I bought my daughter an iPod shuffle for XMas, and I’m loading it up with songs for her today. I’ve ripped her Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana CDs, and I’ll put Smashmouth’s Astro Lounge on there, some Paul Simon, Beatles, etc. She really likes The Who, and we listen to them in the car and at home, including ‘Who Are You?’, and she sings along to the chorus. I’m worried, though, that if I put it on the iPod, she’ll learn all the words (which she definitely will) and may end up sing out "Oh, who the FUCK are YOU?’.
I’m no prude, and I’m pretty sure she knows ‘fuck’ is a word she shouldn’t be using, but I’ve got to admit I’m conflicted about putting this particular song on the iPod. I get a minor twinge when it’s on the stereo, but the iPod seems like sort of a different sphere of experience.
Good point. I’m a bit of a potty mouth, so I think she’s got it all figured out that there’s just some words Daddy says that he shouldn’t but does anyhow, and she definitely shouldn’t. She tested the waters by saying ‘pissed off’ once, but a single stern look was all it took to nip that in the bud.
Go ahead and call me a prude, but I wouldn’t put it on. I realize that bad language isn’t actually going to hurt anyone, but I just think it’s inappropriate for young kids, and 6 seems a little too young.
There are versions of Who Are You? that don’t have that line (on The Who’s Greatest Hits, IIRC), but it seems a waste to buy an entire album just for a bowdlerized version of a song you already have.
It’s blurred in such a way that many radio stations can get away with playing it sometimes. I would. I remember being very young and singing David Allan Coe songs with my parents and skipping over the curse words because I knew not to say them. She’ll do fine.
PS - love that you are doing it. I sang Who songs to my kids when they were babies. I got stuck trying to come up with something one night to sing to my oldest when he was a baby and Baba O’Reilly just kind of popped out and I went with the theme.
ETA - you could always sing along and say “who the heck are you?” and let her pick up on that if you are really worried about the language.
I’m neither a parent nor a kid…and I have a foul mouth for sure…but I wouldn’t put that on my kid’s iPod. I’d be afraid that she would accidentally - or even rebelliously - start singing that part of the song in the wrong situation.
You can check on Amazon (DRM-free MP3s) to see if they have the edited version for 99 cents, but I did not see a version marked as [edited] on there.
Sure. And good job at exposing her to some decent music Words are used to express oneself and as long as your daughter knows when certain words are inappropriate for her to say, I see nothing wrong with her reading or listening to “cuss” words at six.
I love the Who, but I’d say no on this one. There are plenty of Who songs that don’t use the f-bomb, and it’s not going to stunt her musical growth to leave those off her iPod for now.
If she has a particular love for this song then there’s the aforementioned edited version of “Who Are You” that changes the line to “Who the hell are you?” This is still not something I’d want my (imaginary) little girl to be saying but is much less likely to offend others or get the kid into trouble at school. You may be able to get it off iTunes without having to buy a whole new album. But I’d imagine that your daughter probably won’t notice or care that she doesn’t have “Who Are You” on her own iPod.
Yes, I definitely would. She’ll be in elementary school in a year if she isn’t already, and she’ll have learned that word and many others within the first month. If she listens to the song and doesn’t pick up on that line, great. If she does (or even if she doesn’t and you’re reaching for an example of words she shouldn’t ever or should rarely use), use it as a teaching example.
I grew up listening to that song (and many others by The Who) and it took me until I was 13 to even realize that the word Fuck was in there. I didn’t listen to lyrics so much when I was that age, I mostly just listened to the sound of the music. I say put it on.
Also include Squeezbox.
Seriously, put more good stuff in the mix too. Maybe some Rubber Soul era Beatles a little Talking Heads (Road to Nowhere?) maybe. You know, some quality poppy rock and roll. It’s never too soon to learn good taste.
I have two (7 and 10) daughters, and for me it’s not about what they’re already being exposed to outside of my control, it’s about what I’m exposing them to. Just because they may hear certain curse words at school or from friends doesn’t mean I’m going to put Disturbed’s “Down With The Sickness” on their iPod (it’s on mine), just because they think it’s got a good beat. And some may say, “well, fuck is only in the song once.” Where do you draw the line? Hell, I like NIN, but I change the station if my kids are in the car when the *edited *version of “'Fuck You Like an Animal” comes on.
Growing up in Texas, I remember hearing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” on the radio all the time. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-teens when I realized that the lyric wasn’t “And I told you once, you son of a gun, I’m the best that’s ever been.”
Words are used to express oneself and as long as your daughter knows when certain words are inappropriate for her to say, I see nothing wrong with her reading or listening to “cuss” words at six.