Tuesday
Oct202009
They've Gotten to My Favorite Elementary School Choir!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 8:12AM The Blogmother
Dear Lord NO! They've gotten to my favorite elementary school chorus. We've previously featured PS 22 and their fantabulous choir teacher Mr. B.
They've covered just about everybody. Well now you can add another song to their repertoire "Run This Town" by Beyonce's drug dealing husband. NOOOOOO! There was just something odd about mixing their child-like innocence with Jay-Z, Kanya, and Rihanna. But then again I became aware of them because they covered Tori Amos' Flying Duchman. That ain't Sesame Street.
Song choice notwithstanding its amazing to see kids excited about learning. Here is some more background on this YouTube sensation:
The PS22 Chorus was formed in the year 2000. We are an ever-changing group of 5th graders from a public elementary school in Staten Island, New York. We are NOT a school for the arts or a magnet program.
They've covered just about everybody. Well now you can add another song to their repertoire "Run This Town" by Beyonce's drug dealing husband. NOOOOOO! There was just something odd about mixing their child-like innocence with Jay-Z, Kanya, and Rihanna. But then again I became aware of them because they covered Tori Amos' Flying Duchman. That ain't Sesame Street.
Song choice notwithstanding its amazing to see kids excited about learning. Here is some more background on this YouTube sensation:
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Reader Comments (15)
Interesting choice of song. That one came on the radio once when all three of my kids were in the car (10, 7, and 5 yrs old). I wasn't very familiar with the song at the time (which is why I shouldn't have had it on with my kids in the car - wrong, wrong, wrong on my part) and my mind was elsewhere. So my kids got to hear: "She got an a** that'll swallow up a g-string." No, Radio One did not censor it. Yes, it was in the afternoon, when kids could reasonably be expected to be listening.
Why have kids sing a song that their parents probably don't want them listening to, even on the radio? And heaven forbid they should download it and hear the "real version. These kids, however, sing beautifully. And after all, instead of honing their beautiful voices by way of the song, they could be getting taught to do stripper moves to it or similar music, like this poor baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXOxKzgGYB4&feature=popt00us0a .
It's a shame that I've had to condition myself to keep the radio tuned to the old-school/R&B black station (also Radio One, to be fair), or any of the other "non-black" stations. What the heck happened to contemporary black radio stations, y'all? But that's a conversation for another day.
Song choice not withstanding I too am very glad to see kids excited about learning and about music. Music class and chiors were pretty common when I was in elementary school in the mid-70s.
*rolls eyes*
Are you serious?
Last I checked jay-Z has long since stopped selling drugs - and tun this town - the chorus at least - ain't the worst - though there are plenty of Disney artists whose songs would be a better fit.
when I read this I knew this teacher wasn't gonna be black. A black music teacher would have had them trying to sing Leotyne Price or something more "classic". My old music teacher totally turned her nose up popular music
Obviously Jay-z has moved past drug dealing and doesn't condone it.
He says it in his music.
The person who owns this blog obviously isn't a Fan.
As for the first woman who posted.
Of course.
Radio is dead.
It's in a horrible state and isn't really meant for anyone looking for worthwhile music.
Interesting indeed. I pulled my son from the 5th/6th grade choir concert this year because one of the 4 songs they were to sing was: "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". I was appalled and let the music teacher and principal know my displeasure. The black music teacher agreed with me and told me the songs were selected by PTA members during her medical leave absence. (It was a special project).
I envisioned some white parent remembering the song from back in the day and thought it appropriate for children to sing. It was not -- in my opinion anyway.
As my son is autistic, he got to sing a solo concert for the autism classes and sang way more appropriate songs. "Tua" Tua" (Obwisama), "Marching Down", "Promise & Possibilities", & I'm Gonna Let it Shine. His bonus song was one I wrote and dedicated to him at www.autismanthem.com.
BTW, I am not surprised the radio stations not censoring songs these days. It is getting worse and worse. I really don't understand the choice to sing this song anyway, but the kids are great and we may have some future superstars. SMH
I know of no ethnic group that elevated itself with song and dance.
What's wrong with "I heard it through the grapevine?" I'm not being nasty, I just want to know.
No elementary school child has any business singing a song about his (or her) "relationship"with a cheating lover. Maybe I am too old fashioned. I love the song but it was inappropriate for 5th and 6th graders to be singing -- in concert no doubt. It is simply too mature.
Wiki: The narrator has no clue that his relationship is in a bad state, and only learns after gossip "through the grapevine" that his lover is cheating.
Listen and read the lyrics here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hajBdDM2qdg
Latest on Megan Williams. SMH:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/megan-williams-of-west-vi_n_328934.html
I agree with 'Mod 2' we are a group of people that can surely do a dance and a jig but that dance and jig hasn't done anything to elevate our minds nor brought us out of poverty.
I think it would be great for those young sistas to be singing some Leontyne Price or any of the other Black female opera legends.
These comments remind me of the archetypical discussions that were going on 50 years ago, when rock'n roll music was born...
There's a striking resemblance between the opinions on censorship that most of you seem to entertain, and the views of conservative white people back in the 50s. They too, felt back then that things had gone too far, and that rock'n roll lyrics, among many other things, were far too explicit, but think about it - do you honestly think that you, or your parents, were damaged in any way by listening to rock'n roll music?
If you've ever thought that your own parents were overreacting to something regarding your own musical or cultural preferences as a kid, now is the time to take a look at yourselves, and ask if that might not be the case here.....
Removing your kid from the choir, because they are singing "Heard it through the grapevine" is overreacting heavily IMO. I honestly don't find those lyrics damaging in any way. That they might produce some questions from your son about the very broad subject of relationships in general is another story. But then that's your job as a parent, I think - not always to shield, but to explain... Nobody said it was going to be easy. But mindless prohibition, as always, remains the easy way out. And it's counterproductive, too - you can be certain that your son from now on will be very interested in that particular song - and possibly after that, in other soul songs with "inappropriate" lyrics. Good luck...
Your children's left brains are perfectly equipped to filter out a lot of the stuff that you deem to be damaging, because in their world most of it is unnecessary information anyway. However, by indirectly imposing your adult moral views on them, you will inadvertently draw them into your prohibitive, "dangerous", way of thinking around this whole music thing. And lo and behold, all of a sudden explicit lyrics are no longer unnecessary information to your children - they will start to pay attention, not in spite of your prohibition, but because of it. And correct me if I'm wrong, but that wasn't really your goal, was it..?
The thing is, kids are always going to let their curiosity rule, and we can't stop that as parents - and we shouldn't try too hard to do so either. It's simply a part of growing up. One thing is certain: Too many prohibitions will only spark their interest, and possibly make them go even deeper into some areas which might otherwise not have had their interest in the first place.
So, why not do your children, and yourselves, a huge favor and relax a bit about this.
@Martin - I can't say I agree that "Heard It Through the Grapevine" is offensive, but surely you can't be suggesting that my objecting to my (or anybody else's) kids hearing "She got an a** that'll swallow up a g-string" is a case of overreacting? Tell me, and I'm not being combative, I'm really curious, where should we draw the line? Let's say Kanye's verse is okay - how about "Birthday Sex"? How about "Think I Invented Sex"? "Best I Ever Had"? Ok, maybe those are all fine. How about Ludacris' "P***y Poppin"? How about "My Neck, My Back, Lick my P***y and my Cr**k?" Or Peaches' "F**k the Pain Away"? (There's one by a white artist, to be fair). I mean, how do we decide where to draw the line?
Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude. I have few cultural inhibitions once the kids are in bed or out of sight. I like Ludacris, Jay-Z, and Kanye. I also like(d) the Sopranos, TrueBlood, Cathouse, South Park, and the video game series Grand Theft Auto (actually I unashamedly LOVE GTA). I'm also a fan of Samuel Delany (the novels Dhalgren and Hogg are FAR more explicit than anything Ludacris has ever written, but Delany gets respect because he's an academic) and Toni Morrison (Bluest Eye contains incestual child rape, Beloved has male rape in the form of forced fellatio) and Alice Walker (ever read the first few lines of The Color Purple? 'nuff said). But you can't turn to your local television station and watch a barely censored episode of Cathouse. It's understood that that is for grown folks, and so it's aired on a cable channel I have to pay for. Further, I am easily able to block all PG-13 and up rated television so my kids don't stumble across it. If these songs were only available on XM radio, or some other pay service, I'd have no problem with it. But for some reason, we put the most explicit, poorly written crap (because much of today's music is crap) on easily and freely accessible radio and have the nerve to call it black culture. You won't hear Peaches, for example, on your local "white" radio station. If she was black, she'd be on Radio One in heavy rotation.
So I ask you, and I'm really, really interested in hearing your opinion - where do we draw the line?
Martin, my son is autistic so he doesn't even understand anyway. I restrict what my daughter hears but also use some of the non vulgar lyrics as an opportunity to educate her. She still may be shocked to hear some things that are beyond my control and outside of my home, but at least my daughter will have a sense of what is and is not appropriate. And if certain things are said about her (women) they are not to be taken as compliments, but as degrading, objectification, and insulting.
"Grapevine" is an ok song, I like it as I said, but not for my son to be singing in concert. That is my decision as his parent. He heard it the other day when I reference it for this post and recognized it immediately and said the name. That is fine. I just don't want him singing it in concert.
Regardless of my children's curiosity, it is my duty to protect them and rear them with my life experience and yes, adult morals.
OMGoodness Pecola some of those titles lyrics make my skin crawl.