Enforced Warnings In Music-Persuasion Essay
... brought forth this logo in 1990 and the logo stated “Parental Advisory-Explicit Lyrics.” This is the same logo that we use today. (Gilchrist, “screen”) Using this label as a standard and a warning is helpful to parents and family members who might be buying the unacceptable compact disks. Often times a child will wish for music for Christmas or for a birthday. If the adult is anything like my parents, they would have no idea that it might be inappropriate for the child. That is why the label was first invented. The consumer is in fact paying for the music and they should be told in advance that the words might offend some people. If this music is offending parents, then stores should do their part, and not sell to people who are under the age of 18. Many believe that rap and punk music entice children to be destructive and violent. In some cases this may be true, and that is why it is necessary for the store to uphold the rules of the “Explicit Lyrics label.” Some stores such as Wal-Mart and Target have banned such music to be sold in stores because of especially offensive or dirty language. More stores should do the same. Ozzy Osbourne has been a very controversial musician because of the suicidal and satanistic lyrics that he sings. In his song “Suicide Mission” he sings the following: “Cause you feel life's unreal, and you're living a lie. Such a shame-who's to blame? And you're wondering why. Then you ask from your cask, is there life after birth? What you saw can mean Hell on this earth, Hell on this earth. Now you live inside a bottle. The reaper's travelling at full throttle, It's catching you but you don't see. The reaper is you, and the reaper is me.” There have been several cases where parents have tried to sue Ozzy because their children listened to the music, and then committed suicide. Every time the court dismissed the cases because it claimed that the lyrics had nothing to do with someone committing suicide. But when you really examine what kids listen to today, you might realize how harmful the music might be. That is why we not only need to have the label, but we need to enforce it. There are other acts that have similar lyrics that have been causing controversy with the PMRC, but also with stores that sell the music, and also with consumers. Such artists as: Ice Cube, Old Dirty Bastard, Limp Bizkit, and many others have their work cut out for them. It seems that the more vulgarities that the music has, the more the albums sell. The days of positive songs are on the decline and we as a society have learned to accept it as it is. We should really take a step back and see what the media is doing to our culture. Tom Bednar looks at the vulgarities in music not only as offensive, but also as a decline in talent from the musicians themselves. “Timberland boots and baggy fatigues will be replaced by Versace suits, graffiti artists will give way to soft-drink spokesmen and an art form will disappear from the ...