Country Music Lowers Your Kid’s IQ

A Prestigous Weekly Journal ^ | 9/21/01 | DENNISD'ANTONIO

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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Young children exposed to country music score lower on IQ tests than kids raised on rock 'n' roll, declares controversial music professor Dr. Roger Solett - and he bases his startling claim on the results of a study of 1,000 kids!

"Country music makes kids stupid," he said. "It's the mind- warping lyrics." And he cited a few examples drawn from what he called "some of the most popular country songs of the past two decades." On the list:

"I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy."

"Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissin' You Goodbye."

"If You Wanna Keep Your Beer Cold, Put It Next to My Ex-wife's Heart."

Dr. Solett is the former director of the prestigious Chopin Symphony and a professor of music. He said he and his research team gave IQ tests to 500 6-year-olds whose parents played country music in the house or car daily.

"They're Billy Ray Cyrus, Faith Hill, Clint Black, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks fans - and their children scored, on average, 10 points lower on standard IQ tests than 500 6-year-olds whose parents are rock 'n' roll junkies," said Dr. Solett.

"Now what's the difference between rock and country? It's just wild people banging on drums and strumming guitars in both cases. Lots of howling. Lots of noise. The only difference between rock and country is that country is stupid - the lyrics, I mean.

" 'I wanna whip your cow . . . I fell on a pile of you and got love all over me . . . Drop-kick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life' . . . I mean, c'mon, this kinda stuff'll warp your mind."

But Dr. Solett's controversial study, and particularly his views, are not shared by many, if any, of his peers. And a member of his own research team, who asked to remain anonymous, told Weekly World News, "He hates hick music with a passion."

[Bikers4Bush]

If this is serious I am rolling over laughing.

How are country lyrics any different than some of the rock n roll crap that's out there? Don't get me wrong I love rock n roll but this is sheer idiocy.

I site as examples, "She's my cherry pie" - Warrant and "Eat the rich" - Aerosmith.

And those two were off the top of my head.

[BornOnTheFourth]

"He hates hick music with a passion."

LOL.

A Toby Keith and Garth Brooks bump. ;-o

[dead]

From the same journal:

Dear Dottie

How can I become the next Hillary Clinton?

Dear Dotti: I've been a great admirer of Hillary Clinton - and now that she's been elected a U.S. Senator and got herself an $8 million book deal, I'm more in awe of her than ever. After all she's been through, she's on top of the world, while a lot of the people who tried to make trouble for her are history. I'm still in college, but I aspire to have a successful career in politics, too. How do you think I should go about following in the footsteps of my biggest role model, Hillary Rodham Clinton? - Jennifer in Kentucky

Dear Jennifer: First, find a whiny husband who likes to lie and cheat. Then eat until your thighs are the size of tree trunks. And last but not least, invest $20 in the stock market and make a million in less than a year!

[jlogajan]

Even if such a correlation were true, he hasn't demonstrated causation. Low IQ people could be attracted to C&W rather than C&W causing low IQ, etc.

[Jack Wilson]

The titles are the best part...

[ResistorSister]

No way does country music lower your kid's IQ...

Why, Jethro made it through the 6th-grade before he turned 23-years old.

[Grut]

Not true. It's the riding in pickup trucks that does it.

[alloysteel]

Does this mean that my IQ would perhaps been well over 200 if as a youth, I had a steady diet of rock'n'roll instead of Opryland?

Sorry, there are HUGE holes in that argument. I have never known a rock'n'roll fan that was much smarter than barely average. Classic music fans, yes. Chess club members, certainly. But the Fonz as a genius? highly unlikely.

[dead]

I actually went to their site looking for an online version of their latest issue on the newstands. There was no web version of their great new cover story, but I bought my copy this morning. I couldn't resist:

[okie_tech]

LOL!!! I concur with the test results but disagree with causation. Dumb people just like country.

[Nachum]

Phew! I was worried for a moment. Now we don't have to worry about Rock titles like:

"Cocaine"

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

"Love Stinks"

"Bad Boys Get Spanked"

and of course, that intellectual's favorite-

"Godzilla"

[SunStar]

Notice that they didn't compare Country music with Rap or "R&B"...

[WyldKard]

People people people...This is the World Weekly News, not JAMA for crying out loud :).

[OBAFGKM]

Love it!! Here's some more

Actual Country Song Titles

---

• Do You Love As Good As You Look?

• Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?

• Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through The Goalposts of Life.

• Get your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns in The Bed.

• Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye.

• Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart!

• Heaven's Just A Sin Away.

• Her Body Couldn't Keep You Off My Mind.

• Her Cheatin' Heart Made A Drunken Fool Out Of Me.

• Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure.

• Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares.

• How Can A Whiskey That's 6 Years Old Whup A Man That's 33?

• How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?

• How Can Your Believe Me When I Say I Love You; When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?

• I Been Roped And Thrown By Jesus In The Holy Ghost Corral.

• I Can't Get Over You, So Why Don't You Get Under Me?

• I Changed Her Oil, She Changed My Life.

• I Don't Know Whether To Come Home Or Go Crazy.

• I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling.

• I Don't Want Your Body If Your Heart's Not In It.

• I Fell In A Pile Of You And Got Love All Over Me.

• I Flushed You From The Toilets Of My Heart.

• I Got In At 2 With A 10 And Woke Up At 10 With A 2.

• I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except Mine.

• I Just Bought A Car From The Guy That Stole My Girl, But The Car Don't Run So I Figure We Got An Even Deal.

• I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You.

• I Knew I'd Hit Rock Bottom When I Woke Up On Top Of You.

• I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well.

• I May Be Used (But Baby I Ain't Used Up).

• I Meant Every Word That He Said.

• I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better.

• I Wanna Whip Your Cow.

• I Wish I Were In Dixie Tonight, But She's Out Of Town.

• I Would Have Wrote You A Letter, But I Couldn't Spell Yuck!

• I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dawg Fight, Cause I'm Afraid She'd Win.

• I Wouldn't Take You To A Dog Fight Even If I Thought You Could Win.

• I'd Rather Have A Bottle In Front Of Me Than A Frontal Lobotomy.

• I'll Get Over You As Soon As You Get Out From Under Him.

• I'll Marry How Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight.

• I'm Gettin' Gray From Being Blue.

• I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home.

• I'm Havin' Daydreams About Night Things In The Middle Of The Afternoon.

• I'm Just A Bug On The Windshield Of Life.

• I'm Not Married But The Wife Is.

• I'm So Miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here.

• I'm The Only Hell Mama Ever Raised.

• I've Been Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart.

• I've Got Four On The Floor And A Fifth Under The Seat!

• I've Got Red Eyes From Your White Lies And I'm Blue All The Time.

• I've Got Tears In My Eyes From Lying On My Back In My Bed While I Cry Over You.

• I've Got The Hungries For Your Love And I'm Waiting In Your Welfare Line.

• If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me, Her Memory Will.

• If Fingerprints Showed Up On Skin, Wonder Whose I'd Find On You.

• If I Can't Be number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You.

• If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now.

• If I Said You had A Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me?

• If It's Got To Be Later, How 'Bout Later Tonight?

• If Love Were Oil, I'd Be A Quart Low.

• If My Nose Were Full Of Nickels, I'd Blow It All On You.

• If She Puts Lipstick On My Dipstick, I'll Fall In Love.

• If The Jukebox took Teardrops I'd Cry All Night Long.

• If the Phone Don't Ring, Baby, You'll Know It's Me.

• If Whiskey Were A Woman, I'd Be Married For Sure.

• If You Can't Feel It (It Ain't There).

• If You Don't Leave Me Alone, I'll Go And Find Someone Else Who Will.

• If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?

• It Ain't Love But It Ain't Bad.

• It Don't Feel Like Sinnin' to Me.

• It Takes Me All Night Long To Do What I Used To Do All Night Long.

• Learning To Live Again Without You Is Killing Me.

• Mama Get The Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head).

• May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.

• My Every Day Silver Is Plastic.

• My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Don't Love Jesus.

• My John Deere Was Breaking Your Field, While Your Dear John Was Breaking My Heart.

• My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, And I Sure Do Miss Him.

• Oh, I've Got Hair Oil On My Ears And My Glasses Are Slipping Down, But Baby I Can See Through You.

• Oh, Lord! It's Hard To Be Humble When You're Perfect In Every Way.

• Out Of My Head And Back In My Bed.

• Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill.

• Please Bypass This Heart.

• She Feels Like A New Man Tonight.

• She Got The Gold Mine And I Got The Shaft.

• She Got The Ring And I Got The Finger.

• She Made Toothpicks Out Of The Timber Of My Heart.

• She's Got Freckles On Her, But She's Pretty.

• She's Out Doing What I'm Here Doing Without.

• Swing Wide Your Gate Of Love.

• Tennis Must Be Your Racket 'Cause Love Means Nothin' To You.

• Thank God And Greyhound She's Gone.

• The Last Word In Lonesome Is "Me".

• They May Put Me In Prison, But They Can't Stop my Face From Breakin' Out.

• Touch Me With More Than Your Hands.

• Velcro Arms, Teflon Heart.

• What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out Of Me).

• When We Get Back To The Farm (That's When We Really Go To Town).

• When You Leave Walk Out Backwards, So I'll think You're Walking In.

• Who You Gonna Believe, Me Or Your Lying Eyes?

• You Can't Deal Me All The Aces And Expect Me Not To Play.

• You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith Too.

• You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd.

• You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat!

• You Hurt The Love Right Out Of Me.

• Your Were Only A Splinter As I Slid Down The Banister Of Life.

• You're A Cross I Can't Bear.

• You're Ruining My Bad reputation.

• You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly.

[BornOnTheFourth]

People people people...This is the World Weekly News, not JAMA for crying out loud :).

whew...had me worreed they're. i luv cuntry musik and kant be dum!

[dighton]

Ima Tabloidian bump.

[Apogee]

how about "baby you make this red-blooded white boy blue?"
I would be interested in his causal chain as well. Were these people from a similar location/socio-economic status/education?
If he was comparing the favored sons against a poor person from a trailer park then he has no way of making any real correlation whatsoever.