Too late, it’s dead. Decency just died. It had been dying for a while, but a new song by British circus performer turned pop-singer Neon Hitch just sent decency into cardiac arrest. Over the radio it is tough to make out the words but it sounds like “She loves you good, but I can love you better” After reading the lyrics I realized why the word love was hard to make out, because Ms Hitch doesn’t spell love L-O-V-E, instead she spells it F-U-*-K. Here’s a link to the lyrics http://www.metrolyrics.com/fk-u-betta-lyrics-neon-hitch.html. Thanks to the FCC, songs like this have to be edited for public consumption, but really anyone with a smart phone can access the unedited version of the song from anywhere.
It is true that there have been other times when decency has been beat up and put in the hospital. In 1987 George Michael released the “I want your sex” single which peaked at number 2 on the America’s charts and stayed on the Top 40 charts for 10 weeks. In 1990 Hip Hop group Salt and Pepa released a single called “Let’s talk about sex”, which also did well on some American charts. According to the website http://www.songfacts.com/ there are237 songs dealing with the issue of sex. Certainly there are more songs than that produced dealing with this issue, so perhaps this list represents the most popular or ones that aren’t shrouded in another message. Suffice it to say that Ms. Hitch is not the first to pen an explicit song about sex. It could be argued that she doesn’t even take the top prize for most vulgar song, that record could be owned by the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Gwar, 2 Live Crew or Insane Clown Posse. But those groups have not made it on mainstream radio.
So what makes “F**K you better” the song which killed decency? Well…just look at the title. It could be its unabashed message that sex is nothing more than an act in which one person can perform better than another. Her message could almost be the same message an insurance agent or perhaps an auto mechanic could use: “We know that we aren’t as attractive as your current auto mechanic, but we can change your oil better”. It could be her music video which shows nothing else than her dancing around in her underwear. Or it could be that her song reached Number #1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Hit Chart and is currently climbing on the Hot 100 Chart.
Perhaps it’s not so much of the content of the song, which apparently Ms Hitch wrote after an ex-boyfriend started dating a model, that killed decency, but perhaps it’s the fact that this song is being embraced by the consumers of pop culture. The biggest consumers of pop culture in our society are between the ages of 12-19 years old. According to Marketing Daily American teenagers posses nearly $216 Billion in buying power. El Salvador and 90 other countries in the world do not have the kind of buying power which American Teenagers have. This is why the purveyors of popular culture will do what it takes to get that cash.
Sometimes what it takes to get that cash is to give singers like Neon Hitch the opportunity to write and perform songs which most would argue are not appropriate fare for any 13 year-old. Yes sex sells. The pornography industry made billions last year and will make billions this year and billions every year until Kingdom come. In a broader sense, it’s not just sex that sells, it’s taboo that sells. Popular music has always made money from what was taboo. In 1963 it was somewhat taboo for the Beatles to sing about wanting to hold your hand.
Not to defend Mr. Michael and his song “I want your sex”, but at the very least he sung about sex as part of a relationship. His song was certainly taboo, but that was probably the point, to push the boundaries of what was taboo and okay to talk about in the public sphere. It seems though that mere taboo topics are not enough anymore. It’s not enough anymore to allude to sex like the song “Slow Ride” by Fog Hat or even sing about one night stands like “Chevy Van” by Sammy Johns. No, those songs are not enough to shock the decency out of people. There is no taboo anymore and now the likes of Neon Hitch must revert to being visceral in their language to ensure that people pay attention. Another song about sex? That won’t get people’s attention, but if we repeat the F-word enough, surely people will notice.
Once taboo is no longer taboo, the only thing left to do is attack decency. And that is what Ms Hitch’s song does, it attacks decency. It attacks decency to the point that decency just died.
Leftovers. Enjoy.
L. Kyle
My dad used to say the way girls dress these days (80's) leaves nothing for the imagination. I think he was talking about the allure which taboo thought lived and now as you say died. Though decency and allure are much different they correspond to the fact that discretion leave the choice where now no choice is given.
ReplyDeleteMy hope is the confinement of the removal of taboo allure and decency the light of moral truth will shine brighter to the world.
The real danger is that it poses a greater threat to our children (the church) as now the taboo is so blatantly accessible that we must now engage discussion on these issues that we hoped once to protect them from. To be silent is to allow a child to battle alone in these issues, we must teach them truth but now its in contrast with as you say dead to decency. Thanks for your blog!