Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Baby it's cold outside

Radio stations are pulling the classic Christmas song and at first glance, they might have a point. After all, the lyrics sound sort of creepy and the song has not aged well. Sure, you could argue that it's more flirty and fun than disturbing or uncomfortable, but I can actually see both sides of this argument. Banning this song is not part of the overall "War on Christmas" (which doesn't exist, but anyway) but it is capitulating to political correctness.

What I find fascinating is that no one complaining about this song has the :: ahem :: backbone to complain about filthy rap lyrics. That would be politically incorrect and might get you accused of being racist, so that door won't be opened. It's much easier to show your MeToo side and protest something that all your friends agree with.

In junior high school, a teacher called my parents to show her concern about the musicians I listened to. She was worried about the lyrics to Ozzy Osbourne and other heavy metal performers I loved so much. My parents were worried about it too, so I lied to them and hid several of my cassette tapes. No regrets, heavy metal kept me sane back then.  I then made it a point to seek out music that had darker lyrics to see why it was so taboo. Banning things didn't work for them-I developed a lifelong love of heavy metal, and that poor teacher had no idea what she was doing.

Banning things straight out almost never works.

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