Ambiguity In Music

3/24/11
Psych 208 #2

Tuning in a radio can be a very diverse experience. All sorts of kinds of sounds come blaring from the speakers, some familiar, others not, depending on the listener. It is easy to distinguish the sounds of different generations, just as it is easy to distinguish their styles. On the surface, the popular songs of today sound very different from those that dominated the charts half a century ago. Legendary guitar rifts and pioneering vocals of artists such as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and John Lennon have been replaced by electronic sounds, heavier beats, and faster lyrics. Yet, have the underlying themes of music changed along with their sounds? Is the disfavor with which older generations look down upon contemporary
One’s level of maturity, age, or knowledge of Rihanna does not matter what-so-ever in how they interpret the song. Anyone who tunes in (even some children, depending upon their previous level of exposure to such matter, via either their families or other media) would easily understand the song after just one listen. Similarly to “Light My Fire,” “S&M” refers to sex. However, it does not refer to sex as the practice between two people as “Light My Fire” does, in which the speaker pleads for someone to be with them. This pleading for that one person attributes a higher amount of seriousness to sex than does “S&M”, which simply deems sex as a fun activity, regardless of who it is with or why. This likely reflects the change that occurred in America over how we view sexual relations over the past half a century. Earlier, namely before the 1970s when birth control pills became more widely used, typically people were not as casual about sex (at least not in the open) as we are today. In that regard, the generations who were raised after the 1970s were acquainted with sex at a younger age by the media, namely music and television which began airing more sexual themes as those issues grew less risqué in
First, the fast, upbeat tune is catchy—it puts you in a good mood and it’s the kind of music you’d like to dance along to, so it suits the interests of teenagers. But the popularity of this song goes far beyond its sound. To teenagers, the sexual lyrics provide a sort of forbidden paradise that is likely to be frowned upon by their elders. Thus, they are immediately intrigued, and as they sing along to such music, they become more comfortable with the notion that sex is “fun” and “lighthearted.” Most adolescents would immediately associate the upbeat song about sex with the notion that sex is harmless and fun, even if they only do so subconsciously. While older teenagers have likely already been exposed to such matters beyond the context of music lyrics, younger listeners probably have not been. It is in these younger adolescents that the true danger of such uncensored material is imposed. The common expression that kids are “growing up too fast” is truer now than ever. The way that some pre-teens dress and act are similar to the lifestyles of people in their late teens a generation ago. Most of this change can be attributed to the media, and a portion of that can in turn be attributed to music. Most teenagers consider music an important part of their lives, and many consider it to be a sort of refuge and comfort. Enter any middle or high school, and a large portion of teens will be listening to music. Of course