Ode to Tipper Gore

When I was about seven, growing up in a small, southern town, I signed up for Miss Ramona's dance class. The class was your typical elementary-age ballet/tap/jazz program taught out of an upstairs home studio. Each day, we'd spend about 10 minutes "warming up" to get us in the mood to begin our routine. For some reason, Miss Ramona's song of choice for this warm up was Captain & Tennille's "Do That to Me One More Time." (C'mon, it was the '70s people!)

As a pre-adolescent, I had absolutely no idea what this song was about. But that didn't stop me from singing it non-stop and begging my mother to let me buy the 45 LP (again, the '70s!). She adamantly refused and told me she thought the song was totally inappropriate for a class of seven-year-olds. I was completely perplexed. After all, the song didn't have any bad words that I could recognize. What was so wrong with it?

Now, it's official -- I have surpassed my mother (and Tipper Gore) in terms of my radio outrage as a parent of today's youth.

After hearing Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and getting into the pop vibe of the song, I saw it on sale for $8 at my local bookstore and decided to spring for it. I'd never heard any of her other songs, but I figured they'd all have a similar dance beat that might come in handy during a workout. It wasn't til I went to unwrap it that I noticed the "explicit lyrics" sticker placed on the corner of the CD (and the cotton candy smell emanating from the packaging -- I kid you not.)

Honestly, I really don't think I'm a prude, but I was shocked by some of the words of Miss Perry's music. Thankfully, my kids were not in the car when I first played it, so now I know exactly which songs to skip when they are around, lest I get peppered with questions I have no desire to answer right now.

For those of you who are not familiar with this album, here's a sample of some of the lyrics:

Let's go all the way tonight 
No regrets, just love 
We can dance, until we die 
You and I, will be young forever...


I'm gonna get your heart racing
In my skin tights jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight 


And another sample from a different track:


There's a stranger in my bed,
There's a pounding in my head
Glitter all over the room
Pink flamingos in the pool
I smell like a minibar
DJ's passed out in the yard
Barbie's on the barbecue

There's a hickey or a bruise
Pictures of last night
Ended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a black top blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled...


Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois
Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop
Whoa-oh-oah

This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again


And last but certainly not least:


I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock
Your peacock, cock
Your peacock, cock, cock
Your peacock
I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock
Your peacock, cock
Your peacock, cock, cock
Your peacock

Word on the street, you got somethin' to show me,
Magical, colorful, Mr. Mystery,
I'm intrigued, for a peek, heard it's fascinating
Come on baby let me see
What you're hiding underneath


Okay, so I'll stop with the sampling now, but I think you get the idea. 


I don't mean to get all Bill O'Reilly on you (God forbid!), but these lyrics make Madonna look a bit tame by comparison. Menage a trois? Peacock? Hard to believe these songs are performed by a girl who is 25 whose first recording was a gospel album! Am I alone over here blushing in my minivan, or is this a bit much coming from someone who didn't even have her driver's license ten years ago? 


Amazingly, Katy Perry was raised in a strict Christian household and not even allowed to listen to secular music growing up. Begging the question, does anything we do as parents to set boundaries for our kids really matter in the end? In the age of sexting, Twitter and Facebook where our privacy is basically non-existent, and the over sexualizing of young girls so pervasive, is this the inevitable result? 


Let it be known that I don't consider myself a conservative person, and I do genuinely like the dance beats of Katy Perry's performances. And as a journalist and proponent of free speech, I recognize that she has the right to belt out such lyrics, just as I have the right to choose not to listen to them if I so desire. 


But still, some of her sentiments are a bit salty for my (admittedly non-) virgin ears. Am I an old fuddy duddy? Somewhere in Florida, my mom is chuckling and thinking that maybe Captain & Tennille really wasn't so bad after all.