Listen..keep on listening.
The thing that I’m going to discuss today had been going on for years now. I need to write about this because it annoys the hell out of me. It’s about interpreting song lyrics. Maybe in your mind this matter is not really important or serious that need to be discussed or highlighted but believe me the effects of lyrics misinterpretation can be serious and devastating. Now I’m going to give few examples of song lyrics that being criticized because of the message that they carry.
For some groups of people (narrow minded, utterly stupid, homophobes-take your pick) it is easy to condemn songs or artists only through surface level of interpretation. Music (and songs) is a form or poetry. It’s an art. To take it only on surface level, for me will be the greatest insult to the artists themselves and to art in general. In poetry we are dealing with poetic license: the liberty for writers to deviate from the conventional form of writing.
Some parts of songs are being censured, some songs/albums are taken off the shelves even angry/distress community makes request to eliminate the playlist from radio and tv. Maybe in certain cases these request and action are justified but as time goes by I can see they become more and more ridiculous.
Examples:
You like to keep me on a chain, chain, chain
Change your mind or change your ways, ways, ways
You got me running through a maze, maze, maze
I know this isn’t just a phase, phase, phase
You always pick me up
And then you hold me down
I’ll never let you go
‘Cause baby even though you beat me up, beat me up
I still love you ‘cause you heat me up, heat me up
And that’s why every time you hit me up, hit me up
I come running ‘cause you fix me up, fix me up
Oh baby just beat me up, beat me up
Oh baby just beat me up, beat me up
This particular song caused uproar in US. People (mothers, community groups) ask for this song to be removed from the album. It’s too violent they said. What? Like seriously? The words “chain” and “beat me up” blinded their eyes and fried their brains or something? This is not physical abuse we’re talking about. Poetic license, remember? The words are not literal. They argue that Allison (a teenager herself) promotes violence in romantic relationship like sadomasochism. Oh my God..I saw red when I watched her interview. How dense can people be?
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bomb in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
I found negative (should I also point out ignorant and paranoid) criticisms on this song in facebook. They preached about freemason and what not. Who cares if the guitarist is a Jew. Hello, guys.. we have suicide bombers in Islamic community. Can we say that all Muslims are rabid killers?
This song is one of the most heartbreaking songs ever written by Linkin Park. This group argued LP promotes violence to go against Islam. The line “bom blew the mosque up” is not instruction or celebration on the death and destruction of Muslims. They are stating the fact. Meaning that even now we have religions people can be cruel and the weak/poor suffer the most every time.
Try to think this way. Music is a powerful means of delivering message. Many artists realize about this a long time ago. They deliver something either to share their personal experiences or to make a different in the world. Maybe some songs can be outright offensive but we need to listen and understand carefully first before we pass any judgment.
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