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I'm no prude. I have heard foul language since I was old enough to know what a cuss word was. Only these days, cuss words are the least of our social ills.
Case in point: We were stopped at a local gas station the other day when a young man pulled up behind us at the pumps. We heard his arrival before he even pulled into the lot. His four door something or other was bouncing into the lot. The music emanating from that car was so loud it made the car vibrate and not in a good way.
That's not the only problem. It was the kind of so-called music he was playing. It was obviously some sort of rap-ish trash. Every other word in this piece of musical entertainment was a form of the "F" word. I never knew it could be used in so many formats.
Even more offensive was the lyrics continuously using the "N" word as well. It was obscene to say the least.
When I was a kid, it was firmly impressed upon my young mind that curse words were off limits. Rarely did I ever hear either of my parents swear and if they did, it was most likely a four letter word that referred to dog crap. You get my point.
Never did they take the Lord's name in vain or damn anyone to hell. If any of us said anything even remotely close to that we would be dealt with swiftly.
Never was the "N" word permitted. One of my brother's best friends in high school was black. He sat at our kitchen table on occasion and shared a meal or two with us. We never saw him as anyone or anything other than another visitor to the dinner table.
As a product of the baby boomer era, I have listened to some of the music that contained questionable lyrics. As freshmen in high school, our school dance was cut short when the band attempted to play a version of "Louie, Louie." School chaperones made the band stop the music and that was that. To this day, it's unclear what the real lyrics are to the song as they were slurred and up to interpretation by the listeners.
Jump ahead 50 years, and now I have no idea what is acceptable for the listening public. Why are so many songs today filled with the words that are considered racist? Why is this tolerated in these days of heightened awareness of bullying and division? Someone please explain this to me.
In the meantime, I will continue to spin my old records that don't offend anyone other than haters of The Carpenters, the Monkees and America.
Heather Ziegler can be reached at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.