Rock's Theme Song: Young, Wild, and Free

A current pop hit is a reminder that rock & roll has promoted rebellion and immorality since its inception. The song “Young, Wild and Free” by Snoop Dog and Wiz Khalifa promotes drinking, using marijuana, and other types of “wildness.” The lyrics say,  “So what we get drunk/ So what we don’t sleep (smoke weed)/ We’re just having fun/ We don’t care who sees/ So what we go out/ That’s how it’s supposed to be/ Living young and wild and free.” I've heard this foolish song played in businesses and public places in Kathmandu, Berlin, Bangkok, and New York City, and it’s the same theme that has always been promoted by rock. In his history of 1950s rock, Nick Tosches says, “Elvis’s ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ was not merely a party song, but an invitation to a holocaust. … Rockabilly was the face of Dionysus, full of febrile sexuality and senselessness; it flushed the skin of new housewives and made pink teenage boys reinvent themselves as flaming creatures” (Nick Tosches, Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll). Another rock historian says, “If you think rockabilly is just music, you’re wrong. Rockabilly’s always been an attitude” (Billy Poore, RockABilly: A Forty-Year Journey). By the 1960s, the rock attitude was even more “in your face” with its call to rebellion. The Rolling Stones and The Animals and countless other rockers were encouraging that generation to sing, “I’m free to do what I want any old time,” and, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want.” As that generation and each succeeding generation has learned, rock & roll’s message is a lie. You can’t do whatever you want without serious consequences, both in this life and in that which is to come. Those who live young and wild aren't free. Multitudes of young people have died prematurely or have committed offenses that they have regretted for the rest of their lives because of wild living. Tree freedom is found only in Jesus Christ. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).

(Friday Church News Notes, wayoflife.org, Feb. 22, 2013)

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