Miley’s new single just hit the charts last week, immediately souring to #1 on iTunes. The song is titled We Can’t Stop, and if you wanna know what she can’t stop… just Google the lyrics.
Here’s a glimpse:
It’s our party we can do what we want
It’s our party we can say what we want
It’s our party we can love who we want
We can kiss who we want
We can see who we want (2x)
Red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere Hands in the air like we don’t care Cause we came to have so much fun now Got somebody here might get some now…
I’m going to bribe you for your input! (WINNERS posted below)
I’m really excited about the two new workshops I’m developing for SLC2013… and I’d love your feedback. (So much, in fact, that I’ll choose two people who comment in this post and give them each a free copy of any one of my books).
The rumor is true, the FCC is considering allowing more sex and nudity on televisions. Their website posted a public notice last month proposing an end to “the prohibition of expletives and certain images of nudity on television.” Then clean shows like CBS’s Two and a Half Men could finally let loose and tell racy jokes… uh… oh wait…
Sure, network TV is already pretty racy, and blurred/pixilated nudity is increasing logarithmically, but if you want to know where this FCC consideration is heading, just watch a single episode of HBO’s Girls or Game of Thrones (Actually… don’t. But read how some parents are responding when they are exposed to the “soft core porn” of these popular new shows).
I don’t know about you… but I love me some David Crowder. If I’m having a conversation about Christian worship, then you are going to hear me say the words “David Crowder.”
That’s why I was so truly psyched to hear that the David Crowder Band will be releasing their final Greatest Hits record, ‘The Essential Collection’ next week (May 21). It will include 10 of the bands biggest hits, 3 all-new remixes, and a brand new song by just Crowder himself. Check out the iTunes preview HERE.
If your child accesses iTunes today and simply clicks on the music video charts, one of the top 10 videos features topless girls dancing… something anyone can see in the free preview of the video.
Sad, but true. Literally today.
(I know, I know. I can foresee it now. Someone is going to email me and tell me, “Jonathan, why are you telling us this! This will tempt us to click on it!” And to that I say, “In a world where anyone can jump on Google at anytime and type ‘naked girls’ and see just that in a matter of seconds… I’m not telling you anything new.”)
The question I want to raise is, “Have you set some guardrails to help your kids steer away from these kinds of temptations?”
Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop… Country? Which genre is young people’s music of choice?
I always hate to answer that question, because it never ceases to make people angry. Maybe that’s because some people don’t like the answer: Rap/hip-hop.
I remember teaching at the National Youth Workers Convention in 2005 and 2006. In one of my seminars about outreach events, I challenged youth workers about their recurring choice of rock bands at all their venues. “How come every time I go to a big Christian event, the band playing is rock or even metal?” I asked. “Do you really think we’re accurately targeting our audience when we bring in a grunge band to try to attract neighborhood kids? Is this really what they are listening to?”
The music industry is at it again, pimping easily accessible smut for our kids’ eyes and ears. This time, it’s a new music video from Will I Am… and most parents don’t have a clue.
That’s what scares me the most– how unaware parents are. After the Super Bowl this year, I kept encountering articles written by parents who were “shocked” by Beyonce’s performance.
Really?
Don’t get me wrong. She was overtly sexual, she was inappropriate, and I think it’s sad that our country happily endorses that entertainment. But her performance was in no way “shocking.” If you’ve ever seen Continue reading “Scream & Shout”
If you hang out with teenagers, you’ve probably heard mention of the song or music video Thrift Shop by two guys whose names no one knew a month ago, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The song (the explicit version) bounced in and out of the No 1 spot on iTunes last Wednesday, and the music video has been doing the same. It has been rapidly climbing the Billboard Hot 100 charts as well (always a little slower than iTunes), hitting No 2 this past weekend.
I first heard about it from Alyssa, my 17-year-old when she declared, “Dad, you’ve seen the video for that hilarious song Thrift Shop, haven’t you? Everyone’s talking about it at school.”
That, of course, peeked my curiosity.
Here’s the music video- unedited. It’s a little slow at the beginning, but kids are sticking with it, finding it both funny and catchy. Language Warning:even though the visuals are clean, this guy drops the f-bomb quite a few times in this video, with a few other vile phrases.
I think we’re seeing how much this younger generation is drawn to humor, naughty or nice. I’m reminded of LMFAO’s Sexy and I Know It, Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, and the numerous Andy Sandberg/Lonely Island videos that went viral. Funny sells.
I’m not defending this music video’s vulgarity, but Thrift Shop is actually pretty tame compared to the other hip hop music videos in the top of the charts right now, like A$AP Rocky’s F**kin’ Problems and Pitbull’s Don’t Stop the Party, both hanging in the iTunes top 10 for the last two months, both extremely racy, the latter as close to pornographic as a video can be without actually being officially pornographic. Thrift Shop doesn’t go there at all with the visuals, sticking to humor for its draw.
Vulgarity aside, Thrift Shop’s theme is actually a positive one. (NOTE: I’m not saying that you should go buy this song or start listening to it. I’m simply pointing out some conversation points if you get into a discussion with kids about the song). It pokes fun at the concept of buying fancy clothes to gain popularity, and basically encourages bargain shopping. It celebrates it, in fact. Some would probably argue Macklemore & Lewis’ message about self esteem is refreshing.
I don’t know how far I’d go with that, but I have to admit… these lyrics are rather amusing:
I wear your granddad’s clothes
I look incredible
I’m in this big ass coat
From that thrift shop down the road
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What do you notice from the video?
What are your kids saying about the video?
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE FROM JONATHAN, YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY…
David and I finished our annual recap of the songs that went #1 in the past year, just posting Part II of the article on this week’s Youth Culture Window page(if you don’t receive that free Youth Culture Window in your inbox, CLICK HERE).
Thirteen songs made it to the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this year, giving teenagers plenty to resonate with…both good and bad. That two-part article provides you with an overview of each of those songs.
Every once in a while someone will ask me, “Why do you care so much about the music teenagers listen to?”
I guess that would be like someone asking me, “Why do you care about what your kids eat?”
Consider the love for cheesecake. If you sauntered into the Cheesecake Factory on a random Friday night and discovered their Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake to be delicious, you might not be aware that you just consumed over 1000 calories, 44 grams of fat, and 91g of carbs in one piece.
I mean… who cares. It just tastes delicious!
Perhaps you begin eating a piece after every meal.
If someone warns you, “Hey, you’re gonna grow three chins if you keep eating all that cheesecake!” you might be tempted to reply, “I just don’t worry about all that stuff. After all, how do we really know that excess calories and carbs are bad for you anyway!”
Ignorance is no excuse.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying all music is bad. Quite the contrary (all food isn’t bad either). But, perhaps we should be aware of what our kids are consuming.
It’s time to give away some CD’s. I have 5 copies of Chris Tomlin’s brand new Burning Lights CD, releasing January 8th, and I’m going to give them each away to five winners (WINNERS POSTED BELOW more on that in a minute).
Chris Tomlin delivers once again with this CD. My favorite is probably the first song, track 2, Awake My Soul, where he joins with Lecrae for a song that you’ll eventually hear sung in churches around the world. Tomlin’s music has that impact.
Tomlin has a way of putting God’s word to melody like no other. The first time I heard track 3, Whom Shall I Fear, I found myself worshipping along with song.
The whole album is good. My favorite might just be track 11, Thank You God, featuring Phil Wickham. It’s a sincere and honest prayer.
This is one you’ll definitely want to get!
So let me start you off by giving 5 people the CD. Here’s how we’ll do it: I’ll randomly chose 5 people who use the comment feature in this post and post two things:
Your favorite Christian song that you’ve listened to in the last year.
Your favorite secular song in the last year.
I’ll start.
My favorite Christian song I’ve listened to in the last year has probably been Gungor’s Beautiful Things (yes, this is a 2010 song, but I didn’t find it until early this year).
My favorite secular song I’ve listened to in the last year is one I just talked about in our most current Youth Culture Window article about the top hits of 2012. That is Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye.
Your turn! Use the comment feature to post your two favs and I’ll choose the winner tomorrow, on the release date, January 8th at noon, Pacific time! I’ll Tweet the winner, then post it right here on this blog post.
WINNERS:Great list of songs posted. Thank you all for your submissions. I think Matt Redmond’s 10,000 Reasons was the overwhelming choice of Christian songs. And secular… maybe Call me Maybe. Here’s the 5 winners:
1. Josh Stitcher (Matt Redmond and The Script)
2. Dan Neighbors (Gungor and Coldplay)
3. Roger (Matt Redmond and Fun)
4. Kelly Sykes (Matt Redmond and Pink)
5. Julie Smith (who was brave enough to admit that Pay Phone was her favorite secular song! LOL)
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Miley’s new single just hit the charts last week, immediately souring to #1 on iTunes. The song is titled We Can’t Stop, and if you wanna know what she can’t stop… just Google the lyrics.
