by Tommy Vaughan

Created on: March 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Much is made of explicit lyrics in modern music. In fact, too much, if you ask me. We don't seem to have too much of a problem with swearing in our feature films, or on television shows on cable channels. If we were all honest with ourselves, we'd admit that we pepper our own language with these words from time to time (more often than that in some cases). So what's the big deal about profanity in music?

Everytime I hear someone bleating about this topic, I assume that we must have solved every other problem out there in the world. I mean, if we've gotten to the point where explicit lyrics in music is the greatest evil facing us, well, that must mean that we've eradicated all disease, and done away with all the crime, and eliminated poverty and famine around the world, right?

"Bad" words are just a part of the linguistic spectrum. They occur anywhere that non-"bad" words occur. If a person prefer not to indulge in such language or to hear such language, that is certainly his or her prerogative. But to make a blanket statement such as "Explicit lyrics shouldn't be used in music" is to make a subjective judgement without taking into consideration the context and the intent of the lyricist in question. Though in my own writing I would rather reach for a stronger word of emphasis that doesn't resort to profanity, sometimes the effect achieved by such a profanity is one that can't be accomplished by any other means.

Personally, I think at times we place way too much emphasis on the lyrical content of songs. It's like this. The words an artist chooses to couple with his or her melody are inconsequential if the melody isn't compelling in the first place. That is to say, if the music isn't interesting, who cares what the words are?

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