Musical Messages
What’s that song you’re listening to?’ ‘Who sings it?’ These are common questions we ask the people around us or search the internet to discover. But how often do we ask, ‘What is this song about ?’ Every day people are exposed to music at home, in the car on the way to/from work or children’s activities, at stores, in the community. We don’t even pay much attention to most of it, and yet we can find ourselves humming or singing along with friends, family, or children, not really knowing what messages we may be endorsing by joining in on those catchy tunes and repeated refrains. In recent years, there has been much media attention given to this question about the messages contained in both lyrics and corresponding videos. A few years ago people were talking about Robin Thicke’s ‘ Blurred Lines ’, featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams, which repeats the phrase, ‘You know you want it.' Lyrics like this perpetuate the idea that someone else has the right to tell you, when you...