Agreed 100%. I woke up in 2002 when I gave an M&M cd to a teen who wanted it, then listened to it with her. I was appalled and took it back! Less the prudery aspect, more the brainwashing into accepting rape, violent deaths, cop killings, and debasement of the human body and spirit. NO THANKS!

Since then, I know to check my kids' ipods and online music library.

You should certainly monitor what your kids listen to, but I also think they don't always "listen" to the lyrics. The Blue Oyster Cult song "Don't fear the Reaper" is about death and suicide, I sang along to the lyrics but never really thought about it until 20 years later. Its also a great discussion topic for you and your son, it would be great if he could decide for himself that this song is inappropriate.

Perspective, I just checked out the lyrics to the aforementioned song. Yeah, they're pretty gross. But I don't think they're anything worse than some of the little ditties that the kids from my affluent 95%-white East Coast suburb got a clandestine thrill from singing to each other back in the late 1970s. Go look up the lyrics to "Um Chucka Willy". I remember excited pre-pubescent boys naughtily belting out that one while I was at summer camp. Believe it or not, the lyrics are even worse than the ones in "My Dick".

Civilization didn't come to an end after kids sang that one 30 years ago, and I don't think the popularity of "My Dick" indicates its imminent demise now, either.

If anything, things are probably getting better. I think kids today are much more sensitive to racism, homophobia, and intolerance than when I was growing up. Singing dirty songs with lots of four-letter words is something boys are always going to do. But in that suburb of mine, there were also plenty of songs spewing blatantly racist messages, with generous helpings of the N-word. Frankly, I'd consider that a lot more worrisome than making dick jokes. I hope *those* songs aren't as prevalent as they used to be!

Ooops, in my above message, I meant to write "A shocked parent", not "Perspective".

The world is not ending. Just relax a little bit. I think your son will be okay even if he listens to garbage music.

I listened to music that I'm sure shocked my parents, rap songs of the late 80s, Dr. Dre, Ice-T, Outkast, Salt-N-Pepa's Push-it...ahhh, good stuff! I graduated from high school with good grades, got a Bachelor's degree from a great University, and currently live in Palo Alto and have two young daughters of my own. Just because you listen to crappy, R-rated music as a kid doesn't mean you're going to end up in prison or on drugs. ;)

Kids listen to different music for different reasons. I love all kinds of music from classical to pop and everything in between. I think it's great for kids to experiment with music and figure out what their likes and dislikes are much like they do with sports.

I think part of the love of something so vulgar in a place like this is pure rebellion. It's very hard to grow up in this town where everyone has such high expectations of you. (I am speaking from experience). There are very few things you can control in your life when you are a teenager and your music choice is one of them. Picking a form of music that goes against what your parents expect or want for you is the easiest way to rebel and prove to them that you have control over your own life.

I'm sure this song is going to be a one-hit wonder and your son will be onto something new within a few weeks. Beware that it may not be much better though. Hang in there!

Not-so-shocked mom and all others who responded,
I really appreciate your inputs. I agree that "this too will pass", that kids most likely do not pay much attention to words in these songs, that they will grow up civilized people and might even take their own kids to opera and museums, but what I can't comprehend is this - is there some moral threshold for the new generation in terms of verbalized content? There are definitely thresholds when it relates to racial issues - I doubt that these days kids would listen to a song that calls for killing a ni---er no matter how great the beat and music is. What I am saying is that some content is viewed as morally unacceptable even by kids. Thus rebellion knows its boundaries. If the moral boundaries exist, then what defines them, why kids view a song about "my d-ck that smells like sh-t" as acceptable rebellion and do not find it offensive, but will most likely find songs with extreme racial content very offensive. What I am leading to is a question of the role of society in preserving cultural decency. Society bans racism, racist songs would never be aired or become acceptable in any form and shape and IT WORKS, then shouldn't society chose to censor and ban songs like "My d-ck" by Avalon?

listen to the new Brittney Spears song titled... "If You Seek Amy"

Say it over and over again, really fast...

Here's a hint... the last word of the two word phrase is "me" and you're spelling out the first word.

You can youtube it for the lyrics and song.

""my d-ck that smells like sh-t" as acceptable rebellion and do not find it offensive, but will most likely find songs with extreme racial content very offensive."

Lighten up! You cannot compare that song with racist content.

I googled the lyrics, and I don't have a clue what you are worried about. It's juvenile and disgusting, but it's not even smutty. I would guess this song brings a smile to the face of most middle and high school boys.

Can you say what exactly you object to? I have a secret for you: boys this age brag about their d-cks amongst themselves. Big deal. Sounds like this is more your problem than your son's. Get over it: he's growing up and will not be under your control forever.

It is quite disheartening to see how our society, and the new generation Y in particular, became completely desentisized to vulgarity and obscenity. Long gone are the days of honour and decency.

What is happening to our young people? Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?

My suggestion would be to try to casually move on from that song, perhaps even share some songs from your teen years. We have enjoyed sharing the Beatles with our kids. The Beatles have lasting power

@paly parent

"Don't Fear The Reaper" isn't about suicide.

It's about the inevitability of the grave, and it espouses the notion of "living every day as if it were your last".

Read it again.

Haha, thanks for publicizing this - I just listened to it: Web Link

I find this particular song humorous. I believe there are other rap songs which are way worse, speaking about violent crimes. Most everything else has been said above, so I won't repeat.

Frankly, crime shows with explicitly violent scenes of death and ultra-violent video games out there are more offensive to me because they make the lost youth numb to violence. And does everyone enjoy seeing gore? The worst we ever had was the horse head in the bed in The Godfather. Wasn't Laura Bush's platform to curb violence in the media?

"The lyrics in this song are so disgusting, offensive and sick and I just can't understand how kids raised in highly educated families of Silicon Valley could love something like that.
When I asked my son what he likes about it and why, he said that everybody listens to it, that it is a very popular song among middle and high school student."

So is it that kids in less educated families outside of Sili Valley should listen to this song, and that's okay? I think that the answer to my question lies in your next sentence - "everybody listens to it". This should serve as a reminder that not everything can be educated out of existence, nor understood via the educational paradigm. I guess you just learned something!

What's education got to do, got to do with it?

Rosie by Jackson Brown

Lola, dropping to my knees by the end of the song

Take a Walk on the Wild Side, Lou's only AM "hit"

C'mon, take any pop song and substitute the real word for the ubiquitous phrase "'rock' you" and, well, there ya go...

By all means though, please try to decree to a teenager what s/he can NOT listen to, and tell me how well that goes.

Remember "Detachable Penis" back in the nineties? My son and I had a good laugh over that one back when he was young and I had to drive him everywhere. That gave us plenty of opportunity to discuss the meaning ( or lack of meaning) in the popular songs on KITS at the time, and not take them to seriously.

Kids that age love to shock adults as well as other kids, and act as if shock-proof. By laughing at this stuff it took away a lot of the attraction for him, and two years later, he was listening to other kinds of music as well. He even went through a country-western phase!

Try not to take any of this too seriously, and above all, do not take yourself too seriously.

Growing up, I listened to Dead Kennedys, Fear, Black Flag, etc... Those were mainstream punk bands, but their lyrics would not qualify as politically correct by any means.

Being racially offensive and sexually suggestive/explicit/perverted are totally different items. The former is a statement against a group of people, the later is a lifestyle choice (at least as far as this song is concerned). It's not condoning rape or violence against anyone.

Other suggestive examples: Billy Squire - Stroke me; Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar on Me. Heck, just about any 80's hair/rock band. Whitesnake, Motley Crue, AC/DC, etc... and Mickey Avalon has a lot more songs that are just as bad as "My Di.."

In the 50's they wouldn't show Elvis Presley below the waist because he was too suggestive with his hip thrusts...

In the late 59s there was a scandalous song by the Everly Brothers called, " Wake up, Little Suzie", that was banned in many cities. It was actually about a boy and girl falling asleep at the movies, but most adults did not listen to the words....they just freaked big time.

History repeats itself infinitely.

Well, it's a good thing the capacity and ability to shock the parents has not changed much. I was fifteen when The Rolling Stones album "Sticky Fingers" came out, and I distinctly remembered my father being shocked and horrified by the album cover (a real zipper attached to a photo of a man's jeans) and promptly declaring that it would not be allowed in the house. We got to keep the record itself, mind you, but he made us throw away the album cover. I imagine if I had kept it in good shape I might be able to get some money for it now on eBay.

Relax, take a chill pill. Kids have been shocking (or trying to shock) their parents since the dawn of time. And it was ever thus. I am sure your son will survive, but you might not if you keep getting stressed out over nonsensical things like this. There are FAR more important things to be concerned about in the world other than the lyrics to a silly rap song.

1816 - The _Times of London_ calls waltzing, "indecent"
1930's - The genre "Dirty Blues" becomes popular. Don't search for it at work.
1946 - "Doin' what comes naturally" shows up on Broadway

Indecent is par for the course, and it is likely that your music was indecent to your parents. Music targetted at teenagers is designed to shock and be rebellious.

If you choose not to be shocked, it loses its power. Hopefully the many life lessons you have taught your kids are enough for them to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, and to understand why the lyrics might offend, and why no one should take most lyrics seriously.