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"F--- You" from the Music Industry
Townhall.com ^ | December 7, 2010 | Dennis Prager

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."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: classicalmusic; music
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To: Mr. Blonde

I agree, I liked him with Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley, and now on his own. I remember when someone asked him about this song he said, “I’m an adult and I like adult entertainment.”

Makes sense to me.


61 posted on 12/07/2010 7:07:58 AM PST by Raymann
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To: allmendream

:)


62 posted on 12/07/2010 7:14:53 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: IronJack

RE: Positively Shakesperean

I’m not a Shakespear expert, and I only casually read some of his works, but did he ever use what amounted to a swear word in his time in any of his works at all?


63 posted on 12/07/2010 7:20:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Kaslin
“So, like, I go.

And then he goes, like, no way!

And I go, yeah.

And then I say yeah and um and use “u” for you when I do writin’.

Like, um, writin’ is hard! I rather talk.”

The next generation will have a 150 word vocabulary and spell 50% of the words wrong even though they have spell-check.

Songwriters only have 100 words at their disposal.

Rap “artists” only have around 30 and 20 of those words begin with “F”

64 posted on 12/07/2010 7:22:51 AM PST by PATRIOT1876 (The only crimes that are 100% preventable are crimes committed by illegal aliens)
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To: IronJack
*Positively Shakesperean. I’ll bet such towering talent can’t be found at just any old car wash.*

It must have taken them long seconds of soul-searching thought to come up with these songs!

65 posted on 12/07/2010 7:24:57 AM PST by PATRIOT1876 (The only crimes that are 100% preventable are crimes committed by illegal aliens)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER
*How deep is the decay in the music industry?
Well if they consider “rap” to be music, then is is long since dead.

A crow cawing or a bum beating on a dumpster is more musical than rap.*

Once I heard somebody in the Industry say (and when I say the Industry, I mean the Business) that, “Rock was invent for kids who can't sing.
Rap was invented for kids who can't sing or play an instrument”

66 posted on 12/07/2010 7:28:32 AM PST by PATRIOT1876 (The only crimes that are 100% preventable are crimes committed by illegal aliens)
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To: Puppage

“Winchester Cathedral”....the first auto-tune song?


67 posted on 12/07/2010 7:31:58 AM PST by PATRIOT1876 (The only crimes that are 100% preventable are crimes committed by illegal aliens)
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To: Kaslin

I never watch the Grammys. If they ever were relevant, they are not now.


68 posted on 12/07/2010 7:34:42 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Homer1

Exactly. Pay these fools just enough to buy their pimp bling and when they get greedy, send a limo down to the car wash to pick up another batch. Since the “music” takes no talent, the “artists” are easily replaced.

(C)rap is the worst thing to happen to music since disco. And it’s no coincidence that both are gifts from the Black counter-culture.


69 posted on 12/07/2010 7:46:47 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: SeekAndFind

That depends on what you mean by “swear word.” Expressions like “Zounds” and “Egad” were considered oaths in their day, while the familiar four-letter expletives we hear so often today were much rarer in formal usage. I know Shakespeare used “ass” a few times and was well known for his ribald innuendoes and double entendres. But I don’t believe he ever used the words “sh_t” or “f_ck” in his entire catalog of works.


70 posted on 12/07/2010 8:04:25 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: IronJack

RE: But I don’t believe he ever used the words “sh_t” or “f_ck” in his entire catalog of works.


Thanks, but then again, they might not have been commonly used during his time as swear words... or were they already?

How true is it that the F word is an acronym of Fornication Under the Consent of the King?


71 posted on 12/07/2010 8:13:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Mr. Blonde

Mr Blonde, you sound like you are defending this crap they call music. You have just been sucked into this vile culture and think you are somehow intelligent because you actually know who Cee Lo is. I don’t and could care less. You are a good example of the MTV generation. Please don’t give me any more lessons on ‘music’. Anyone who writes a song titled “F-You” is a no talent thug.


72 posted on 12/07/2010 8:18:33 AM PST by Matt Hatter
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To: Em and Brets Mum

How did that get by the censors at that time?


73 posted on 12/07/2010 8:27:53 AM PST by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: Em and Brets Mum

How did that get by the censors at that time?


74 posted on 12/07/2010 8:27:57 AM PST by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: reagan_fanatic

This is real talent from the glorious fifties when risque was funny, not filthy.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKZcLEY2qEY


75 posted on 12/07/2010 8:53:08 AM PST by RipSawyer
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To: LibsRJerks

Something has squashed the national spirit like an orange under a boot heel.


76 posted on 12/07/2010 8:58:36 AM PST by RipSawyer
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To: BenKenobi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dUPWBmSXvk


77 posted on 12/07/2010 9:08:18 AM PST by RipSawyer
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To: Matt Hatter

Yes, because one song is always accurate to judge an entire discography by. My intelligence has nothing to do with a slight knowledge of famous pop musicians. You are the first person to single me out as a good example of the “MTV generation” since I am one of the bigger haters of that station.


78 posted on 12/07/2010 9:08:24 AM PST by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: Mr. Blonde

“And to anyone who thinks Cee Lo isn’t talented, you are sadly sadly mistaken. “

Who is Cee Lo?


79 posted on 12/07/2010 9:13:11 AM PST by Rebelbase
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To: Mr. Blonde

Just a coincidence that you would call this piece of filth talented, I suppose. You have been influenced by the MTV mindset whether you want to admit it or not.


80 posted on 12/07/2010 9:13:46 AM PST by Matt Hatter
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