Worldwide music press has reported this week that Queen’s music Fats Bottomed Women has not been included in a biggest hits compilation geared toward youngsters.
Whereas there was no formal justification given, presumably lyrics “fats bottomed” and “massive fats fatty” have been the issue, and even the very singable hook, “Oh, received’t you’re taking me residence tonight”.
Predictably, The Day by day Mail and comparable retailers used it as an excuse to bemoan cancel tradition, political correctness and the like, with the headline “We Will Woke You” rapidly out of the gate.
Joke headlines apart, ought to youngsters be uncovered to music with questionable themes or lyrics?
The reply shouldn’t be a tough sure or no. My colleague Shelley Brunt and I studied a spread of things and practices regarding Popular Music and Parenting, and we discovered that extra essential than particular person songs or concert events is the assist youngsters are given once they’re listening or collaborating.
A dad or mum or caregiver ought to at all times be a part of a dialog and a few form of relationship when participating with music. This could contain sensible issues like ensuring growing ears aren’t uncovered to too harsh a quantity or that they know tips on how to discover a trusted grownup at a live performance. However this additionally extends to the fundamentals of media and cultural literacy, like what photographs and tales are being offered in fashionable music, and the way we need to take into account these in our personal lives.
In the identical means you’d hope somebody would discuss to a baby to remind them that superheroes can’t really fly (and subsequently if you happen to’re dressed as a superhero for e book week don’t go leaping off tall buildings!), fashionable music of all sorts must be contextualised.
Ought to we censor, or change, the way in which fashionable music is offered for teenagers?
There may be definitely an extended custom of amending fashionable songs to make them youngster or household pleasant. On tv, this has occurred so long as the medium has been round, with some lyrics and dance strikes toned all the way down to appease involved dad and mom and tastemakers concerning the potential evils of pop.
Famously, Elvis Presley serenaded a literal Hound Dog quite than the metaphorical villain of his Nineteen Fifties hit.
In Australia, the native TV model of Bandstand from the Nineteen Seventies featured native artists singing clear variations of worldwide pop songs whereas wearing modest hems and neck lines.
This continued with precise youngsters additionally re-performing pop music, from the Mickey Mouse Membership variations of songs from the US to our personal fantastic star manufacturing facility that was Young Talent Time. The custom continues immediately with family-friendly, fashionable music-based programming like The Voice and The Masked Singer.
In America, there’s a enormous trade for youngsters’s variations of pop music through the Kidz Bop franchise. Its method of kid performers overlaying present hits has been wildly profitable for over 20 years. Some maybe apparent substitutions are made – the cover of Lizzo’s About Damn Time is now “About That Time”, with the opening lyric modified to “Kidz Bop O’Clock” quite than “Dangerous Bitch O’Clock”.
In another Kidz Bop songs, although, references to violence and drugs have been left in.
Different longer-standing youngsters’s franchises have additionally made amendments to pop lyrics, however arguably with a bit extra creativity and enjoyable. The Muppets’ cowl of Bohemian Rhapsody, changing the unique homicide with a rant from Animal, is divine.
Ought to music ever simply be for teenagers?
Context is essential when deciding what’s for youngsters or for adults. And hopefully we’re at all times listening (indirectly) collectively.
Caregivers ought to be capable to make an knowledgeable resolution about whether or not a selected music is suitable for his or her youngster, nonetheless they take into account that when it comes to context. By the identical token, the resurgence of millennial love for The Wiggles has proven us nobody ought to be thought-about “too previous” for Scorching Potato or Fruit Salad.
When contemplating potential hurt for youthful listeners, components like volume and tone might be extra harmful than whether or not or not there’s a questionable lyric. Let’s keep in mind, too, a lot of “nursery rhymes” geared toward youngsters are additionally fairly violent if you happen to hearken to their phrases intently.
Learn extra:
It’s 30 years since Freddie Mercury died. His music is still the soundtrack of our lives
French author Jacques José Attali famously argued the connection between music, noise and hurt is politics and energy – even your most beloved music can turn out to be simply noise if performed too loudly or someplace the place you shouldn’t be listening to it.
As a tutorial, dad or mum and fat-bottomed woman myself, my recommendation is to maintain having conversations with the kids in your life about what you and they’re listening to. Similar to reminding your little superhero to solely faux to fly quite than to truly leap – after we sing alongside to Queen, we keep in mind that utilizing a phrase like “fats” and even “woman” isn’t how everybody likes to be handled lately.
