I have little sympathy for parents who complain about their children’s music.
They complain that it drives them crazy. They’ve listened to “A Chipmunk’ Christmas” twenty times in a row on a hot July afternoon. Well whose fault is that? :)
I’ve been there too. I admit, it’s a tough situation, especially since the CD shuffle often occurs when the parent is behind the wheel of a vehicle. Should a parent (a) give in and play the damn song for the 21st time (b) not give in, and become partially responsible for WWIII erupting in the backseat or (c) just drive off a cliff and end it once and for all?
If you, the parent, is sick and tired of your kid’s music, there’s no one to blame but yourself. You are the one who probably bought it in the first place. You are the one controlling the CD player. You’re the one giving in! I believe driver’s rights trump everyone else’s. I refuse to listen to the stuff that annoys me.
But be forewarned, this can totally backfire. Take for example, our darling daughter Sarah’s most frequent request is (in her words) “the Tick Tock song.” Translation: “What You Waiting For?” by Gwen Stefani. Here’s the Wikipedia entry about it. And in case you don’t know the song, these are the lyrics.
Both Emma and Sarah don’t quite understand it yet. They were talking to me about the chorus the other day. It’s my favourite part of the song. It goes like this: “Look at your watch now/ you’re still a super-hot female/ you’ve got your million-dollar contract/ and they’re all waiting for your hot track”.
“It reminds me of turkeys,” said Emma thoughtfully. I’m still not quite sure what she meant by that.
My worry is that the girls are going to repeat the more offensive parts of the song. Specifically the part at the very end where Gwen says “Take a chance you stupid ho.”
[Aside: I am puzzled that on the lyrics site linked above it is spelled “hoe” – when it’s clearly supposed to be HO and I can reliably assume that is NOT calling herself a gardening tool.]
The singer is actually talking to herself. According to the Wiki entry: “The lyrics capture how Stefani has conflicting feelings in the form of an inner dialogue with herself, with the more confident Stefani (who sings in a tough, strident tone) giving the nervous one (squeakier and higher) some tough love: “Take a chance ‘cuz you might grow/ take a chance, you stupid ho”. The nervous Stefani sings in the first person, while the confident one responds in the second person: “Naturally, I’m worried if I do it alone…” while the other responds, “Who really cares, ‘cuz it’s your life, you never know, it could be great”.”
Anyway, all this aside, what if my sweet daughters start calling people a stupid ho? Or worse, their teacher, principal, or their grandmothers! I just keep hoping they won’t repeat what they don’t understand. I refuse to go back to Farmer in the Dell, but perhaps it’s time to cull the music selection a bit? ;)
What are your favourite tunes for the car? I know of at least one little boy out there who likes Green Day. The girls really like the Minority Song by GD. In fact, I expect them to yell “down with the moral majority” from atop the playground slide any day now.
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