Confession Time

EMINEM - The Eminem Show

Sing For The Moment

Verse #1
These ideas are nightmares for white parents
Whose worst fear is a child with dyed hair and who likes earrings
Like whatever they say has no bearing
Its so scary in a house that allows no swearing
To see him walking around with his headphones blaring
Alone in his own zone, and he dont care
He's a problem child, what bothers him all comes out
When he talks about his fuckin' dad walkin out
Cos he hates him so bad that he blocks him out
But if he ever saw him again, he'd prolly knock him out
His thoughts are whacked, he's mad so he's talkin' back
Talkin black, brainwashed from rock and rap
He sags his pants, 2 rags and a stocking cap
His step-father hit him so he socked him back
And broke his nose, this house is a broken home
There's no control, he just lets his emotions go
Come on...

Chorus:
Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
Sing with me,just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Verse #2
Entertainment is danger, intertwine it with gansters
In the land of the killers, a sinner's mind is a sanctum
Only you're unholy, only have one homey
Only this gun, lonely, cuz don't anyone know me
But everybody just feels like they can relate
I guess words are a motherfucker, they can be great
Or they can be great, or even worse, they can teach hate
Its like kids hang on every single statement we make
Like they worship us, plus all the stores ship us platinum
Now how the fuck did this metamorphasis happen?
From standin' on corners and porches just rappin'
To havin' a fortune, no more kissin' ass
But then these critics crucify you, journalists try to burn you
Fans turn on you, attorney's all gonna turn it to
To get their hands on every dime you have
They want you to lose your mind every time you mad
So they can try to make you out to look like a loose canon
You need to spew, dont hesitate to produce air-guns
Thats why these prosecutors wanna convict me
Swiftly just to get me offa these streets quickly
But all their kids been listen'n to me religiously
So i'm signing cds while police fingerprint me
They're for the judges daughter, but his grudge is against me
If i'm such a fuckin' menace, this shit doesnt make sense, Pete
It's all political, if my music is literal and i'm a criminal,
How the fuck can i raise a little girl?
I couldn't. i wouldn't be fit to
You're full of shit too, Guerrera, that was a fist that hit you!

Chorus


Verse #3
They say music can alter moods and talk to you
But can it load a gun for you and cock it too?
Well if it can, then the next time you assault a dude
Just tell the judge it was my fault, and i'll get sued
See what these kids do, is hear about us toting pistols
And they want to get one, cos they think the shit's cool
Not knowin' we're really just protectin' ourselves
We're entertainers, of course this shit's affecting our sales
You ignoramus. but music is reflection of self
We just explain it, and then we get our cheques in the mail
It's fucked up ain't it, how we can come from practically nothin'
To bein' able to have any fuckin' thing that we wanted
It's why we sing for these kids that don't have a thing
Except for a dream and a fucking rap magazine
Who post pinup pictures on their walls all day long
Idolise their favourite rappers and know all they songs
Or for anyone who's ever been through shit in they lives
So they sit and they cry at night, wishing they die
Till they throw on a rap record, and they sit and they vibe
We're nothing to you, but we're the fuckin' shit in their eyes
That's why we sieze the moment, and try to freeze it and own it
Squeeze it and hold it, 'cos we consider these minutes golden
And maybe they'll admit it when we're gone
Just let our spirits live on, through out lyrics that you hear in our songs
And we can

Chorus
 
I will admit that he is great with words, and can rhyme like there is no tomorrow (with the exception of the chorus to 'Without Me', where he rhymes the same word three times....), but that is only one song, which I find strange, as he is contradicting alot of the shit he says in other songs. Maybe his conscience has got the better of him...

Also, those lyrics don't change the fact the he still has bad lyrics, which kids will listen to more..
 
Blitzy, I'd offer my thoughts on the subject but I can't remember what I was going to write two nights ago and I can't be bothered reading through all this again :)

Maybe on the weekend when I don't have a headache! Honest!
 
What are you suggesting? That I have no argument and was therefore putting everything off until you forgot about it so I wouldn't have to back myself up?

Far off the mark, young Blitzy, FAR OFF.
 
OK, time for my big, controversial, never-to-be-repeated opinion on this whole "Eminem is the devil incarnate and is ruining society" debate.

As long as there is music, someone will criticise its message. I'm not all that familiar with Mr Nem's music - I've only heard two songs, "Stan" and "Without Me", and both of them rock - so I'm going to have to take your word on whether or not he glorifies murder, drug use, and punching girls on the arm as a way of showing that you like them.

Blitzy, I know that you're a young fella and might have a better insight into teenagers than an old man such as myself might, but I've been listening to metal since I was ten, and none of the descriptive and colourful lyrics ever had an effect on me. This is probably because I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics but instead came from the "if it sounds good, then it *is* good" school of thought. A song could have been about a guy raping a cow and I wouldn't have cared, as long as it had a cool chorus and killer solo.

And is rap different? Well, yeah, I guess it is, gangsta rap especially. More swearing and a lot less politically correct. Thing is, though, that when I listened to a couple of rap albums (by Ice T... would he be considered gangsta rap?) in the early 90s I read the lyrics and paid attention to them, but didn't take them to heart or anything - I thought they were funny. Thing is, too, that people can take the lyrics seriously, or look at them closely and see that often they are meaningful and are trying to make a statement on a social issue.

Lyrics, shmyrics, though - if a song rocks, then I don't care what it's about. I'm quite pro-abortion, for example, but one of my favourite songs is "Legal Kill" by King's X, and that takes a very manipulative look at the issue and tries to say how bad abortion is.

Anyway, back to the point - actually, I'm not sure what my point is anymore. I had my opinion in the middle of the week and now I can't really remember it... bottom line is I don't like censorship, and so I don't think that Eminem's stuff - or anyone's stuff, for that matter - should be banned or anything, unless they're Nazis or Republicans or something. I don't think anyone has the right to say who should or shouldn't listen to something, so if a nine-year old girl - who probably doesn't even listen to the lyrics of a song, but just bounces up and down to the beat - wants to hear an Eminem song on the radio, then fair enough. I loved it when I saw the Number of the Beast video on TV when I was ten - what does that say about me and the effect Maiden had on me? I didn't know what the song was about back then, I just liked the song and the cool monsters on the video! I never listened to the lyrics back then, and don't really do it too much these days either.

So there you go. I probably completely avoided the issue or got everything mixed up and missed the point totally, but that's my opinion regardless :)
 
OK, I just have a bit of friendly rebutting in response to your post. :)
Originally posted by Spiff
I've only heard two songs, "Stan" and "Without Me", and both of them rock - so I'm going to have to take your word on whether or not he glorifies murder, drug use...
Click to expand...
I can recommend you a few songs of his that I am refering to when I say how he is putting a bad message out if you want me too...
Originally posted by Spiff
I've been listening to metal since I was ten, and none of the descriptive and colourful lyrics ever had an effect on me.......And is rap different? Well, yeah, I guess it is, gangsta rap especially. More swearing and a lot less politically correct.
Click to expand...
Generally, Metal and Rap are completely different in that respect though. As I said in an earlier post, lyrics in metal are generally used to describe situations and to tell a story, where as in some rap, it does glorify things and even tells the listener to do them.
Originally posted by Spiff
Thing is, though, that when I listened to a couple of rap albums (by Ice T... would he be considered gangsta rap?) in the early 90s I read the lyrics and paid attention to them, but didn't take them to heart or anything - I thought they were funny. Thing is, too, that people can take the lyrics seriously, or look at them closely and see that often they are meaningful and are trying to make a statement on a social issue.
Lyrics, shmyrics, though - if a song rocks, then I don't care what it's about. I'm quite pro-abortion, for example, but one of my favourite songs is "Legal Kill" by King's X, and that takes a very manipulative look at the issue and tries to say how bad abortion is.
Click to expand...
I agree with you there, but what I am trying to say is that when say a teenage boy, at the impressionable age of 13 listens to those songs, he isn't stupid or too young to understand, and he hears what the rapper is saying. Depending on the kid, it could have a bad effect on him. Your right, some kids might think its funny and laugh it off, some might not even listen to the lyrics, and some might read right into them and do what the rapper is saying.
Originally posted by Spiff
bottom line is I don't like censorship, and so I don't think that Eminem's stuff - or anyone's stuff, for that matter - should be banned or anything, unless they're Nazis or Republicans or something. I don't think anyone has the right to say who should or shouldn't listen to something
Click to expand...
I don't like censorship that much either, in a sense that a mature adult has the right to listen to whatever they want ect. But I think we have to have a serious look at what we are exposing our youth too. A 13 yr old kid is not an adult, so the same rules shouldn't apply. And sticking an "18+" sticker on the front of the cd is not the answer.
Originally posted by Spiff
so if a nine-year old girl - who probably doesn't even listen to the lyrics of a song, but just bounces up and down to the beat - wants to hear an Eminem song on the radio, then fair enough. I loved it when I saw the Number of the Beast video on TV when I was ten - what does that say about me and the effect Maiden had on me? I didn't know what the song was about back then, I just liked the song and the cool monsters on the video! I never listened to the lyrics back then, and don't really do it too much these days either.
Click to expand...
I agree, the attraction to an Eminem song for a 9 yr old girl probably is just the bouncey beat behind the song, and she probably doesn't listen to the lyrics that much anyway, but she is going to hear what the rapper is saying, and some of the message in the song will get through. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by metal video clips and even horror movies too, but as I said earlier, metal and rap aren't the same thing at all. IMO, it is like comparing showing a monster movie to a 10 yr old, and showing footage of actual rape and murder to another 10 yr old. They aren't the same thing...

Thats my take anyway. Adults and children aren't the same thing, and although we should have the right to expose ourselves to whatever we like, I think the decision of whats good/bad for us should be made by someone of a more mature age and mind, until we reach that maturing ourselves.
 
I'd get some of my rap friends in here to discuss this, but if I had any rap friends I'd probably shoot myself.

Still, I know what you're trying to say but don't agree with most of it. However, I refuse to say "Let's agree to disagree" because I hate that saying with a passion.

One thing, though - if a kid is going to go ahead and do what a rapper tells him to, then most likely he would have done them anyway without said performer suggesting it to him. Just like horror movies - they don't create psychos, they just make psychos more creative (I believe that was in "Scream").

Please don't underestimate the ability of kids to be able to think for themselves, regardless of their ages. When I was youngster I hated it when people always tried to throw the responsibility of problem children onto the parents - I thought that was a huge insult to the intelligence of children everywhere, and to a small degree I still agree with myself there.

Spiffo - keeping it real.
 
Originally posted by Spiff
I'd get some of my rap friends in here to discuss this
Click to expand...
One of my best friends is a big rap fan, so I have been exposed to alot of it.
Originally posted by Spiff
Still, I know what you're trying to say but don't agree with most of it.
Click to expand...
Ditto.
Originally posted by Spiff
One thing, though - if a kid is going to go ahead and do what a rapper tells him to, then most likely he would have done them anyway without said performer suggesting it to him. Just like horror movies - they don't create psychos, they just make psychos more creative (I believe that was in "Scream").
Click to expand...
I beleive the horror movie quote is more appliant to adults. I must disagree with you about what you said about kids though. When a kid grows up, their personality grows also. Kids are impressionable, and their personalities are effected by the surroundings they are brought up in, and what they are exposed to when they are younger ect. That is often why we see spoilt rich kids grow up into arrogant types, kids that have been sexualy abused grow up with personality disorders ect.
So yes, for fully developed adults, a horror movies won't create psychos, they will just give them ideas. I agree with that. But art and pop-culture such as rap music that is exposed to maturing kids, will have an effect on them.
Originally posted by Spiff
Please don't underestimate the ability of kids to be able to think for themselves, regardless of their ages. When I was youngster I hated it when people always tried to throw the responsibility of problem children onto the parents - I thought that was a huge insult to the intelligence of children everywhere, and to a small degree I still agree with myself there.
Click to expand...
I'll say it again. Children aren't adults. Yes, children are/can be very intelligent, but that doesn't make them any less impressionable. If you stopped and asked a teenage criminal if they were inspired by pop-culture to do what they did, they would probably laugh in your face, but that doesn't mean it didn't have any effect on them.
 
Well, as you can tell I'm not a child psychologist, I'm just going by what I remember as a kid.

Anyway, back to the original subject. That Kylie song still rocks! :rock:
 
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