I'm a fan of "Southern Rock," but sometimes the lyrics make me wonder if i should drop it. Generally I listen more for music than message, but I don't want my kids hearing "be proud you're a rebel..."
“…cuz the South’s gonna to do it again.”
But man, that song rocks, especially the end. In a, you know, country way.
You gotta listen to what you like. Should I not listen to Matisyahu or Mos Def because they’re religious? Should I ditch Nas because of the homophobia or JayZ because of the capitalism?
Jesus Christ if I got strict about misogyny, I’d have to stick to instrumental.
Just listen to it when you’re alone. That’s what I do. Good point not to play some things to your (young) kids. But I sometimes like to listen to music which lyrics I don’t necessarily agree with. Or from artists that haven’t been exemplary humans. If I like the song and it touches me emotionally and I’m able to differentiate between that and real life, I don’t think it’s bad (for me).
Edit: I’m not sure how ‘controversial’ the song you mentioned is. It celebrates southern music. And country, bluegrass, rock etc had a good amount of impact on the world. Same with the bands they sing about who have influenced music as we know it today. I don’t see an issue with this song.
And if you ask me, let your kids be rebels against injustice and outdated and narrow perspectives on the world.
I feel the same way about a lot of modern hip-hop and pop music. I really enjoy the music but I just can’t relate in any way to the bragging lyrics about having loads of money.
Feel like I’ve heard the Lamborghini Urus casually mentioned in about a dozen UK hip-hop tracks over the past 6 months…
They’re just not timeless. If you were to go back in time to sell your ancestors on a song from the future, a lyric like “me wearing my Oaklies and taking a Polaroid selfie in Times Square” is probably not gonna translate so well. Therefore the song’s message is probably superficial.
Not all hip-hop obviously, Pharcyde are pretty solid lyrically.
I actually have a sub dedicated to calculating how timeless a song is:
For fans of Pharcyde, check out Del The Funky Homosapian, aka Deltron 3030 for some albums, and a prominent member of the Heiroglyphics crew (who are also similarly lyrically inclined.) Idk how it’ll rank on your timeless-o-meter but he’s the only dude I’ve ever heard say “lurid” in a song.
Edit: OH and fans of Gorillaz will recognize his voice, he rapped on some of their biggest tracks.
I’m a fan of Lucero. The lead singer definitely has a Southern accent, but I haven’t noticed any questionable lyrics or glorification of ignorant redneck bullshit. No “codes” or dogwhistles. Maybe you should check them out.
Lucero is pretty legit. Really nice guys too. My buddy made friends with the singer way back when he was in his previous band and subsequently Lucero is one of the few bands I’ve been following since basically day one.
Some of these are more country than southern rock, but you might also like Jason Isbell, 16 Horsepower, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Corb Lund, Wovenhand, Larkin Poe, Pink Williams (if you’re not turned off by leftist politics), and Hank Williams III (if you don’t mind a lot of drug references), and The Goddamn Gallows.
Since you chose CDB, here is an interesting bit of trivia about that song in particular:
The song uses a clever play on words to promote Southern rock music. … The “it” that the South is going to do again, it is implied, is to produce additional popular rock groups.
Daniels factually bristled at more nefarious interpretations of what the “it” was. … Daniels told Billboard, “I’m damn proud of the South, but I sure as hell am not proud of the Ku Klux Klan. I wrote the song about the land I love and my brothers. It was not written to promote hate groups.”
Maybe use the songs as an opportunity for discussion … or save it for your kid-free time.
But. At the same time, if you need to pull up a Wikipedia article for people to not think you are a piece of shit, does it matter?
It is the Pepe the frog situation (that actually was a lot more complicated but). Some people used it because they wanted to take the meme back. Most used it to represent hate and bigotry. I know what I assumed when I saw it posted
And if someone is listening to an anti robot anthem on the hover train, people will assume they are an asshole.
This is no different than any other media. Multiple shows have made the joke that 80s comedy films were basically nothing but rape. And that is why you have the really awkward conversations when you recommend one.
LOVE Tom Petty. I used to rent a room from his high school teacher at GHS. She said “Tommy Petty” wouldn’t write papers, but he would write and play songs instead, so she let him do that. They were “god-awful” according to her.
Idk how old your kids are, but if/when they’re old enough to have a conversation with nuance, just talk with them about the myth of the Lost Cause. Maybe watch some Checkmate Lincolnites videos on YouTube to help. This applies to all sorts of topics of discussion, by the way. Have a fact-based conversation once they are ready, and land on your opinions and show that you arrived there based on the facts as you understand them, encouraging them to take the same sort of approach to any nuanced conflict. In this way, you can still enjoy the music you like without necessarily condoning the message. But keep in mind that unless you’re pirating that music, you’re still financially supporting the artist, so do with that information what you will.
If they aren’t ready for such a complex discussion, you can still make it clear that you like the guitars, drums, etc but not the lyrics, and you can say that the song is about people being mean to people who don’t deserve it and tease that you can talk about it more when they get a little older.
Idk if it’s relevant to you at all, but I rediscovered the Southerner album by Trent Dabbs recently and it’s pretty solid if you want something a little country-ish without being so problematic. Paper Trail in particular is a fucking vibe.
Hank, hank jr, David Allen Coe, all of that is a vibe. Real damn shame there’s some straight n-words in a few of those old songs though, really ruins the vibe to hear the racism come out
If by “lack of manners” you mean “not tolerating racism” then I know exactly what you’re talking about. At least, that’s my experience with southerners.
Would you like to come hang out sometime? NW Florida here. I REALLY mean that. I’m asking and I’m serious.
I got a couple of spare rooms, loads of things to do around here if you like outdoors stuff. Floating the rivers and creeks in kayaks and such is my jam. Stop on random sandbanks, swap in a cold beer, eat a little, explore, move on.
I’ve never lived anywhere where people were less racist. I know, hard to believe. I live on the edge of a redneck town. My street is ~30% black, the rest white. We got one Asian! And I will marry her this Friday. Everyone is coming.
I cannot clap hard enough for your honest post. You must be a fine person for having said all that out loud and I love you for it. I’m embarrassed by my little prejudices as well, and I hate those god damned limits I put on myself. We get past those by travelling and sharing. Only way I know.
Man, that spring-feed water is COLD! I’m a Florida boy myself, and I love doing all that stuff you mentioned. I hope he takes you up on the offer because the world needs more connection.
I’m in Florida too, and the most racist people I know moved here from Michigan. Apparently up north there is more segregation than in FL, they told me they went to “the white high school” and my husband said the same thing about Indiana and Maryland, the high schools he went to were segregated.
Those guys come down here where we had enforced school integration (which did work somewhat as far as I can tell) and we are just more mashed together and mixed, and they find out they are actually dead racist and think “those people” should be in a different neighborhood and a different school from their kids. They were just able to ignore their racism up north by never interacting with anyone of a different “race”.
I sing R-kelly, MJ, and Garry Glitter songs all the time. I don’t support them financially though, since I’m a kid of the 90s and we grew up when music was freely shareable for the low low price of an internet connection to Kazaa
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