My mother was a double major, Music and English. As a result we grew up as
kids watching every musical in the book. We would watch Camelot, Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story, Godspell, The Sound of Music, The
Blues Brothers the Beatles movies and pretty much any movie with Bing
Crosby. If there was a soundtrack for it, chances are we watched it and
even owned it. I was watching the movie “Grease” today. That was
always tuned in if it was on. Its funny how many subtle and often
inappropriate jokes were made in that movie that I never picked up on in my
youth. I was watching it with my twelve year old daughter and was
wondering how many of the comments were going over her head and how many she
actually understood. It’s not the kind of question you ask because it
forces you to explain all the hidden meanings and that would be one long
conversation for no reason. Still I watched her and wondered. I
think children have been exposed to much more adult subjects at an earlier age
than I was. Perhaps I lived a sheltered life but I think a good number of
parents would agree with me that children are aware at an earlier age to things
like sex and drugs than we were. By the same token, my father told me that
we were exposed to much more age inappropriate subjects than he and his
generation had been. The point was driven home for me a few years back
when I was driving with my son and I was listening to the Beach Boys. He
told me that, “Their music isn’t much different from 50 Cent. They just
don’t swear.” I am no expert on 50 Cent. I do know that there is a
world of difference to me between his styling’s and those of the Beach
Boys. From my son’s point of view, though, he saw them as the same.
It is not so dissimilar to my father lambasting my music as “junk” when compared
to Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Tony Bennett and a slew of others. It seems
to be the nature of things that each generation takes music and pushes the
envelope a little farther than it had previously been pushed. Think about
it. In the 1980s you couldn’t have had a song like “I Kissed a Girl” by
Katy Perry. It never would have flown. In the 1970s you couldn’t
have had Madonna being…Madonna. In the early 1960s you couldn’t have had
AC/DC singing, “You Shook Me…” The list goes on. It kind of makes me
wonder what my daughter will be watching with her children one day and hope to
not have to explain.
kids watching every musical in the book. We would watch Camelot, Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story, Godspell, The Sound of Music, The
Blues Brothers the Beatles movies and pretty much any movie with Bing
Crosby. If there was a soundtrack for it, chances are we watched it and
even owned it. I was watching the movie “Grease” today. That was
always tuned in if it was on. Its funny how many subtle and often
inappropriate jokes were made in that movie that I never picked up on in my
youth. I was watching it with my twelve year old daughter and was
wondering how many of the comments were going over her head and how many she
actually understood. It’s not the kind of question you ask because it
forces you to explain all the hidden meanings and that would be one long
conversation for no reason. Still I watched her and wondered. I
think children have been exposed to much more adult subjects at an earlier age
than I was. Perhaps I lived a sheltered life but I think a good number of
parents would agree with me that children are aware at an earlier age to things
like sex and drugs than we were. By the same token, my father told me that
we were exposed to much more age inappropriate subjects than he and his
generation had been. The point was driven home for me a few years back
when I was driving with my son and I was listening to the Beach Boys. He
told me that, “Their music isn’t much different from 50 Cent. They just
don’t swear.” I am no expert on 50 Cent. I do know that there is a
world of difference to me between his styling’s and those of the Beach
Boys. From my son’s point of view, though, he saw them as the same.
It is not so dissimilar to my father lambasting my music as “junk” when compared
to Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Tony Bennett and a slew of others. It seems
to be the nature of things that each generation takes music and pushes the
envelope a little farther than it had previously been pushed. Think about
it. In the 1980s you couldn’t have had a song like “I Kissed a Girl” by
Katy Perry. It never would have flown. In the 1970s you couldn’t
have had Madonna being…Madonna. In the early 1960s you couldn’t have had
AC/DC singing, “You Shook Me…” The list goes on. It kind of makes me
wonder what my daughter will be watching with her children one day and hope to
not have to explain.
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