Analysis of Vulgarity and The Use of Profane Language in Music in The U.s

Introduction

Today, it is hard to find a song that does not use at least one curse word. It is even harder to find a song that is not about money, sex, or drugs. Popular songs today perpetuate “hook up” culture and facilitate drug addictions, all the while creating a power and money-hungry posterity. An increase in vulgarity in music has become a major issue that is causing the general public to be desensitized toward topics such as drug abuse and sex.

Historical Context and FCC Regulations

In the past, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would place stringent regulations on what moved through the airways for the public to see and hear. However, today, even putting a “Parental Advisory” label on an album or song is completely up to the artist’s discretion. The current shift in American attitudes about sex dates back a little more than a decade — roughly the span of the pop stardom of Britney Spears, its first major icon. Spears’ songs such as “If You Seek Amy” and “Oops I Did It Again” are examples of songs that subtly drop sexual references. Today, songs like “Hey Jude” and “Happy Birthday” by the Beatles are a thing of the past.

Transition to Profanity in Music

The thing to investigate is when and why music became so profane. Profanity has been used in music for a while now; in fact, “profanity” is fairly subjective when it comes to music. When it was new, the Waltz was considered the height of vulgarity because men and women held each other while dancing, the Charleston was shocking at the time, and Elvis was censored on TV. Keeping these examples in mind, it is fair to say that vulgarity has been present for a while now. Vulgarity, or the level of vulgarity, depends on how the public responds; at this time, indecency has become an integral part of music, and the public is desensitized by it. Nobody is questioning why music has made this turn.

The Allure of Sex and Violence in Music

The reason behind why music has become so sex-driven is because people buy it. Sex sells. Rage is exciting. Songs like “You Got Me” by G-Eazy keep people excited and on their toes; in the song, G-Eazy says “Bitch you got me fucked up” more than 30 times. Even still, people love the song, myself included, and it is considered one of G-Eazy’s most popular singles. Recently, Flo Rida released a song called “Whistle”; while it sounds like a catchy song about whistling, it is actually about oral sex. One primary issue with the growing vulgarity in modern music is that it lacks censorship, bringing a negative influence to pre-adolescents. It is one thing to listen to abrasive language as an adult, because adults are exposed to the real world and its complexities. However, pre-adolescents derive negative messages from this form of music. Although Flo Rida exerts some form of discreetness, not all artists do the same.

Explicit Content and Its Impact

Neon Hitch released “Fuck You Better”; the message is clear within the title, but the lyrics solidify her argument even more:

"She's prettier than I'll ever be,
Got yourself a beauty queen, yeah,
But there's one thing I gotta say,
She can fuck you good, bet I can fuck you better"

The issue is that this song, with this message, is available for anyone of any age to listen to. The FCC has little to no regulations on what the public is allowed to hear. Yes, some words are censored using the bleep tone, but the tone does not remove the message that is traveling through the radio. Oversexualized music is exposed to the public.

Media Influence and Aggression

One issue with the media and the rap industry is the prevalence of music alluding to violence. Many songs show aggression toward women; phrases such as “These hoes ain’t loyal” and “Rack city bitch” have become commonplace in everyday language. Rapper Marshall Mathers (Eminem) is particularly guilty of writing hateful lyrics about women. His lyrics were so offensive that the FCC had to put a restriction on what he can and cannot say. In the song “Kill You,” rapper Eminem describes many violent acts towards his mother and women in general. One of his most explicit songs is Kim, where he expresses how he feels about his ex-wife:

“Come on get out
(I can’t I’m scared)
I said get out bitch!
(Let go of my hair, please don’t do this baby)… Don’t you get it bitch, no one can hear you?
Now shut the fuck up and get what’s comin’ to you
You were supposed to love me
NOW BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED!”

Impact on Society and Youth

According to a study done on the effect of explicit lyrics on society, “A more serious involvement of the impact of song lyrics has been made in the debates surrounding recent school shootings. No doubt, the music choices of Cho Seung-hui, the shooter of the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007, will be reflected upon as insight to his character. Similarly, the role of music was debated in the aftermath of the school shooting in Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.” In 1999, the school shooting by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought many controversies to the table, including gun control laws, the nature and consequences of high school subcultures and bullying, and the role of violence in the media. Included in the discussion of the media’s influence was TV, movies, video games, and music. It was stated that the two boys listened to angry music often. The morning of the massacre, they listened to music by Marilyn Manson and others before heading to the school for the shooting.

Conclusion and Proposed Solutions

Most of the criticism aimed at current popular music stems from the assumption that “content” may influence how young listeners think and act. Not surprisingly, it is a concern that emphasizes the negatives, such as violence, racism, and substance abuse. Music not only affects how we think about subjects such as sex, drugs, and money but also how we treat each other. In 1958, the Everly Brothers sang, “When I want you in my arms, all I have to do is dream.” Twenty-eight years later, the message had been simplified to, “Hey, we want some pussy?” When songs like “Habits” by Tove Lo talk about how she “[wants] to be high all the time to keep you off my mind,” adolescents are more inclined to use drugs to elicit the same kind of euphoric feeling. It can be concluded that violent lyrics promote youth violence or substance use portrayals encourage experimentation with illegal drugs. However, the concept of drugs’ strong correlation with music is not unique to the current generation. Whether it is a certain musician’s use of drugs or just lyrics about them, drugs and music have gone hand-in-hand for decades. Early rock stars such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash were both addicted to speed amongst other drugs.

Solutions to this growing issue of extremely vulgar music have been proposed but are rarely implemented. Artists are encouraged to record clean versions of their songs by major retailers such as Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart will not sell any popular music albums that they find offensive. “All the CDs on Wal-Mart’s shelves are marked either “clean,” or “edited,” and the ones that aren’t have usually been altered from their original version” (Cummings).