A local author and podcaster friend of mine blogged recently about her daughter’s first f-bomb. It was a funny read, and I thought she parented quite well through the situation. And it got me thinking about how I felt the last time I heard the Ice happily singing the lyrics to Warrant’s (and Poison’s) “She’s My Cherry Pie,” which he most likely downloaded from my iPod.
She’s my cherry pie,
Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise.
Tastes so good, make a grown man cry,
Sweet cherry pie, oh yeah.
Now. My boys — currently aged 9 to 14 — have grown up in a rock house. Their dad gigs 2 or 3 times a month with one of his bands which covers mostly 80′s hair metal and rock hits. The boys have been to a few of his gigs, the few that didn’t take place in a questionable bar late at night. They hear him practice these songs. They practice them on their guitars and drums upstairs. For that matter, they hear many of the same songs on Guitar Hero and Rock Band, or when they’re in my car with me.
And let’s be honest here: those songs from the 80′s weren’t nearly as explicit as some of today’s music. But it still makes my ears completely red to hear them singing Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” or Kiss’s “Lick It Up.”
Don’t need to wait for an invitation
You gotta live like you’re on vacation
There’s something sweet you cant buy with money – lick it up, lick it up
So far, I don’t think they really know what they’re singing, although my teenager probably has a clue. For that matter, does ANYone at the Canes games think about the lyrics to the Scorpions’ “Rocked You Like a Hurricane” or do they only know that one riff?
So. What does one do when one’s 9 year old is belting out the Knack’s “My Sharona” (and doing it pretty well)? Does Doug Fieger have kids? Steven Tyler had girls, did he go through this? (They never tell you the important stuff on Wikipedia.) What would Joan Jett do, people?
Come a little closer huh, ah will ya huh.
Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona.
Keeping it a mystery gets to me
Running down the length of my thigh, Sharona
If you’re me, you flush to the roots of your hair (Omg! Did my kid just sing “You ain’t seen nothin’ till you’re down on a muffin”??!!) and pretend to ignore it. It’s rock, it’s good for you, right? Hey, we turned out okay… I mean, mostly okay. Didn’t we? Didn’t we?
Image credit: jorbasa on Flickr
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