I’m an avid listener to Last FM online. I get to create my own playlist of songs I want to listen to and (they assure me) there are royalties paid to the artists. (I hope that’s true).
I turned it on this morning to listen while I did some admin and emails. Only to get treated to THREE different versions/mixes of “Apologise” by Justin Timberlake. (I kid you not).
One was actually pretty good. It didn’t have him in it.
This illustrates the dangers of allowing your internet passwords to fall into the hands of your children. Eldest Son has obviously been at my playlist, the cheeky rascal.
The good side of this is that I now have a greater insight into his emerging musical tastes. So far I don’t like what I hear. And it’s not just my age; it’s the lifestyle, image and lyrics of the “musicians” (gag!) he’s attracted to.
(Sigh). I won’t force him away from liking these songs and artists. I can’t.
I can stop him playing stuff in the house that is against our values, and I will. And a relaxed conversation is due, one respecting his opinions and tastes but inviting him to 
compare these artists’ behaviour and values with those he aspires to and believes in. I particularly don’t want him to learn how to treat women from these idiots.
Some of the other artists that have “scrobbled” (been randomly selected) and played for me so far include Akon, Ja Rule, Kanye West & more freakin’ Timberlake. I’m going to vomit.
So now comes the more serious conversation I have to have with him which will start like this:
“Son, you have desecrated my playlist. You have profaned holy ground. Are you not aware of the chief commandment of our house:
Thou Shalt Not Mix Morally-Mentally-Musically Challenged Artists Like Timberlake with Legends Like Linkin Park, Joe Satriani, Dire Straits, Kraftwerk and Alter Bridge!
And stay away from my passwords, dude!”
I might even get him to recite after me: “Ja Rule’s a Tool. Ultravox rocks.” But that might be pushing it.
Oh, crap. A fourth version of Apologise has literally just started playing. This one a country and western version. I really gotta go edit that playlist now… and change my password!
8 responses so far ↓
Saleo // Feb 19, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Ah dear. Classic stuff. I think I would vomit too - i despise the likes of Timberlake! I was just having a similar conversation with a school student the other day… and urging them to actually LISTEN to the lyrics to see what they would find… hmmm…
maybe we should try playing timberlake backwards like some of the builder generation did with the beatles etc…. i wonder what we would find??
HA HA
All the best with training your son Pete. he’s a good one… with some interesting musical taste!
Pete // Feb 19, 2008 at 12:54 pm
How cool to meet you here, Saleo Youth Worker & Mentor Extraordinaire!
I’ve actually played Timberlake backwards. In gravelly tones, he distinctly said “Crap this is. But it’s makin’ me rich.” Scary stuff.
Jonathan // Feb 20, 2008 at 9:47 am
This article made my day. Both for the oath I definitely think you should make your son take. And the wisdom of the conversation on values.
I like to point out to my students that you can’t spell crap without rap (cRAP).
You can take joy, there is a Pepsi commercial (at least in America) with Justin Timberlake in it. He gets pulled out of a bar, across a field, and then drug down the street where…wait for it…. a well placed mailbox racks him in the family jewels so forceable that he bounces back a whole body length and then…wait for ….he is racked again. The commercial ends with him getting knocked in the head by a plasma screen tv.
My not quite two year old has learned to high-five me at the mailbox scene. Think of that when version of Apologize plays and say to yourself, “Mr. Timberlake, apology accepted.”
Pete // Feb 20, 2008 at 9:55 am
“you can’t spell crap without rap” - that’s gold. I’m using that one. And you’ve made my day with those images.
I’ve had to eat a tiny bit of humble pie with the son in question, who told me “It’s not Timberlake, it’s TimberLAND who wrote that song.” But Timberlake was definitely in one of the versions I heard. (Or started to hear before I skipped it).
themolk // Feb 21, 2008 at 9:22 am
PUH-lease… this whole music thing is so subjective.
Just take out his ear drums. That’ll fix the problem. Then blow Justin Timberlake up. Then cut Akon’s feet off. And so on and so forth…
Pete // Feb 21, 2008 at 9:45 am
Yeah, I know that style is subjective and I communicate that to him a lot: you like what you like and that’s fine. It’s the values of the artists and music that I challenge him on.
And look I’m not one of these wierd christian fundamentalists who actually believes that demons inhabit rap music or heavy metal or trance and possess you through your eardrums.
I DO believe that we need to allign our heads and hearts with stuff that’s healthy. I just don’t want my boys to even start thinking of girls as “hoes” or that sex is what makes the world go round, or that they’re a failure as a man if they don’t have girls throwing their bodies at them all the time.
Hope that doesn’t come off as a rant, but there are some deep convictions behind this for me.
themolk // Feb 21, 2008 at 9:04 pm
LOOK OUT! PETE’S RANTING!
I understand you, brother, and completely agree with you. Music is as music does… I think…
Pete // Feb 22, 2008 at 7:25 am
Heh heh.
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