Music Archives - Page 8 of 23 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

What iTunes Reveals about Teenagers

Posted on: 12/5/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:21

If you want a glimpse into the window of youth culture, just take a peek at the music they’re buying. Lucky for us, you have access to an ongoing meter revealing the top-selling songs at any given moment. I’m referring to iTunes, the online music, TV and movie store that comes on all these online devices at the top of our kids’ Christmas lists.

This weekend I’m traveling to Kentucky to teach my last parenting workshop of the year. At these workshops, I always provide a quick tour of today’s music, TV and other media. This “tour” always includes a peek into iTunes. So today I popped onto iTunes to familiarize myself with what people are listening to this week (With the YS National Youth Workers Convention and Thanksgiving, it’s actually been a month since I’ve taught a parent workshop). It’s amazing how much you can learn about current pop culture in just a glimpse.

Let’s take a quick peek!

5 Observations about Our Culture from Today’s iTunes

1. TV is Still Huge!
Yes, when you open iTunes, the focus is music. Note the top singles listed on the right hand side of iTunes main page. But on any fall Tuesday morning, a quick peek at those top singles will reveal the power of television. This Tuesday morning, 5 of the top 10 singles were performances from last night’s episode of NBC’s hit TV show, The Voice.

A quick peek at TV ratings will reveal The Voice already is one of the top 5 shows watched by America in any given week (it usually lands at No. 3, right under The Walking Dead and football, and always lands among the top 10 shows watched by 12-17 year-olds). But The Voice isn’t limited to a one-screen experience. Following the steps of American Idol, The Voice sells its performances on iTunes immediately after the show Continue reading “What iTunes Reveals about Teenagers”

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Soaking in Gungor

Posted on: 11/19/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

This past weekend has been exhausting… and refreshing.

I had the privilege of teaching once again at the National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC), this time in Dallas. I taught two workshops, shot three training videos and went to numerous meetings. As much as I actually enjoy most of these venues… I think my favorite moment of the entire weekend was a few minutes with the band Gungor.

I have to confess, I’m not a fan of a lot of Christian music. Don’t get me wrong. I like some Christian music, we even have a rule in our house where we only listen to worship music the first and last hour of the day. So we’re always on the lookout for good worship music.

My daughters and I “homeshare” our iTunes account so we constantly Continue reading “Soaking in Gungor”

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Happy Autotuned Thanksgiving

Posted on: 11/13/12 1:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I’m not really sure how to react to Nicole Westbrook’s YouTube sensation, It’s Thanksgiving. If it were a parody… it would be hilarious. But this video is as earnest as Rebecca Black’s It’s Friday, over-autotuned just the same, and perhaps even more awkward.

The It’s Thanksgiving music video (produced by the makers of Rebecca Black’s It’s Friday) offers deep insightful lyrics:

Oh oh oh it’s Thanksgiving.
We, we, we are gonna have a good time.
The Turkey, Hey!
Mash Potatoes, Hey!
It’s Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving

Seriously!

Take a peek.

The internet is full of haters who are blasting this video… that is not my intent. I just want to make a few observations about this music video as a youth culture phenomenon.

1. Today’s kids wanna be rockstars… at all cost!
A generation who was raised watching American Idol, The Voice and America’s Got Talent all see the potential for stardom. I respect those who are willing to work towards a goal, but Continue reading “Happy Autotuned Thanksgiving”

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Actually Setting Guardrails

Posted on: 10/25/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“Do you allow your teenagers to download anything they want? Do you check their text messages? Do they have a bedtime?”

This week I’ve been writing about the process of setting guardrails, and today is the day I post some of the guardrails I use in my home. If you’ve been reading this series of posts, you know this process doesn’t start with arbitrarily implementing rules that seem to make sense at the time. Guardrails are only as good as the road.

The process for setting guardrails looks like this:

Embark on the road of Biblical truth (I talked about this in my first post in the series).
Plot your trip, knowing where you’ll be, by when (yesterday’s post).
And finally… set guardrails that keep you from veering off course (we’ll talk about that in today’s post).

Now that we’ve embarked on the road of Biblical truth, and made a plan for our journey, which in my house, is a plan that includes no rules by age 17½ … now it’s time to set some healthy guardrails.

Here’s some thoughts to consider when setting guardrails Continue reading “Actually Setting Guardrails”

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That Was PG-13?

Posted on: 10/18/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Rock of Ages is yet one more example of why parents shouldn’t offer a blanket “yes” to PG-13 movies.

“But mom… the movie doesn’t have any nudity!”

Neither does the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition… would you buy it for your teenager?

Parents might wanna to rethink this one.

Maybe it’s just because I graduated from high school in 1988, or maybe it’s because I actually have groups like Foreigner, Journey and REO Speedwagon on my iPod… whatever the reason, when I first saw the preview for Rock of Ages, starring Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise and Catherine Zeta-Jones… I thought it looked really good.

My wife Lori and I went to see it, and we were immediately captivated by the music. The movie was funny, creative… and WOW… was it uncomfortably sensual Continue reading “That Was PG-13?”

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Permission to Go to the Homecoming Dance

Posted on: 09/19/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

This morning Alyssa and I had an very honest and open conversation about the homecoming dance this coming weekend.

I basically asked her, “Why am I letting you go?”

I think you’ll find the conversation intriguing.

This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the homecoming dance. Last year I blogged about my struggle with the decision, giving my readers a glimpse at what goes on at school dances, and the second I posted it (Dad, Can I Go to the Homecoming Dance?), the comments started pouring in.

“I’m disgusted that parents would let their kids go.”

“Christians have no places at dances.”

“Why are all these kids who have a heart for Christ wanting to hang out in a place that is so entirely sinful?”

As I look at the playlist for this year’s dance (my daughter caught a sneak peek of it on Facebook and sent me a copy—I just wrote about it in detail here in my latest post at DougFields.com), I began second-guessing my decision to let her go. So I decided to Continue reading “Permission to Go to the Homecoming Dance”

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The Top of the Charts… are Clean?

Posted on: 09/12/12 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Is there any good music worth downloading?

Speaking personally, I love music. My daughters and I share an iTunes account, and when one of us downloads a song, the other two automatically receives the download. Rarely will a week pass without one of us downloading something, and then you’ll hear the other two of us commenting…

“Oh cool, I didn’t know The Script had a new song!”

“Have you heard this one from The Killers.”

“Sweet one from Gungor.” (Isn’t Gungor awesome? Can’t get enough of them!)

But at times, I’m a little disappointed with today’s music that makes it to the top of the charts. Sure, there was raunchy music and music videos when I was in high school, but not as commonplace, and not so easily accessible for curious young eyes and ears. (When I was a teenager I didn’t have a screen that allowed me an abundance of risqué videos just a click away.)

I teach at least two workshops a month where I provide a glimpse at pop-youth culture. So I have a pretty good taste of what’s usually in the top 10. And let’s just say, I don’t have to go hunting for raunchy lyrics and videos. Like this past weekend, where I simply showed them the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a song about oral sex.

But I encouraged parents, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” The charts aren’t all bad. As I write this, the charts are actually particularly clean Continue reading “The Top of the Charts… are Clean?”

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A Peek at Today’s Music

Posted on: 08/18/12 10:17 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Have you looked at the music charts lately? Allow me to give you a quick glimpse.

This weekend I’m flying to Albuquerque, NM to teach my Parenting the Texting Generation workshop. During the beginning of those workshops I always give parents a peek into the world of youth culture. Headlines often use scare tactics and talk about the minority of teenagers, so I focus on what the majority of kids are actually doing, which risky behaviors are prevalent, and what media sources have the biggest impact on young people. Then I spend the rest of the workshop helping parents not overreact, but instead “interact” with their kids and build lasting values.

Since most of you don’t live in New Mexico and can’t attend this workshop, let me give you a quick tour of what’s happening on the music charts at the moment. (Some of you have seen the YouTube video from early 2012, my little “tour of today’s iTunes”. This fun little segment of the workshop changes every time… simply because the charts are always changing.)

A Glimpse at the Most Popular Songs Today

Can You Blow My Whistle Baby?
Yeah, that is the chorus to Flo Rida’s hit song Whistle, and it just hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. It’s been #1 on iTunes for a while now, but recently Continue reading “A Peek at Today’s Music”

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Lust or Love?

Posted on: 07/30/12 5:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Love and lust are both frequented topics in today’s top music. The question most of us wonder is, “Do our kids know the difference?”

My good friend David R. Smith just posted an excellent Youth Culture Window article on the topic of love and lust in today’s top music. David dives into the lyrics of the top songs this week, reporting that 4 out of the top 10 fall in the “lust” category, and providing us with some helpful questions to ask teenagers about each of these songs.

But articles like this beg the question: are we just throwing stones here? At what point do we as parents and youth workers come across as whiney old people sitting on the porch ranting, “When I was your age…”

I guess that really depends how we discuss the subject matter with young people. Should we simply label these songs “bad”? Some of these songs are a mixed bag of nuts. For example, Continue reading “Lust or Love?”

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Can You Blow My Whistle Baby?

Posted on: 07/9/12 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Little Wayne wanted girls to lick his lollipop, now Flo Rida wants girls to “blow his whistle.” I’m talking about the new song, Whistle. I was sitting with a parent last week who said that his kids were asking about downloading this popular Flo Rida song. The parent asked me, “Is it clean?”

Well, the song is definitely in the ears of kids today. It is currently #3 on iTunes, and this week it just moved from #58 to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Billboard is always catching up to iTunes). It’s another catchy little diddy from the guy who brought us “Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur…” The rapper Flo Rida is slowly but steadily releasing hits.

Here’s the chorus of Whistle: Continue reading “Can You Blow My Whistle Baby?”

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