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Graphic vocabulary
stirs artistic debate
NX hen I was younger, I learned my first swearwords
from my friends. 1 learned about sex from my friends.
And, of course, my friends and I shared the same taste
in music.
Ac -,.11___.L -
At one time, when Phil and Don Everly could shock
morals with “Wake Up, Little Susie,” a song about an
accidental night spent together. A couple of years later,
The Glimmer Twins, aka Mick and Keith and the
-- i vnt wi 1 lilt; ill
sidecoverofjane’s Addiction’s “Ritual
de lo Habitual," which in some place?
became The White Album” when
some found the original cover offen
sive: “We have more influence over
your children than you do.”
Just as our parents hit the roof
when they heardussingingMadonna,
and just as our grandparents were
shocked to hear our parents singing
“Elvis, touay's parents are in a tizzy
over the shockingly graphic lyrics in
today’s music.
So our elders decided that albums
with graphic lyrics shall be labeled
with a parental advisory warning and
shall not be soldtoanyoneunderage
Youth, being rebellious, will flock
iu wnai auuius aon t like. And many narrow-minded
adults despise anything that runs opposite to their
view of the status quo.
“Obscene" lyrics have been around for years in
underground music. Only when these lyrics hit the
mainstream did many begin to fear that their children
would be corrupted by sordid depictions of sex and
violence in music.
i.ach generation defines itself through separation
from the old. We have been brought up on sex
education, violence on the screen, Geraldo, graffiti
and the notion that ignorance is not bliss. We expect
nothing less shocking from our music.
But the core values passed from one generation to
another will not fall apart because the youth listen to
2 Live Crew. Or Madonna. Or Elvis.
These overreacting record-labeling zealots really
need to find something belter to do with their time
than inflicting their morals on the rest of society.
One man’s obscenity is another man’s art.
— Michelle Paulman is not necessarily a Left-Wing nut hut is a
Diversions contributor
wotting Clones, couia tnrow par
ents into a tizzy with “Let's Spend
iheNightTogether. "That was 1966.
In 1992, it is not uncommon for
youth to be pelted with “music”
that graphically describes such
things as the violent rape of women
and anal sex with corpses.
Other “artists” advocate killing po
lice, and one album cover (later
pulled) depicted a black gang
member waiting to assassinate
President Bush. In ordinary times,
things like this would get one
arrested and thrown in jail.
But now, of course, this garbage is
defended in the name of “artistic
freedom ” The line fr< >m trash- mon -
gers 1 i k e Ti me - Wa r ne r i s t h a 11 h ese
are “legitimate expressions of rage
from an oppressed community that we, as oppressors,
cannot feel, and should not try to censor. It’s a cultural
outlook that we need to be exposed to."
It’s not. It’s not music and it’s not responsible. It is
obscenity, defined by the Supreme Court as "utterly
without redeeming social value.”
If you put any of the sexual acts described by fce
T or N. W.A. on paper or film, they would be declared
obscene, and off-limits to young children. Merely
putting such lyrics to a thumping, neo-disco beat
doesn’t make them any less so. . .
Theoretically, they are off-limits to young children.
Hut as Omaha Councilman Steve Exon demonstrated
this summer, it’s a ban that is not enforced.
It should be enforced, rigidly, and punishment
handed out for violations. Efforts should be made to
ban the sale of such materials — period. It would
prevent unscrupulous operators such asTime-Warner
from profiting from the degeneration of our youth and
our society.
— Sam Kcpflcld is an archconscrvative, a Rolling Stones fan
and a Diversions contributor.
Elvis
Continued from Page 8
F.lvis is exaggerated and made hu
morous, a Mock-Elvis. But the cha
risma of Elvis also embodied by
mocking Him.
Tn a great capitalistic exploita
tion of democracy, the post office
held a buy-your-vote election over
which Elvisshould be on Hisstamp:
the young and devilishly hand
some Elvis, or the old and bloated
Elvis.
The majority in this quasi-elec
tion opted for the young, dream
like Elvis over the old, sorry reality.
We continue to mythologize Elvis
and skip lightly over the full troth.
Perhaps Elvis would ha ve wanted it
that way.
I will talk to Elvis about that
today when I meet Him for lunch.
Imagine that, the King and me, Mr.
Burger, eating lunch at Burger King.
Remember, you read it in this
tabloid first.
— Todd K. Burger is a philosophy major
and Diversions contributor.
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