Ed,
I thought your lyrics were brilliantly thought out.

Dan, I am truly sorry to hear about your struggles to keep your beloved child safe and healthy.

---stop reading here if you don't like philosophical ramblings ----

On the topic of whether or not people should write songs that have potential to offend; it is inevitable that such songs will always be written. Somebody with a lot more wisdom than the average joe would have to determine whether or not writing them is desirable.

However, it is worth noting that all groups conform to the same basic set of governing principles, whether the group is a family, club, job, church, etc. All groups basically go through a forming, storming, norming and performing period, after which a set of rules is understood by everybody in the group. Some who don't agree with the rules leave the group. Some remain in the group but their disagreement goes underground. Others enforce the rules they agree with.

One way this enforcement manifests is through songs that extol the virtues of abiding by the will of the group, or by ridiculing any behavior that falls outside the group norm. All groups have this in one form or another, and Ed's song is a classic example of such peer enforcement. The function of such communication is to send a message to members who want to fit in. Peer pressure, as we call it, is perhaps the most effective method of maintaining group order, because it is pre-emptive (unlike punishment, which comes after the offense, and tends to be more hurtful)

In that sense, I think it can serve a useful purpose, because such communication is like a stop sign. If you see it and observe it, you are better off than if you ignorantly drive through a busy intersection. Yet, some who see the stop sign willingly ignore it. Most groups regard uninformed disobedience with more empathy than they regard informed and intentional disregard for group norms/laws. Whether we like it or not, that's the way groups work.


Last edited by Pat Marr; 10/03/10 12:04 PM.
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