Scene 1, in the Free-Ride hoopty en route to a music lesson a few weeks ago:
[On the mix-CD in the CD player, a Todd Rundgren song begins to play.]
Younger offspring: Le Roy!
Dr. Free-Ride: Yup!
Younger offspring: The melody of this song is really catchy.
Dr. Free-Ride: I agree.
Younger offspring: But … what is he actually saying about women? I’m not sure the guy singing the song gets that women are people the same way he and his friend Le Roy are.
Dr. Free-Ride: No, I’m not sure he does either. It was the 1970s, but still.
Younger offspring: Some really catchy songs are problematic.
Dr. Free-Ride: You were bound to notice that sooner or later.
* * * * *
Scene 2, in the Free-Ride kitchen this morning:
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, want to watch a video for a rap song about evolution?
Younger offspring: Is it about going to a club, drinking a lot, and hitting on people?
Dr. Free-Ride: Um, it’s about sexual selection.
Younger offspring: Are there bad words in it?
Dr. Free-Ride: No, I don’t think so.
Younger offspring: Musical genres have rules. Maybe it was different when you were young, but nowadays rap songs have to be about going to a club, drinking a lot, and hitting on people, or at least they have to have bad words.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmmm.
Was it “Comin’ home to my biome”? That’s all the rage here… Unfortunately it means that my elder sprog thinks she likes rap & hiphop, so I drag out these exact arguments (the words/ideas are pretty yucky sometimes), and she gets sad.
Didn’t you tell her rap hasn’t been invented yet “when you were young”?
Yo, dawg, I remember when “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang came out (in 1979)! I was in sixth grade, which I think still counts as “young”, especially given that the younger Free-Ride offspring is currently in sixth grade!
And, to be fair, I didn’t become familiar with Todd Rundgren’s “We Gotta Get You a Woman” (released in 1970) until grad school (mark 1), when I borrowed a Todd Rundgren “best of” album from the public library. So I’m not nearly as old as my musical tastes might have you believe I am.
HahahhHaaah. Sure, sure. Split hairs.
DrugMonkey, in the unlikely event that we end up in the same blogger rest-home, I am so going to ram your walker with mine and make it look like an accident.
Because no one suspects the nice, little old blue-haired ethics lady.
You, ma’am, have just won one internets for that mental image.
lol, Only a child of an academic would use the word problematic.
For real. Like a child raised by wolves, she will never be able to fully integrate into human society.
First, I must commend “Younger Offspring” on her insights on the words to Todd Rundgren’s song “We gotta get you a woman.” I am sure she had a good teacher.
I therefore wondered what she would make of Rundgren’s song, “Hello It’s Me.”
I have always thought that the words to “Hello It’s Me” were among the most sensitive and insightful that I have ever heard in a rock song, especially a song from 1968.
Thanks for the memories.