ARMAGEDDON IT?
Various quotations pulled from an Essay On Rock & Roll Lyrics (as found on Rockwisdom.com):
“… [M]usic can be used to create and promote industry. Contemporary music provides numerous business opportunities for musicians, record companies, merchants, and supporting industry. In fact, it is a huge multi-billion dollar per year industry. The music industry is good in that it provides goods and services, and helps spur the economy.”
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“One of the greatest concerns is that people are being bombarded with negative and destructive ideas to the point where they become self perpetuating and feed and grow off each other. Can negative and destructive ideas and concepts really spread and grow? Although it may be difficult to prove or establish a direct correlation, the reality of the situation is that negative material has been increasing at a dramatic and alarming rate. (Note: The rate of increase could be measured and tracked by taking the top 500 selling/requested songs for each year since 1955 and comparing them according to categories of contents, themes, profanity, etc.).”
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“It is never permissible to expose pornography and other types of inappropriate material to children. And only permissible to expose older children, such as teenagers and young adults, to certain adult oriented material with the consent of parents and guardians or in other cases at least providing consumer labels so that they may intervene at their own discretion. In addition, it is not reasonable to expect that parents and guardians to be able to watch over their children’s well being 24 hours a day for 365 days a year for 18 years. Society has a responsibility to act as a good neighbor.
It is not always a ‘black and white’ world, and we must search for solutions in the ‘gray’ by being open minded and creative, willing to work with each other, and always using legitimate means and being fair. Acceptable compromises can be found so that we may keep both ideals intact.”
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“Another irony with the entertainment industry is that an over whelming majority of the most critically acclaimed pieces of music, movies, plays, and television shows do not utilize techniques associated with negative material. Perhaps one of the reasons they are great and withstand the test of time is because they rise above the pettiness of cheap gimmicks and rely on creativity, vibrancy, energy, honesty, and the genius of the creator. People with real talent do not need to rely on tricks.
Yes, there are individuals who abuse the freedoms and liberties that we cherish. Some do not care about the impact they have or their responsibility to society, but rather focus only on their self-interests. They continuously exploit the gray in our Constitution, our trust in our fellow citizens, and our wonderful ability to forgive and tolerate.”