Posted on 12/07/2010 5:12:07 AM PST by Kaslin
The nominees to receive the most prestigious awards in the music industry, the Grammy Awards, were just announced. Among the five nominees for Record of the Year is a song titled "F--- You," with the F-word, of course, spelled out and pronounced.
Here are the song's opening lyrics:
"I see you driving 'round town
With the girl I love and I'm like,
F--- you!
Oo, oo, ooo
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough, I'm like,
F--- you!
And f--- her, too!"
The next lyrics add the S-word:
"I said, if I was richer, I'd still be with ya
Ha, now ain't that some s--t? (ain't that some s--t?)
And although there's pain in my chest
I still wish you the best with a
F--- you!
Oo, oo, ooo."
And shortly thereafter, the N-word:
"I pity the fool that falls in love with you
(oh, s--t, she's a gold digger)
Well
(just thought you should know, n----)
Ooooooh."
It is also worth noting that the video of this song includes children who appear to be under 12 years of age and all the performers are black -- a point I will address later.
I have long believed that MTV has done more damage to America's young people than any other single institution. I am referring to the music videos, in which most images or scenes are shown for less than two seconds and thereby numb kids' minds, and to the sexual imagery and sex talk that permeate the music videos and much of the rest of MTV programming.
But while MTV should be singled out for the damage it has done to America, the music industry in general has been equally guilty.
How does a song replete with expletives, whose very title is "F--- You," get nominated for a Grammy Award as Record of the Year?
The answer is that the music industry, from producers to artists, is largely populated by people who regard social and cultural norms as stifling. Their professional lives are dedicated to lowering that which is elevated, destroying that which uplifts, and to profaning that which is held sacred.
There is no better explanation for "F--- You" being nominated as Record of the Year. It has little, if any, redeeming moral, social or artistic (to the extent that this word retains its original meaning) value. The lyrics are as vapid as they are obscene; the video further degrades that part of black life that is already too lacking in elevation; and there is the participation of children in a profanity-filled video.
For most of American history, a child who used such words was punished by his parents, and society instinctively knew how important it was not to expose children to obscenities. Today, adults in the music industry reward children for participating in videos laced with obscenities.
Nor is the nomination of "F--- You" as Song of the Year an aberration. Two of the other four nominees are rap "songs" whose lyrics are also vile.
Here are typical lyrics from the Eminem's nominated "Love the Way You Lie:"
"And I love it the more that I suffer
I suffocate
And right before I'm about to drown
She resuscitates me
She f---ing hates me
And I love it."
And later on:
"If she ever tries to f---ing leave again
I'ma tie her to the bed
And set the house on fire."
The third nominee is an ode to New York City, "Empire State of Mind," performed by black rapper Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, and which also contains the N-word. It is worth recalling that when white radio-show host Laura Schlessinger used this word solely in order to condemn its use in inner-city black life, society's elite poured such wrath on her that it forced many of her sponsors to abandon her, and she decided to leave radio. But when Jay-Z uses it, he is rewarded with the nomination for the highest award in the music industry.
Two examples of the N-word use:
"Say what's up to Ty-Ty, still sippin' mai tais
sittin' courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high five
N----, I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee
Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from. ...
You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a Crip, though
but I got a gang of niggas walkin' with my clique though. . . ."
For the record, the fourth nominee, B.o.B's "Nothin' on You," is another rap song with something of a melody behind it. This song has a decent message of a young black man who, though tempted by other women, only wants his woman. And the fifth nominee was a lovely song, "Need You Now," by the country music group Lady Antebellum.
How deep is the decay in the music industry?
According to the Los Angeles Times, these Grammy nominees were "decided on by about 12,000 voting members of the Recording Academy."
The Grammy Awards are a joke. There are no real singers, just entertainers. There was a time when a singer only needed a microphone and a band. They didn’t need any back up dancers, singers,lighting displays and enhanced sounds. It was pure talent, and the bands had musical arrangements. Had my mother been alive she would say; “What is this dreck I’m listening to?” If each generation is identified by its music, where has the music gone?
And here I’m listening to Bobby Vinton of all people.
Life is strange business.
home
home
home
“Showbiz kids makin’ movies ‘bout themselves, they don’t give a f**k about anybody else”
You have discovered the essential truth of the Grammys. It's not about talent or musical quality, it's about how much cash flow was generated.
bump
Ebonics, they drop a lot of letters.
Unlike British blacks, it's too much trouble to learn the native language.
Perfect post, I almost lost some coffee.
And I see that Rev. Al is going to picket the FCC to get
‘Rush LUMbaugh’, as he calls him, off the air. He is a perfect example of finding some cause against ‘whitey’ while black culture continues it’s self combustion of destruction. Unfortunately, this garbage they call music has plagued all cultures in America.
Ebonics......man....word of the street......(heavy enough sarcasm for you? ;-)
You have got to be kidding. Yeah, the public hears the radio version with ‘forget you’ and the kids download the ‘f-you’ version. Talent? LOL!! Call me ‘sadly mistaken’ I suppose.
There is a chapter in here, The Putrified Pop Culture’s Pick that does explain what MTV has done to this country.
OK, you are sadly mistaken. Cee Lo has had success in a variety of styles of music. He had one of the biggest songs in recent memory with Crazy. I don’t know what you consider talented, but writing, producing and singing hit songs isn’t easy. Doing it for 15 years is even harder.
I have no idea what the download statistics are for the songs. It isn’t impossible that the radio edit becomes more popular. The Black Eyed Peas “Let’s Get It Started” is considerably more popular than the original “Let’s Get Retarded”. To the point that I bet most don’t even know the original.
Glad I’m not the only one old enough to rememvber that song.
Just heard it the other day, in fact. I could have lived without it.
Time goes by so slowly, and time can mean so f*****g much...
Beautiful, eh?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.