was one of those "tough girl" songs that are kinda cool. I've been torn between the two extremes you mention as well. There are lots of songs that are fun to listen to but aren't sending positive messages at all. There are plenty out there that are just harmless fun and then there are those that you're ashamed to admit you like. It is fun, though, to watch my kids develop their own likes and dislikes. This sounds corny, I know, but it's like they really are turning into little people.
I can't think of anything he's done I was impressed with either. We also can tell JCD doesn't read the threads.
