UGGGH MUZIK! (How not to raise a Juggalo!)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

MTV ROTS YOUR BRAINSSSS!! Well, it used to, because they used to actually play music. Now its just teens with questionable morals making bad decisions and calling it reality tv, or a gameshow, see also: Teen Mom (yuck), 16 and preggo (gross), Skins (nasty), RWRR: The Challenge (meatheads)! Ok it still rots your brains! I digress, this is not a post about how bad reality tv is or the fact that mtv does not play music anymore, it is about my fears and frustrations over what to expose my children to when it comes to music because I am smart enough to know that whatever I want him to listen to, he will do the direct opposite.

I came up in a time where swears were one of the biggest fears in what I listened to, and this was not much of an issue with bands like Fugazi, Descendants, and Gorilla Biscuits in my collection. I guess I got lucky in that I took to skateboarding at a young age, and the culture that came along with that was mischievous and  definitely posed harm to my physical being (throwing my 12 year old body down stairs and off of ramps and whatnot), but my mental state was fueled by the positivity that surrounded it all. Have you ever seen footage from a Gorilla Biscuits show? People piled up on the stage to sing along or moshed with these big stupid grins on their faces, nothing like this bullshit:

IM TALKING ABOUT THIS:


Me: Circa 1991

So anyways, that was me, and what I grew up with. What do I do for Christian and Hendrix? I have enough time to worry about this for Hendrix, but Christian is quickly developing an interest in music and I can only play the blue album (weezer) for him so many times before he realizes its not current and none of his friends listen to it. He has taken an interest in Phoenix and MGMT, which I am cool with, but also The Dropkick Murphys (thanks to his mom), which I cant stand. Its better then slipknot though, right?

These are his 9 year old tastes though, once he grows a bit and starts being subjected to more of what mass media wants him to consume, thats when I am really going to start to worry. Every fucking song out there seems to glorify misogyny, greed, or violence, not to mention the lack of musical integrity. How does one go about raising a musical snob? Keep exposing him to good music? Allow access to all genres (age appropriate of course) and hope he has discerning tastes? Is it too much to hope this is him on his wedding day:


What are your pre-teens listening to? How do you swallow your child wanting to listen to Eminem or Slipknot? Or even worse, ICP!!! OMG there should be a handbook on how not to raise a Juggalo!

4 comments:

  1. I am planning to try to lead by example. I know that kids often rebel against what their parents like, but I know my dad wasn't doing stage dives and singing along to rad hardcore bands. But maybe that will be lame to our kids. I'm hoping more than anything that there is no such things as "the gathering of the juggalos" by the time my Daughter is a teenager. I can only hope she'll be x'd up dooing sing-a-longs to some good posi-core.

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  2. First off, great post Michael. That being said, I also feel pretty strongly about this topic because music plays a pretty big roll in our lives and it's going to be a bummer is Sierra grows up and likes shitty music, although I would support any decisions she makes because well we're all allowed to like whatever, some of us just like better music :) --- She LOVES music, loves to dance, even has tastes in my opinion, she's partial to weezer (which we listened to on the way to the hospital when L was in labor!). p.s. I appreciate you getting me to listen to Start Today for the first time in probably 8 years... STILL so good. -C

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  3. I absolutely feel strongly about this as well. I have an (almost) 21month little beauty/girl, and her father and i both try to expose her to good music. More than that though, he the musician and I the art therapist expose her to the MAKING of art and music, so that she can appreciate the integrity of the act. Yes, I listen to ABBA with her, and yes she loves them. Sometimes we listen to Timberlake bc he rules, let's be honest ;). I hope that our openess, and daily breathing in of local and manmade music, will help her navigate her way.

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  4. Thats so awesome! I have my degree in Art Education and hope to get my Masters in Art Therapy --- jealous!! -C

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