Would you let your kids listen to U2?

[SamanthaPuff]

<-----raised on U2

I watched Live Aid when I was 3, and I was literally raised on U2. My family are mostly all fans! I feel very lucky and blessed! I remember dancing along to Mysterious Ways when AB came out, and watching the video, all the videos. I can truthfully say nothing in any U2 song ever harmed me. I'm 21, I have never been a slut, drunk, drug addict, criminal or even mean. I'm a nurse and I'm a very nice person. I feel U2 has enriched my life and made me a better person. BTW, there's "nasty" stuff in their songs? Please explain! I never discovered anything like that as a kid and I still haven't! Most songs, rock and country, are remotely sexual in some way if they mention love, women, whatever. But unless it's graphic and in detail I see no reason to keep it from a kid.

 

[spinninghead77]

I would for sure. Many U2 songs have underlying sexual meaning, but I figure that by the time my kids are old enough to understand that aspect of the song then they will be old enough to hear it.

 

[SamanthaPuff]

I would for sure. Many U2 songs have underlying sexual meaning, but I figure that by the time my kids are old enough to understand that aspect of the song then they will be old enough to hear it.

And if they're not old enough to understand that aspect, they wouldn't have a clue or give it a second thought. I know I never did. What a loss it would have been if I'd had to wait until puberty to listen U2! I really don't see a problem with it at all. When I have kids I will have no reservations about playing my U2 CDs and watching my videos around them.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Listen, I grew up in a very strict home in a small southern rural town with right-wing parents. To say it was a repressed environment would be an understatement. In fact to say it was an understatement is an understatement. Anyway, to my parents' credit, they let me and my sisters listen to anything we wanted to. They themselves were classical music lovers and while they seemed to be shortsighted on just about everything else, they really got the importance of music to us.

I remember being a kid (8 or 9, I guess) and blasting the Beatles and singing "Why don't we do it in the road?" to the top of my lungs and my mother raising an eyebrow but saying nothing. I am forever indebted to her for not censoring my music and though we have never gotten along, I wrote her a long letter a few years ago telling her how much it meant to me. As a sixties kid, I was exposed to stuff that was radical at the time, and hair-raising for parents like mine, though pretty tame compared to stuff today, and I turned out okay, y'know? Better than okay, even. The lyrics made me think. The stuff I didn't understand (like what 'it' really was) just went right over my head. But mostly it all just made me a better, well-rounded, curious, and smarter kid.

My 6 year old neice and 10 year old nephew are U2 fans and I had nothing to do with it...they just like hearing them on the radio. If U2 had come near their town on Elevation, it was my intention to take them to their first rock concert.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

First off, BrittanyNova, that's really mean what your grandma said-your dog was "meant to be" run over?

My parents haven't done anything like that-sometimes my mom reminds me that the world doesn't revolve around U2 or Bono in particular (which I know-sometimes I know it seems like U2's all I think about or care about, but I do care about other things, too)...but she wouldn't do anything like what your mom did, icelle.

And I agree with all of what was said on this last page here.

SamanthaPuff, I wasn't even a year old when Live Aid aired-my family watched it, they talk about how they remember seeing it on T.V., but I was way too young to even remember it.

Which is why, in 2005, on the date that Live Aid originally aired, I think MTV (or some other channel) should carry it again for a 20th anniversary thing.

Then I can see it-and record it.

That'd be awesome if some channel did that. I hope one does.

Angela

 

[promenade]

Hey--think of all of the positive teaching aspects of u2 music. my four year old listens all the time, and off the top of my head, here are some of the topics the songs have sparked

who MLK was (pride)
noah's ark story (beautiful day)
rhyming (elevation--mole, hole, soul!)
prayer (gloria)
the basic "guns/violence is bad" speech (sunday bloody sunday)

not to mention all of the vocabulary words!

so don't feel guilty about enrolling your kid in the school of bono--most of it is cool (i wouldn't show the discotheque video -- i don't want my child copying any pelvic thrust dance moves!!!!!)

 

[Kariann]

I have to say that if/when I have kids that I wouldnt have a problem with them listening to U2. Depending on their age they may not even pick up on the undertones of certain songs. I would much rather know what they are listening to/watching etc. than have them do it behind my back. I want to be the type of parent that they feel that they can talk to me about anything.

 

[Stories for Boys]

i'm going to try and not be redundant. i will let my children listen to u2 without reservation. i may explain things to them, but they definately will be hearing it before they're even born.

i'm a dork, and even though i won't have kids for a few years yet, i already plan on singing my children to sleep with mlk every night.

i didn't know u2 until i was 15 or 16, but they were a much better influence on me than any other music without a doubt.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I have to say that if/when I have kids that I wouldnt have a problem with them listening to U2. Depending on their age they may not even pick up on the undertones of certain songs. I would much rather know what they are listening to/watching etc. than have them do it behind my back. I want to be the type of parent that they feel that they can talk to me about anything.

Exactly.

Angela

 

[madonna's child]

my kids WILL listen to U2

I'm not worried about any implied sexuality in the songs. First of all, there really isn't that much sex in U2's music. Secondly, I think it's healthy for children to be exposed to sex slowly over a period of time, it makes appear more normal to the kids. I think music is a good way to do that. (I'll let my kids listen to Madonna, too!)

 

[gherman]

My kids will listen to whatever they want

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

my kids WILL listen to U2

I'm not worried about any implied sexuality in the songs. First of all, there really isn't that much sex in U2's music. Secondly, I think it's healthy for children to be exposed to sex slowly over a period of time, it makes appear more normal to the kids. I think music is a good way to do that. (I'll let my kids listen to Madonna, too!)

Oh, yeah. That relates to what Kariann said-by exposing them slowly to sex, that will make them more comfortable about talking about things along that line at later times with parents.

Angela

 

[U2Lady]

Listen, I grew up in a very strict home in a small southern rural town with right-wing parents. To say it was a repressed environment would be an understatement. In fact to say it was an understatement is an understatement. Anyway, to my parents' credit, they let me and my sisters listen to anything we wanted to. They themselves were classical music lovers and while they seemed to be shortsighted on just about everything else, they really got the importance of music to us.

I remember being a kid (8 or 9, I guess) and blasting the Beatles and singing "Why don't we do it in the road?" to the top of my lungs and my mother raising an eyebrow but saying nothing. I am forever indebted to her for not censoring my music and though we have never gotten along, I wrote her a long letter a few years ago telling her how much it meant to me. As a sixties kid, I was exposed to stuff that was radical at the time, and hair-raising for parents like mine, though pretty tame compared to stuff today, and I turned out okay, y'know? Better than okay, even. The lyrics made me think. The stuff I didn't understand (like what 'it' really was) just went right over my head. But mostly it all just made me a better, well-rounded, curious, and smarter kid.

Applause and high five Joyfulgirl!

Well said, well written, and I can identify! I started laughing reading your story! I was 7 when the White Album came out and my teenage brother played it, and when my Mother heard "Why Don't We Do it in the Road" she did tell him not to play it around her anymore (not the rest of the album, just that one song) That made me curious, and I asked her exactly what was it that they were going to do in the road, pee? She said "yes" picking up real quick. She said that's why she didn't like it. I bought it hook, line and sinker. I had to reason to think anything else. A vivid picture formed in my mind of all four Beatles taking a leak in the middle of a desert highway.

But except that, my parents were very good with music. They never liked rock, but they let all of us play whatever we liked, and even started liking some "hippy" stuff like The Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel. My parents were so shy and prudish about sex, it was a wonder they even had kids, but they never read too far into the song lyrics that weren't obvious, and didn't censor us. Like you, I thank them, because it gave me a wonderful musical education I carry with me to this day. I'd much rather have heard 60's rock than having my knowledge limited to kid songs like Old MacDonald or This Old Man. It gave me a background knowledge that has been very valuable all my life. Anyone depriving their kids of rock music for petty reasons are really robbing their kids of that education and knowledge and valuable experiences, and wonderful, beautiful memories. I also think it made me a smarter and more interesting kid, and person. Yes, anything I didn't understand went right over my head too, and it would any kid if you don't make a big stink out of it and make them wonder why, and then you'd have to deal with the questions they start to ask that never would have dawned on them otherwise.

 

[U2Lady]

I have one more thing I'd like to add to my story. When I was in the third grade, a song called "Temptation Eyes" by the Grassroots was popular. My friends and I loved it. We sang it playing outside at home and at school. We sang along with the radio and I had a 45 RPM of it. These were the lyrics:

She's got something that moves my soul
and she knows, I'd love to love her
but she lets me down every time
can't make her mind
she's no one's lover
tonight with me she'll be so exciting
I want her all for myself
Oh, Temptation eyes, looking through my my my soul
Temptation eyes
come on and love me
love me
tonight

Now, looking at that, wouldn't you say that was sexual? It's obvious to me now it's about a guy whose girlfriend has always frustrated him by not putting out and tonight the temptation will be too much and he's going to score.

But back then, I had no idea and neither did any of my friends. It was just fun to sing. Now, if some adult had come up and took it away from us, telling us it was bad, but not why we couldn't listen, it only would have made us curious and determined to find out. If somebody had told us it was about sex, we'd ask, what was sex, and then you have all that to deal with. So it was much better to just let it go. No harm ever came of it, but it could have if a big stink was made of it by paranoid, overcautious parents. (Again, my parents were very old fashioned and overprotective, but not with the music.)

Flash forward about 15 years later, I was driving down the road, and Temptation Eyes came on the Oldies station. I started playfully singing along, and as the words registered in my mind, finally it hit me- that's kind of dirty! But I never imagined anything wrong back then. That's what I mean, like Joyfulgirl and some other posters have said, it goes right over a kid's head, so let it stay there

Flash forward again, to 1997, when my 7 year old daughter and her friends were singing Spice Girls songs in my driveway.


Tell me whatcha want, what ya really really want...

I think you know the rest. Yes, it was kind of a suggestive song, but none of those little girls knew what the hell it was. They were just playing, having fun, and I let them. Someday, they'll realize it, and laugh, like I did.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I have one more thing I'd like to add to my story. When I was in the third grade, a song called "Temptation Eyes" by the Grassroots was popular. My friends and I loved it. We sang it playing outside at home and at school. We sang along with the radio and I had a 45 RPM of it. These were the lyrics:

She's got something that moves my soul
and she knows, I'd love to love her
but she lets me down every time
can't make her mind
she's no one's lover
tonight with me she'll be so exciting
I want her all for myself
Oh, Temptation eyes, looking through my my my soul
Temptation eyes
come on and love me
love me
tonight

Now, looking at that, wouldn't you say that was sexual? It's obvious to me now it's about a guy whose girlfriend has always frustrated him by not putting out and tonight the temptation will be too much and he's going to score.

But back then, I had no idea and neither did any of my friends. It was just fun to sing. Now, if some adult had come up and took it away from us, telling us it was bad, but not why we couldn't listen, it only would have made us curious and determined to find out. If somebody had told us it was about sex, we'd ask, what was sex, and then you have all that to deal with. So it was much better to just let it go. No harm ever came of it, but it could have if a big stink was made of it by paranoid, overcautious parents. (Again, my parents were very old fashioned and overprotective, but not with the music.)

Flash forward about 15 years later, I was driving down the road, and Temptation Eyes came on the Oldies station. I started playfully singing along, and as the words registered in my mind, finally it hit me- that's kind of dirty! But I never imagined anything wrong back then. That's what I mean, like Joyfulgirl and some other posters have said, it goes right over a kid's head, so let it stay there

Flash forward again, to 1997, when my 7 year old daughter and her friends were singing Spice Girls songs in my driveway.


Tell me whatcha want, what ya really really want...

I think you know the rest. Yes, it was kind of a suggestive song, but none of those little girls knew what the hell it was. They were just playing, having fun, and I let them. Someday, they'll realize it, and laugh, like I did.

Call me stupid, but I never thought "Temptation Eyes" was that risque-I just thought that the guy was in love with this girl, and everything about her was tempting, and that he was hoping she'd fall in love with him eventually.

But now that you mention that...

I love that song, though. .

Oh, god, when I was little I'd sit there and dance along and probably sang along to Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", and I had no idea what the "sledgehammer" was symbolic of at that time. Then I found out later, and I was like...oh...okay...

Haha, and I also remember my mom had a tape of songs, and there was one song that was called "Stop Using Sex As A Weapon" (I think that's the title), and I'd sing that all the time when I was little, too, not paying any attention to the meaning of the words.

And just as my parents were never strict about T.V. and what I saw on there, they were never strict about what I listened to, either. And I appreciate that.

With most kids, the symbols in songs, or the innuendos, things like that, that stuff's just gonna fly over their heads anyway.

And if they do catch on, eh, oh, well. It's just a song.

Angela

 

[U2Lady]

I don't mean it's that dirty, but that it probably has meanings I never thought of before. "she lets me down every time, can't make her mind, she's no one's lover" just hit me (much older of course) as being about wanting to 'do it' and she kept disappointing him. Maybe, maybe more innocent, but no kid would grasp it even if it were sexual. Like those songs you mention, kids just don't think that way. They don't even know about sex yet, and forbidding songs from them will only get them asking questions.

Someone mentioned the hip thrusting, well I have a comment on that too. If a kid knows nothing of sex, they won't know what it means anyway. I remember as a kid hearing TV shows bring up how in the 50's Elvis could only be filmed from the waist up because of his moves. I never knew what they meant. I must have been full grown before I ever caught on that it was supposed to be simulated sex, and then and even now I think what a dirty mind someone must have had to think that, and how no little kid would ever have seen anything in it other than funny dancing. That's still all it looks like to me. People really do delve too much into things that kids wouldn't. I even remember the jokes about beds on TV, and Love American Style where they always rode down the street in the bed, and I never knew why that was supposed to be funny.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Applause and high five Joyfulgirl!

Well said, well written, and I can identify! I started laughing reading your story! I was 7 when the White Album came out and my teenage brother played it, and when my Mother heard "Why Don't We Do it in the Road" she did tell him not to play it around her anymore (not the rest of the album, just that one song) That made me curious, and I asked her exactly what was it that they were going to do in the road, pee? She said "yes" picking up real quick. She said that's why she didn't like it. I bought it hook, line and sinker. I had to reason to think anything else. A vivid picture formed in my mind of all four Beatles taking a leak in the middle of a desert highway.

You know, there is a very good chance that my poor naive country mom did not exactly know what they were going to do in the middle of the road either, but that would ruin the whole moral of my story!

I think we share the same memory bank because I used to lead the girls in a big sing-along of Temptation Eyes every day at recess!

But how about this one--good ol' Gary Puckett & the Union Gap:

Young Girl

Young Girl, get out of my mind,
my love for you is way out of line.
Better run, girl,
you're much too young, girl.

With all the charms of a woman,
You've kept the secret of your youth.
You led me to believe you're old enough to give me love
and now it hurts to know the truth. Oh, Oh,

Young Girl, get out of my mind,
my love for you is way out of line.
Better run, girl,
you're much too young, girl.

Beneath your perfume and make-up
You're just a baby in disquise
And though you know that it's wrong to be alone with me,
that come on look is in your eyes. Oh, Oh,

Young Girl, get out of my mind,
my love for you is way out of line.
Better run, girl,
you're much too young, girl.

So hurry home to your mama
I'm sure she wonders where you are.
Get out of here before I have the time to change my mind
'cause I'm afraid we'll go too far

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I don't mean it's that dirty, but that it probably has meanings I never thought of before. "she lets me down every time, can't make her mind, she's no one's lover" just hit me (much older of course) as being about wanting to 'do it' and she kept disappointing him. Maybe, maybe more innocent, but no kid would grasp it even if it were sexual. Like those songs you mention, kids just don't think that way. They don't even know about sex yet, and forbidding songs from them will only get them asking questions.

Yep.

Originally posted by U2Lady
Someone mentioned the hip thrusting, well I have a comment on that too. If a kid knows nothing of sex, they won't know what it means anyway. I remember as a kid hearing TV shows bring up how in the 50's Elvis could only be filmed from the waist up because of his moves. I never knew what they meant. I must have been full grown before I ever caught on that it was supposed to be simulated sex, and then and even now I think what a dirty mind someone must have had to think that, and how no little kid would ever have seen anything in it other than funny dancing. That's still all it looks like to me. People really do delve too much into things that kids wouldn't. I even remember the jokes about beds on TV, and Love American Style where they always rode down the street in the bed, and I never knew why that was supposed to be funny.

Oh, I know! Those people that are freaking out over this stuff because they say that kids will have "dirty thoughts" about it-I dunno, it seems that the people that are freaking out about the stuff are the ones with the dirty thoughts, not the people that they fear will develop dirty thoughts.

I just don't get why people still make sex such a hush-hush topic. It's what continues the human race, it's something everyone will experience at some time.

You're right. Adults read way too much into things. Kids just take most of those things at face value.

Angela

 

[U2Lady]

Joyfulgirl, you sang it too? The same song? That's a cool coincidence, and we both grew up to love U2, so it was good for us! Yeah, that "Young Girl" song is a good example too. Most songs, even from back then could be dirty if you really dig into the meaning and read between the lines, which kids don't do. What about that Tommy James song that went

Children behave, that's what they say when we're together
and watch how you play, they don't understand, and so
we're running just as fast as we can
holding onto one another's hand
trying to get away into the night,
and then we put our arms together and we tumble to the ground
and then we say
I think we're alone now
doesn't seem to be anyone around
I think we're alone now
the beating of our hearts is the only sound

Look at the way
we got to hide what we're doing
but what would they say
they don't understand
and so we're running just as fast as we can...

I know this one is more obvious but lot of "love" songs could be seen as "sex" songs if you evalute them too much (which, again, kids don't, so don't worry!)

Moonlit Angel, you are exactly right! It's the grownups with the dirty minds reading too much into things!

 

[cell]

geeeez everyone thanks for making me feel so anal!!


seriously, i didnt think my thread would get so many replies. thanks for your input everyone. and no im not restricting my baby to u2, in case you all wondered

im still trying to sneak some pics of her dancing around with her guitar but she's not having it

 

[Mirrorball Man]

They would have little choice!

 

[BrittanyNova]

Originally posted by Moonlit_Angel
First off, BrittanyNova, that's really mean what your grandma said-your dog was "meant to be" run over?

Thanks. I think so too She has this thing that it's bad or evil to love something too much, or care about it more than school or church and that if it's an animal it will die and if it's a toy or an object it will break or be destroyed. She said Stonewall Jackson thought his baby died because he loved her too much! I don't think that's right. If somebody loves something that much they should be allowed to enjoy it without feeling like they're wrong. Life is full of hardships and trouble and anything that makes you happy should be a good thing. Love is a good thing.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Thanks. I think so too She has this thing that it's bad or evil to love something too much, or care about it more than school or church and that if it's an animal it will die and if it's a toy or an object it will break or be destroyed. She said Stonewall Jackson thought his baby died because he loved her too much! I don't think that's right. If somebody loves something that much they should be allowed to enjoy it without feeling like they're wrong. Life is full of hardships and trouble and anything that makes you happy should be a good thing. Love is a good thing.

Wow...that's crappy.

There is nothing wrong with loving something very dearly. I have certain toys that I love dearly because they were a big part of my childhood, they bring back great memories.

And I've had pets that I loved and do love very much (what's wrong with loving a pet a lot?).

Yes, school is important, and church is, too, to some people.

But love is the most important thing in the world, I totally agree with you. Love makes people feel good, it makes them forget about any bad things in their lives, like you said.

I wish your mom would realize that.

And even if she doesn't see eye to eye with you on that issue, okay, fine, whatever-but she has no right to sit there and be like, "Oh, your pet was meant to die" or that your toys, if you love them a lot, will break or be destroyed. That's just rude and awful and...wow...

I'm sorry for the loss of your pet, and I hope you continue to love things as much as you wish to.

Angela

 

[Seabird]

My kids have always listened to U2 and it's only given them better musical taste!

 

[Tech]

I don't have kids But I have a 5 year old nephew which listens to U2 when he's with me all the time. He's not going to hear something that I'm sure he will hear somewhere else when nobody is really paying attention. I would have taken him with me to the Elevation tour but I thought that GA would be a lot for him. Oh well, next tour for sure he's coming!!!

 

[u2sangel]

My three year old LOVES U2 he espeically likes the Slane concert and singing along on Beautiful Day (the goal is soul part LOL)he calls Bono Bobo and Larry Harry but he calls Edge and Adam by the right names!It just makes me laugh so much when he says "Hey Bobo and Harry!!!!!

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

My three year old LOVES U2 he espeically likes the Slane concert and singing along on Beautiful Day (the goal is soul part LOL)he calls Bono Bobo and Larry Harry but he calls Edge and Adam by the right names!It just makes me laugh so much when he says "Hey Bobo and Harry!!!!!

LOL!

Bobo and Harry-that is so cute!

Angela

 

[cell]

my daughter used to call Bono "Beautiful Day Guy"

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

my daughter used to call Bono "Beautiful Day Guy"

Awww!

Kids are so cute, seriously...

Angela

 

[ouizy]

My children will be required to listen to U2 for no less than 2 hours each day.