Being an overworked and underpaid high school English teacher, I put an ad on Craigslist offering my services as a tutor to make a little extra cash. Shortly thereafter I began tutoring a ninth grade girl originally from South America who has been in the States for only the past three years. She is a smart girl, but still struggles with many of the typical issues of a second-language learner.
One afternoon, I was helping her with the outline for her poetry unit essay. The teacher had the students choose a song to analyze and then write an essay about the poetic techniques used in the song. She chose a rap song by Drake for her essay. As she began reading the lyrics to me, she apologized for the bad language—followed by the disclaimer that she didn’t usually listen to the lyrics, but only liked the song for its music.
…If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that one.
This episode got me thinking. If it is true that kids don’t really listen to the lyrics—which, of course, we all know is not true—then why are the lyrics the only thing we look at when talking about whether a particular song is appropriate? Yes, the lyrics are important; but there is much more to our kids’ favorite songs than just the words. When determining the appropriateness of a song or album—whether for ourselves or our youth—we need to take a more holistic approach; we need to consider more than the words.
In addition to a song’s lyrics, we also need to look at the music itself and the source of the music—the life and lifestyle of the artist(s) performing the music.
The Music: Music is an extremely powerful medium, especially when it comes to our emotions. What do athletes do to get pumped for the big game? What do filmmakers do to get us to connect emotionally with the characters onscreen? What do mothers do to soothe their crying babies?
That’s right—music, music, music.
The fact that music affects our emotions is itself not a bad thing, but how it affects our emotions can be. We need to ask ourselves and encourage our youth to ask themselves: Do the emotions we experience when listening to our favorite songs honor God? Do the emotions we experience give us desires that are pleasing to God? If the music we listen to produces in us emotions and desires that are not pleasing and honoring to God, then we probably should stop listening to that music.
The Source: Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We easily could paraphrase that as, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the musician writes.” The lyrics and music we listen to are the products of the lives and lifestyles of the musicians who create them. How much do we know about those musicians who occupy our iPods and Spotify playlists? What are their values? What are their beliefs about God? What do they do in their spare time, and how do they spend all the money we give them in exchange for their songs?
Given the amount of time and money most people spend listening to music, it is important that we and our youth get to know the artists to whom we are giving all that time and money. We need to know what they stand for, what they believe about God and what they do in the name of fun. As we get to know these artists and musicians, we need to ask ourselves: Are these people I want influencing me (and the youth in my care)? Are these people’s lifestyles ones I want to support with my money?
The Lyrics: Of course we need to pay attention to the words they sing. Do the lyrics talk about things that are honoring and pleasing to God? Do they use language that is appropriate for us to hear? Do they speak the truth?
The lyrics of the songs we hear are probably the most important thing to consider when choosing which music to listen to and which music to avoid, but there’s a lot more to the songs than just the words. We need to practice discernment in our musical entertainment choices, and we need to teach our youth to do the same.
Ryan M. Blanck is a teacher and a writer from SoCal. He is the author of Engaging the Media, a book that helps teens make good choices regarding entertainment and the media. You can follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook.
