"pleasing everyone"

Today I was given a sneak peek at the song list for our upcoming prom, and was not pleased. But, this list is to "please everyone" and give a "variety" of what people our age listen to. NO. I know that my friends and I have different tastes then today's mainstream top hits, but really, if there were to be a variety for all people to enjoy, it would NOT look like the list that I had seen.

Not only is the dancing at school dances distasteful, but the music is even worse. I sound like the typical teenager when I say that music is my life, but really, music is my life. My mother is a music teacher, and I have been playing instruments since before I was even four years old. I was raised listening to Radiohead, The Police, R.E.M., Duran Duran, Dave Matthews Band, and U2 with my father, and Elton John, James Taylor, and the Carpenters with my mother. I was also taken to many symphonies when I was younger, and was exposed to various types of classical music. I actually didn't even listen to the radio on my own until I was probably in the third grade when I listened to a station that played chart hits from the thirties through the fifties, and to a station that had played contemporary Christian and worship songs. I began taking violin lessons when I was almost four years old, and have played ever since. Since then, I have picked up guitar, french horn, ukulele, melodica, and various other instruments. Each of these have different types of music that can be played with them. With violin, I play primarily folk music and old jigs from different cultures. With the french horn, I play regular band arrangements, and with the guitar, I will play anything from Jimi Hendrix to Bob Dylan to Coldplay. I would say that I am well educated in music, or at least I can appreciate most music at any level. Every type of music that I have ever been surrounded with has differed greatly from the next, which provides me with a diverse range of likes and very few dislikes. However, there is that music that I may find talentless, or really just all the same to me when I hear it, and that is what is played on radio stations like K92 or whatever those rap stations are.

I do appreciate music in all forms, but I find it to be a let down to turn on the television flipping past MTV and seeing rappers talking about women and money, with ladies all over them. I hear my little sister singing these lyrics, and I feel horrible about what kind of society is being brought up by this type of music. The melodies are not creative, and neither are the lyrics. And a slow song is definitely not "No Air" by Jordin Sparks. Just listen to it. I could make up a playlist right now that would make acceptable dancing music, without having vulgar language or lyrics that are just like anyone else's. With this being a school event, shouldn't music with those types of messages not be allowed? Look at how the kids are dancing, and listen to the words. Is this really even a dance at all anymore? If we're going to listen to rap, how about we check out some Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip?





How about that as a message? It's still got a good beat, and it has something informative to the audience.
So how about we change up this mix of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Soulja Boy, and the Plain White T's.