Lyrics matter.

It seems like the question of lyrics should be an easy matter to decide from a Christian perspective, but relatively few Christians seem to give it the attention it deserves. If music itself has an influence on us, surely the lyrics do, and the worse the lyrics the worse the influence. The argument that "I just listen to the music, not the lyrics" is untenable, and should be rejected; everything affects us, and if it's not something good it will affect us negatively.

Nearly everyone acknowledges this on some level, but almost as often as it's acknowledged there's a hint (or a lot) of inconsitency. People who refuse to listen to gangsta rap for the lyrical content will turn around and listen to AC/DC; those who won't listen to AC/DC will listen to Lady Gaga; those who won't litsten to Lady Gaga will listen to Shaniah Twain. Worse, many Christians will simply admit that the lyrics are foul or inappropriate, but listen to the songs anyway, saying that the music is really quite good.

If anyone tries to defend Lady Gaga's music on any level they've got more problems than this post can or will address, but what if the music really is good? Surely, Angus Young is a good guitar player; do we have to throw out his entire body of work just because Bon Scott and Brian Johnson write and sing deplorable lyrics?

Quite simply, yes.

First of all, there will always be an artist with equal or superior skill whose lyrics aren't juvenile celebrations of sin and wrongdoing. But even if that weren't the case, it would be morally wrong to listen to songs glorifying evil whether the music itself is good or not.

This doesn't mean just because a song has profanity or references to immoral behavior we should throw it out and never listen to it. The lyrics of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, for instance, has some pretty dark, sinister, and even depraved content, but Cave's songs are well worth listening to because of the way he deals with such content. Rarely if ever is he outright glorying in wickedness; more often, he's wondering why humans commit evil deeds, what attracts us to it, and whether there's a plausible alternative and solution.

That's a far cry from Highway to Hell or Back in Black which simply celebrate (in mindless fashion, no less) the depths to which humans are able to sink. A song's lyrical content, then, should be judged not on what makes an appearance in the song, but on how that content appears, in what light the songwriter chooses to cast his subject matter, and what he's saying through the song. This is true of art forms in general, not just music, but because music has become so prevalent in our culture and so constantly accessible, it's possibly the most important.

Perhaps even worse than blatant celebrations of sin (which make their way into music of every genre), however, are those songs which are subtle. Pop country is perhaps the worst of this kind; on one hand, artists are singing about their so-called Christian upbringing, while on the other they're talking about bedding hot chicks, getting in fights, and hating people from other nations, all in the name of syncretized American religion.

Any lyrical content that distracts us from the Gospel, or that is directly opposed to the Gospel, or that misrepresents the Gospel, is bad. We can rationalize all we want, but part of denying ourselves is giving up things we like that we shouldn't. I may like listening to Nas or Public Enemy, but there's little to nothing redemptive in their lyrics, and the more I listen to them, the more I'll begin to accept (however unconsciously) their un-Christian worldview. How much better that I should simply give up their music in favor of songs that are thoughtful, wholesome, and good?