"F--- You" from the Music Industry

Townhall.com ^ | December 7, 2010 | Dennis Prager

[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."

[IronJack]

Not true at all. It is of Germanic origin, as is the word “sh_t”. Apparently the Huns were better at swearing than the Normans.

I’m not sure the dates of common usage for the cursing vocabulary, but I’m fairly sure that they were part of the English lexicon by Elizabethan times.

[Jim Noble]

Sorry, but I don’t want my kids listening to “Need You Now”, either, which is a song about drunken lust sung by a woman:

It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn’t call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don’t know how I can do without
I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey can’t stop looking at the door
Wishing you’d come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn’t call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don’t know how I can do without

[SamAdams76]

I’m still trying to get over the shock of “Afternoon Delight” by the Starland Vocal Band.

Those were such innocent times! I was only a kid when that song came out and I honestly thought the song was about having an afternoon snack. I'd be outside playing and I'd tell my friends that I was going to grab some "afternoon delight" and I'd go inside to grab a Dr. Pepper and a Twinkie.

Yes, some of my friends did look at me kind of funny. Which is something I learned to get used to over time.

[Mr. Blonde]

The singer/co-writer of “F*** You”. Also he is the singer in Gnarls Barkley and formerly a member of Goodie Mob.

[Rebelbase]

Never heard of him.

[WOSG]

“I just told my 18- year old in no uncertain terms if he does not have the clarity of mind to stand against this crap and say so, he is turning into one of the amoral sheep This is the influence we’re up against people.....what should be outright rejected by society is held up ad revered as cool. World is upside down.”

Bravo to you.

I am finding out my 12YO is liking this rap garbage.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Rock was invent for kids who can't sing.

True enough, but there were some good rock artists in the 60s and 70s who certainly could sing. (Deep Purple, Heart, Kansas etc)

Rap was invented for kids who can't sing or play an instrument

True enough dat! There's a pop-40 station here that plays the same godawful crap several times a day. I've concluded there are a couple of identifiable categories:

1) Jabbering murderers.
2) Retarded jump-rope girls (often heard with the above)
3) Whining white boys (emasculated talent-free crybabies)
4) Tragedy Rockers (always loud, minor mode buzzing guitars with no clue of dymanics...whining lyrics)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

‘How did that get by the censors at that time?’

Actually it didn’t. It was from a Broadway Musical, and generally wasn’t allowed on the radio. Listeners heard it on vinyl records. One thing though, while the subject was unsavory, the language was elegant, as you would expect from Porter, with no obscenities at all.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The Grammy’s have become nothing more than auto-tuned ignorance.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The singer/co-writer of “F*** You”. Also he is the singer in Gnarls Barkley and formerly a member of Goodie Mob.

Thank you very much Ryan Seacrest. /s

[liberty or death]

I loved it too as a kid and was lost to it’s true meaning. My mothers mad dash to shutting off the radio didn’t even clue me in.

[PapaBear3625]

These artists like to tell themselves that they are being rebels and that when middle America hears these words, we burst into fits of outrage.

If they REALLY want to be rebels, "expanding the envelope", they should try having a white band use the "n word" as much as the rappers do, or have any band make fun of Mohammad. Then step back.

[dfwgator]

I remember radio stations would play “Who Are You” by The Who with the F-Bombs, intact.

[dfwgator]

It’s shocking how many “pop” songs these days are bleeped out, and most times the songs sound rather innocuous.

[patriot08]

Thank you. That’s amazing.
I always wondered about that song.

[Junior_G]

Hip-hop has made many contributions to American popular culture over the last 30 years...all of them stupid.

[Lancey Howard]

Wow. I remember watching the Grammys as a kid a couple of times and the “winners” were always “big names” who didn’t even write their crappy songs. I can hardly believe they’re still doing that show, or that anybody cares.

None for me, thanks. I have to, uh... fold my socks that night.

[PATRIOT1876]

*”Rock was invent for kids who can't sing.”
True enough, but there were some good rock artists in the 60s and 70s who certainly could sing. (Deep Purple, Heart, Kansas etc)*

True. Rock has more good singers than bad ones. But it doesn't seem to be a requirement. However, it is possible to have a good rock tune if the singer is not so hot. There is a lot of good punk with terrible singers IMHO.

Rap on the other hand seems to be “written” by a roomful of hyenas with typewriters

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Rock has more good singers than bad ones. But it doesn't seem to be a requirement.

HA! Got me with that one.

A few bad ones..."The Boss" can't sing his way out of a wet paper bag, he just hollers.

Bob Dylan pretty much sucked, Grateful Dead, same thing. Judy Collins never saw a note she liked.

Neil Young was tonally accurate pretty much, kind of whiney, but I liked him (until he got political)

[PATRIOT1876]

*”The Boss” can't sing his way out of a wet paper bag, he just hollers.*

Somebody on the Internet said, “Who died and made him boss”

Someone else said, “He's not the boss of me.”

Which reminds me of the time I was at a Rasputina concert (Cello Rock) and someone shouted out a request, “Play ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ (or whatever song) and the lead singer shouted back, “You’re not the boss of me!”