Article January 1, 2002 Issue

Words of praise

By Tara Kearns

“All you need is love...,” “Summertime and the livin’ is easy...,” “Oops — I did it again...” At one time or another, most of us have heard these lyrics and are familiar with the artists who wrote or sang them.

Over the years, lyrics have both been blamed for taking lives and praised for saving lives. For example, Marilyn Manson and Eminem have each been blamed for influencing people with the violent messages in many of their songs. On the other hand, people find inspiration and self-esteem through artists such as Destiny's Child and the Dixie Chicks.

As young adults, I think we are each responsible for filtering out negative messages. This is especially important today when words are more graphic and the messages are more illicit. If the words to a song are really hard to listen to — offensive, violent, or just badly written — I'll make the choice to stop listening, even if I think the melody is really great. I know how deeply lyrics affect me, and this is the choice I have made.

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