For Youths, Depressing Lyrics Reflect Society

Headline: FOR YOUTHS, DEPRESSING LYRICS REFLECT SOCIETY
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri., Sep. 20, 1996
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 5B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

MUSIC ALWAYS HAS given us an excellent lens for peering into the thoughts and feelings of a generation.
   Songs of the '40s, for instance, provided a view of the optimism that Americans had about winning World War II.
   Songs of the late '60s and early '70s painted a picture of a generation optimistic about the future.
   Even much of the anti-war music expressed a belief that young people could change the world for the better.

Many of the songs popular with younger people today, however, provide a much different, much more depressing outlook. They paint a picture of a generation of people who don't think the world will get better, who don't believe that anyone cares about them.
Many of the popular singers and groups display this, both through their songs and through their actions.

That brings us to the case of rapper Tupac Shakur, killed recently in Las Vegas. Shakur, mowed down after watching the Mike Tyson fight, lived fast and, at age 25, died young. He made millions, but never got away from the words emblazoned across his stomach: "Thug Life."
   Maybe he couldn't get away from those words. Record companies went for his "street" behavior because of his legions of followers. His fans bought his records although many radio stations refused to air his songs. The language, the use of the "n" word and the glorification of violence in his songs caused most stations to shy away.
   But his popularity grew through word-of-mouth, live concerts, cable television and the Internet. His latest CD, "All Eyes on Me, " had sold 5 million copies at the time of his death.
   His fans viewed him as inconquerable. He was shot five times in a Manhattan robbery two years ago. He was arrested repeatedly in recent years, on assault and weapons violations charges. He was released last year on bail pending appeal after serving eight months in a New York prison for sex abuse.

Despite the money and popularity of Shakur, who called himself 2Pac, the words to his songs were downright depressing. Money didn't appear to buy him happiness - or optimism. Consider these lyrics from one of his songs:

And they say how do you survive
weighing one-sixty-five
in the city where the skinny niggas die
Tell mama don't cry
cuz even when they kill me
they can never take the game
from a young "G". . .

The lyrics are far from upbeat, even if they mirror the thoughts of some young black people who believe that the only thing the near future holds for them is death.

But this kind of depression - and a fixation on death and murder - isn't limited to black musicians. Consider these lyrics from a song by Alice in Chains:

I could set you free;
Rather hear the sound
of your body breaking
as I take you down.
Or these words from a song by Metallica:
Our brains are on fire
with the feeling to kill
and it will not go away
until our dreams are fulfilled.
There is only one thing on our minds
Don't try running away 'cause you're the one we will find.

All these lyrics are depressing. But I fear that they express the thoughts and feelings of many young people.
A hopelessness. A sense that nothing will get better. A belief that this generation's been handed a lousy world and there's nothing that can be done to make it better - so do whatever you need to do to get what you want.
It hardly describes all young people. Yet the hopelessness of this generation's music is much more pronounced than music of years past.

The record companies feed on this hopelessness. They make millions of dollars each year promoting the lawless and invincible images of these stars of today's music world. They profit from the glorification of the violence. They not only reflect the culture, they help mold it.
   Tupac Shakur may have never known better. But surely the record executives did. I doubt any of them ever tried to point him in a different direction.
   His death, ultimately, is the result of the "thug life" he chose to live. There's no getting around that. But the record companies take blood money every time they push an artist with lyrics that accept the deaths of young people as everyday occurrences and which, on some occasions, encourage murder.
   What's especially sad is that as long as they find listeners to buy these records and to attend these concerts, nothing will change.

Let's hope that many of those young listeners someday realize the importance of optimism and the significance of faith.

Gregory Freeman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. ... < deleted >

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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