Before you read anymore, go and read or listen to this song. It's called Lips of an Angel by Hinder. In all likelihood you've heard it on Fresh FM or Cool FM.
I've been thinking about blogging about this particular song for a while, and so after hearing it on the radio AGAIN today, I thought I'd just go for it. It's a bit of a rant, but meh, according to my "fans" *cough* that doesn't matter. :P Before that, however, let me say that I don't have a problem listening to decent music on the radio. There is a lot of good non Christian music on the radio that I certainly have no problem with. This is not a rant against the radio, or against non Christian music, it is against musicians and music like this.
So just in case you didn't read/listen, here's the song in a nutshell. Guy is with girlfriend (#1). Guy is up talking to girlfriend #2 late at night. Guy wishes he could be with girlfriend #2, but needs to stay with girlfriend #1, so instead, he kisses and talks to girlfriend #2 on the phone late at night. Guy then laments that it is hard to stay "faithful" to girlfriend #1 when girlfriend #2 has "lips of an angel".
So first, let me say this. I have heard this song (or the beginnings of it before I turn it off) probably about 7 or 8 times on the radio. Once I started hearing it on Fresh FM, turned to Cool FM and 1 song later it was playing there. This song is a big hit right now. Apparently.
Secondly, I'd like to say that music wise, I think it's a decent song. I have listened to it the whole way through and the actual music is pretty decent. The guy's voice is okay as well. (It's not like some random band that sounds crappy and has crappy lyrics.) It's not U2 or something amazing like that, but it isn't horrible either. Combine that with that it plays on the radio a lot, and I'm sure a lot of people have heard this song.
So. I honestly couldn't believe it when I first heard it. This is what we are promoting to our youth. And yes, I know I'm a "youth" but when I say that, I'm referring to preteens and young teens. It's that age category that listen to Fresh FM. Not only are we encouraging guys to be unfaithful and treat their girlfriends disrespectfully, but we're teaching girls this is normal behaviour. What is society coming to?
What bothers me even more is that the clincher line is: "But girl you make it hard to be faithful....with the lips of an angel." The use of faithful in that sentence isn't even accurate!! Obviously if this guy is going around kissing other girls, etc. etc. he isn't being faithful. Once again, we're promoting this as "normal" or even "cool" behaviour. This isn't just a stab at guys however, this negatively paints girls and is providing a bad example for young girls too. We're basically teaching girls that if they put themselves out there available to guys and their every whim (not to mention cheat with a guy), they're going to be beautiful, and have lips of an angel? Not only is this not reality, but I think it's wrong.
All this to say, that quite frankly, I think society is going off the deep end. In fact, maybe they're already there. I mean, this is what's popular. Combine that with provocative advertising and music videos and it's no wonder once people get to University they're so messed up. Okay, okay, Overheard at Western is amusing, but more often than not it's crude and inappropriate.
*Sigh* I know this was a huge rant, but I think it's something that needs to be said. People need to start acting mature and have some morals. I believe that as a society (and even older teens like me) need to start setting a good example for younger teens (ie: be a Big Brother like Jamie) and show them that what's being displayed in the media isn't the way to go.
Just some thoughts. Sorry it's so long. Take it or leave it, it's just my opinion.
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5 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out! By coincidence, my two year anniversary with my Little Brother is coming up in less than two weeks.
And I sooo agree with your comments about that song. I often hear radio songs that are catchy, and then after a few weeks I actually pay attention and I'm annoyed to discover that the message is complete crap. Ugh.
Wow. 2 years is really awesome. Good for you! Hm... I wonder if there's a Big Sisters program...
Heh. There certainly is a Big Sisters program. I know one girl that did it and she loved her Little Sister. If you consider it more seriously later, I can answer any questions that you may have.
hey! i have a confession, i like this song. not because of the lyrics, but because its just so darn catchy. but. moving on...
the only thing i have to say is that i agree with you... but i'd put it a different way. I'd say that the youth of society are messed up, so thats why we have songs like this. dont blame the music for the people, blame the people for the music. I think music is pretty much a description of society (at any time), as people will write how they feel is important to them, and what they feel is a valid outlet for their emotions/experiences. So, songs like this just *show* what is wrong with our society, I'm not sure how much it influences our society to get worse. hm.
Hey Becky. I totally agree. The whole point of this post was that I actually like the song - music wise. It IS very catchy, and that was part of my point - people like to listen to it.
As for your other comment, I don't know if I agree. I think songs like this and shows like "The Pussycat Dolls Search for the Next Doll" influence society more than reflect society. I often think it is because of songs like this (and shows like that) that influence how people act.
I don't know. I also don't think a 13 year old wrote the song....which makes me think it wasn't a 13 year old expressing their emotions. Just a thought, though you make a valid point.
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