belligerentyouth...

Do you think good music necessarily contains profanity? I doubt it. As far as cuss...curse...religious ties go: I don't believe there's very much of religion expressed in popular music containing profanity. If there is, point me to the group just so I can satisfy my curiosity.

I'm not arguing here that in order for music to be 'good' it should not have profanity. That is far from my argument. There are too many examples of music that has qualities many enjoy that also happens to have a 'cuss' word here and there or maybe all throughout.

Some good music has profanity. So be it.

The whole point of my expressed disturbance over this ten-year-old boy's description of what he calls 'good music' is that 'all the good music has cuss words'--and then his ensuing disappointment that music with 'cuss words' is not allowed to be played at school. I would never criticize this boy for what he has learned and how he has come to evaluate music. I simply listened to his explanation after I'd asked him why he wasn't looking forward to the party. And I learned what was his point of view. But it disturbed me that he had not found a body of songs from which he would have gladly--like many other children--brought a few to school that would have still fallen under that range of what can be played in a public school. I brought it up here because I suspect that this boy is probably not alone in how he feels about the music the school allows, and also because musical lyrics are part of what expression is about; ergo, our word board discussions.

Someone up there in the thread earler--perhaps it was Fallible--pointed out that it is probably a trait of the boy's age to exaggerate. Perhaps he does have a few songs he likes that actually don't have any 'cuss words.'

But it is this boy's overall impression of language in song that I find disturbing--I certainly would feel the same kind of disturbance if my own daughter expressed that all the 'good music' has cuss words.

Ten years old? This is no age of innocence--scatological, damning words rhythmically and evocatively capturing and somehow affecting his attention and concept of goodness? But more disturbing: his concept of allness or his world view.

What is lacking is a sense of balance.