7yo and Green Day song lyrics

[gwinna]

My 7 year old son is now starting to listen to his own music. He's taking guitar lessons, and is loving it. He's going to be rock star. Seriously. It's so cute. He started out learning "Smoke on the Water" and now he's learning Green Day songs and is asking if we can buy the songs on iTunes. His guitar teacher is in an indie band, has long hair in a ponytail, and of course my son thinks he's the coolest guy ever.

So my question is about the lyrics. Do you think 7 years old is too young to be exposed to the content and language in Green Day songs? Most of their songs have swear words, and I know he's heard most of them at school (he tells me "so-and-so said the B word" or whatever). He's never actually used any swear words in front of me. Who knows about in front of his friends. They don't stay young and innocent forever, do they... Sometimes I wish they would.

Maybe this should just be a good opportunity to discuss the language and lyrics - I would rather talk about it with him than have him just listening to the songs with his friends (which is how he got introduced to Green Day).

Any thoughts?

[Jessy1019]

My kids have heard Green Day songs from my iPod.

We don't censor any music/other media in our home, we just talk about things as they come up.

[sunnmama]

I wouldn't censor Green Day. I listen to Green Day with my kids sometimes. Heck, my church (UU, admittedly) even incorportated a Green Day song into a service one Sunday, lol.

[sweetfeet]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

My kids have heard Green Day songs from my iPod.

We don't censor any music/other media in our home, we just talk about things as they come up.

Same here, my 5 year old loves Green Day. There are very few songs that she isn't allowed to hear. In fact, some of the songs on Delilah in the evenings have more innuendo and blatant lyrics than what she gets from Green Day.

[hottmama]

Yeah, my kids listen to mid-90s Green Day thanks to good old mom.
I only censor things that have tons of loud misogynist or homophobic slurs in them. Plain curse words don't bug me a bit.

[MichaelsSahm]

i don't censor my music, if he asks i tell him what it means. sometimes he'll tell me "uhm mom, that song had a bad word" lol and he leaves it alone. he doesn't use it.

[MichaelsSahm]

Originally Posted by hottmama

Yeah, my kids listen to mid-90s Green Day thanks to good old mom.
I only censor things that have tons of loud misogynist or homophobic slurs in them. Plain curse words don't bug me a bit.

i dont even want to listen tro music that has racial slurs or homophobic slurs. i cant stand music like that. lol

[Changed]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

My kids have heard Green Day songs from my iPod.

We don't censor any music/other media in our home, we just talk about things as they come up.

Yeah that.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by sahmnlovingit

i dont even want to listen tro music that has racial slurs or homophobic slurs. i cant stand music like that. lol

Yeah, me neither. I don't think I'd censor my kids if they brought it home, though they would have to use headphones or listen to it in private since I don't want to hear stuff like that.

[annethcz]

We listen to Green Day, and I don't censor the lyrics. We do talk about the lyrics and discuss what is/isn't appropriate for my kids to repeat. I'd rather that my kids be exposed to those things while I'm around, than hear it for the first time someplace else.

[twilight girl]

I don't know ... my 6 y.o. current #1 request from the iPod is "Master of the House" from Les Miserables ("Master of the House, isn't worth me spit, comforter, philosopher and lifelong shit. Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire, thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there. What a cruel trick of nature, landing me with such a louse, God knows how I've lasted livin' with this bastard in me house!")

So ...

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by twilight girl

I don't know ... my 6 y.o. current #1 request from the iPod is "Master of the House" from Les Miserables ("Master of the House, isn't worth me spit, comforter, philosopher and lifelong shit. Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire, thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there. What a cruel trick of nature, landing me with such a louse, God knows how I've lasted livin' with this bastard in me house!")

So ...

LOVE that song!! My daughter's current fave is anything from Rent, but particularly "La Vie Boheme." She knows damn near every word.

[angela&avery]

nah, id keep just an open discussion.

we are big Bare Naked Ladies fans here!

[tinuviel_k]

I like Green Day, so I'd be okay with it.

I often wonder, though, if I need to change up the kind of music I listen to in the car. The other day we had company over and Denali was in the bath. We heard our almost-five year old's little cheerful voice singing happily, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve." My friend just about roared with laughter and said, "Listing to Nine Inch nails a lot lately, hmmmm?"

[Alyantavid]

I don't really censor music for my kids. One of my 6 year old's favorite songs is Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

I wouldn't be bothered by it but definitely talk about it if you need to.

[Ornery]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

I like Green Day, so I'd be okay with it.

I often wonder, though, if I need to change up the kind of music I listen to in the car. The other day we had company over and Denali was in the bath. We heard our almost-five year old's little cheerful voice singing happily, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve." My friend just about roared with laughter and said, "Listing to Nine Inch nails a lot lately, hmmmm?"

That used to happen to me all the time with Nine Inch Nails and early Violent Femmes! My music lover is now 12 yo and writes his own songs. He has been to many a concert with me and has pretty decent taste (if you ignore the aaron carter phase at age 6).

[ColwynsMommy]

Well, I don't really mind if my kids say bad words, so I don't mind explicit lyrics so long as I don't really object to the message.. but then, I don't really stop to think much about that anyway, so I'm sure they've heard music that I'd probably rather them not understand anyway. Oh well.

I figure that it's much more important for my kids to be aware of who is around when they say things, rather than memorize a list of words they should never say. My kids will say mildly bad words (things like kick ass, badass, crap, etc) in front of us and my parents (my parents are the ones who taught them most of it, anyway), but they're extremely good about knowing when it's inappropriate to say things like that. Sometimes my four year old will tell us he needs to say a really bad word, and he'll go into his bedroom, shut the door, and get it out of his system. They've sometimes slipped and said the f-word (usually copying another adult ), and it doesn't bother me, but I always take the time to reiterate the fact that those things are only okay to say if we *know* the people around us won't mind.

So, anyway.. if it's just the words, then I wouldn't worry at all. If he's picking up messages that you're concerned about, I'd say it's better to have an honest talk about it than to ban the music outright.

[eclipse]

My 7 year old has been listening to green day for years.

[caspian's mama]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

Denali was in the bath. We heard our almost-five year old's little cheerful voice singing happily, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve."

that is rich. :


OP, i love that your son's first guitar song was "smoke on the water". good gravy, does ds love that damned song. that and "iron man" because it was my ringtone.


the green day line that first popped into my head when i read this was "when masturbation's lost its fun, you're f'ing lonely". while i might not want my kid repeating that, you have to admit it's good advice.


so far the only thing i've kept from ds music-wise is gangsta rap. those lyrics aren't acceptable for anyone really (but the beats make me crazy). i regret that he can't listen to a lotta beastie boys, but the time will come. for now, he's happy with the pixies, nirvana, parliament... and dan zanes, of course.

[gwinna]

Thanks everybody for your insightful replies. I ended up getting my DS "American Idiot" and we've been talking a lot about the lyrics. He, of course, is on top of the world. Again, thanks.