Vampires Will Never Hurt You, But I Will

I’m not a music critic, nor do I claim to be one, I’m just an angry sophomore who goes to a small school and lives in a small town that really shouldn’t be on the map. And I’ve been independent and opinionated since the day I was born. And living in a small town, in Vermont might I add, I am surrounded by country folk (ew.) My brother was never the country kid though, he was my mom’s hard rock and heavy metal kid, and thanks to Michael and my mom, I’m the rock kid too. I spent too much of my life listening to country at a young age. But, with my mema, things were different. I got a healthy dose of rock and roll on the days she babysat. Elvis, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino, Isley Brothers, Little Richard, and all the rest. Michael and I would dance in our car seats in the back of her Pathfinder on road trips. Secretly, I think the whole fun of it was just being in the car singing along to “Shout!”.  Growing up on that kind of music, along with the occasional Motley Crue or Poison song we heard had a great impact on Michael. When he was 10, My Chemical Romance released their second album, “Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge” and that changed everything in both our lives.  We would record tons of shows on Fuse, and watch “Helena”, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, and the few other My Chem videos that were out at the time, countless times. Then came Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan, and Good Charlotte. The (dare I say it) emo explosion. And that is not an insult. Emo has a stupid definition by the majority, when really; it’s people who are just more creative and willing to put emotion into what they do..hmm…kinda like the love songs from the 50s and 60s. Whatever happened to that creativity anyways? The popular music these days seems to rap and pop. Can we please just talk about rap for a minute? Rap to me, is N.W.A, Public Enemy, and Jay-Z, 80s and 90s stuff, yes, I suppose we could throw Eminem in there too, guilty pleasure of mine, along with the few mentioned before him. That is rap. L’il Wayne, Drake, and the too many others that unfortunately exist in the music industry, are, I hate to break this to all you potheads, hip hop. I’m sorry, but when did computer programmed beats and grunting become music? Since when do the” lyrics” about how much money you have or how many people you’ve shot, or how much weed you smoke on an hourly basis become superior to lyrics like “I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone”, which could be interpreted in many ways, one being that it’s okay to be an individual and you have stand up and face the life you were given and get the most out of it. When did “lyrics” about how fat a girl’s ass or boobs are and how much liquor she can hold or how good at sex she is start overpowering lyrics likes Green Day’s “Last Night on Earth”? When did lyrics involving memories of beating up your neighbor or raping a pregnant girl become more important than lyrics like My Chemical Romance’s “Kids From Yesterday” which has the line “You only live forever in the lights you make, when we were young we used to say that you only hear the music when your heart begins to break, now we are the kids from yesterday” which could be about anything from losing a best friend or first love, or how people change and you grow apart. When did lyrics about shooting people for the fun of it start filtering through our thoughts rather than lyrics like My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to The Black Parade”, which changed so many peoples’ lives. When did America become a place like this? And why? Oh, right, because we don’t care enough about our future. About the kids. We figure we’re already screwed up this much that we’re ready to give up. People don’t want to admit that the guys in eyeliner, spandex or skinny jeans, with teased and dyed hair, tattoos and motorcycles know what they’re talking about. If these are the people that can get through to kids and teach them how to be individuals and that things will get better, then why are parents stopping them from listening to it? Parents are afraid to look at their kids and see that they need help, someone to guide them. Not a leader, just some kind of support. I may have an unpopular opinion, but I figured I’d share.