Take a stand againsy 'trashy' music you hear

     How frequently do we really listen to the music playing from our iPods, iPhones, radios and any other musical technology? Certainly we all listen to music at some point during the day, whether it’s simply on in the background or playing loudly in our headphones—but how often do we really listen?

     There are certain catchy songs that I hear on the radio that get stuck in my head throughout the day. Oftentimes, to rid myself of the repetitive autoplay in my brain, I find myself searching for the song lyrics or even for the music video. Most recently, I was searching for a radio station and the song “California Gurls” came on. While it has an interesting beat, I hadn’t particularly been paying attention the lyrics. Later on, as the song continued to hum in my subconscious, I Googled the lyrics and found an aversion to the once-catchy song—it was tied to the objectification of women and sexuality.

     Music is a language—it speaks to each person individually. It is truly amazing to really listen to the songs that are heard daily on the radio and then think about the audience listening to those songs. Different people are affected in different ways; yet, it is definitely the music that affects people. If we stop to think about the audience listening to the music that is randomly generated on the radio and then inputted into personal iPods based on the catchiness of the tune, it is truly alarming to think of how adversely music can subconsciously affect all people—from the young child sitting in the back seat of a car to a teenager driving to and from school to the adult driving home from work.

     In one of the World Youth Day Madrid catechesis sessions, Bishop Samuel Aquila addressed the topic of music and the ‘trash’ that is produced today, referencing the extreme sexuality and pleasures associated with it: “There is good music out there that you can listen to, but there is also a lot of trash. And it is simply evil. It is evil because it distorts the gift of human sexuality, the gift of sexual intimacy, the gift of life.”

     It is has become commonplace to push sexuality and violence in all forms of media, particularly music and movies. Why have these themes infiltrated the public places frequented by families? Music is found everywhere–cars, malls, restaurants—and we don’t always have control over the music that surrounds us. We can, however, do as Bishop Aquila urged his listeners and filter our own iPods and other musical devices.

     Music can be a beautiful message in that it speaks to the heart and to the soul. It can move people to tears or incite anger. Listen to the messages being related by the songs that run through our lives and consult your conscience—is it a message you agree with or is it something you find objectionable? We may not be able to control every song that we come across, but we can at least filter the ones that tend to stick with us.

     Heather Bozant can be reached at [email protected].