Guns Before Cursing (Screed #8)

May 22, 2009 at 3:22 pm (Screeds)

 May 22, 2009…

 

We would like to praise Green Day for their refusal to bow down to the evil behemoth that is Wal-Mart. Green Day’s recent album, 21st Century Breakdown, could not be sold by Wal-Mart unless Green Day agreed to release an edited version of it, removing all profanity. The band refused to edit their album, which meant it is not eligible for sale at the retail chain – a common practice of theirs. Okay, fine.

Now let us review some interesting facts: Wal-Mart sells more firearms than any retailer on the planet, yet they refuse to stock any album with profanity on it. Does this not strike anyone as absolutely hypocritical? We suppose they would rather someone walk into their store, purchase a gun and go commit a violent crime, rather than an adolescent hear a swear word? Amazing. We can all rest easy knowing that when our children grow up, they will use only polite words while they are killing someone with the gun they bought at Wal-Mart.  

Now, don’t get us wrong, we don’t really see the need for excessive swearing and violence in music. Some artists do it just to be controversial. Green Day’s new album, however, is a thought-provoking and intelligently-written album that is not just using curse words for the sake of controversy. God forbid, an adolescent might hear music that might actually make them THINK. Let us keep them pacified with the mindless drivel that passes for most music these days. We are glad to see that Green Day has the #1 album in the country, without the help of Wal-Mart.    

Another interesting thing to consider is the fact that Wal-Mart is the nation’s biggest retail outlet. The fact that actual record stores are closing up everywhere you go, pretty soon Wal-Mart will be one of the few places left to sell albums. They are pretty much dictating that this disturbing trend of censorship will be getting worse in the years to come.      

To quote band leader Billie Joe Armstrong: “If you think about bands that are struggling or smaller than Green Day … to think that to get your record out in places like that, but they won’t carry it because of the content and you have to censor yourself,” he said. “I mean, what does that say to a young kid who’s trying to speak his mind making a record for the first time? It’s like a game that you have to play. You have to refuse to play it.”

We couldn’t agree more. Green Day: bravo! Wal-Mart: shame on you!