What happened to the lyrics?

Since before I could walk, music has played an important role in my life. My first introduction to music was at church where I sang in the choir, I was five or six years old. 

Since then, I developed a keen ear for music and came to love rhythms, harmonisations and lyrics which turned me into a lover of eclectic sounds and genres.

But today, unfortunately I am not writing about the love I have for this universal language. No, I am writing to expose the talentless noise makers who have infiltrated the airwaves and rape our ears on a daily basis. 

While I enjoy all genres of music, I must say that I prefer listening to the good old Rock n Roll oldies from the 50s, 60s and 70s. The thing I like the most about this period is the raw nature of the music and the fact that it didn’t matter how ugly or handsome you were, you simply made music because you liked it. 

Think about characters like Richie Havens, Santana, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin and Bob Marley. These were far from attractive but their passion and dedication to the musical messages they wanted to send continue to echo through time motivating and inspiring countless contemporary musicians. 

Now someone please explain this to me, what am I supposed to learn from songs like Riding Solo, or I Whip My Hair Back and Forth? 

The last time I checked “riding solo” referred to the solitary art of self pleasuring and whipping hair back and forth was very much a Rock n Roll dance or head banging. 

Let’s take a closer look at the lyrics these so called musicians write. 

“I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (just whip it)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth (whip it real good)
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth
I whip my hair back and forth 

Seriously, we get it... YOU ARE WHIPPING YOUR HAIR BACK AND FORTH! 

What message are we sending to our young musicians? That this blatant abuse of the eardrum is okay?

Maybe I am just a little touchy about the garbage on the radio today.

Hey, maybe I am one of those old fogies from the 60s and 70s that hated some of my favourite bands because they were supposedly evil.

 

It doesn’t matter though because at the end of the day, I believe talentless abusers of my eardrums should be arrested for crimes against humanity. 

If you agree with me, do what I do... Change the damn channel.

Just putting it out there...