I have to say most of the songs out there that are listed in the top 40 today are horrific. However, my parents said the same thing about music that I used to love that was popular in the 80’s and even early 90’s. It would figure that I am not exactly crazy about a lot of the music my preteen daughter loves.

However, there is a difference between horrible songs- or noise that is for whatever reason called music, and music that can be a dangerous influence on young listeners. Especially if those who are listening to it are preteen girls. For instance, let’s take a look at the lyrics of this piece of noise from some artist who I have never heard of until now called  Tove Lo. This “song”, if you want to even call it that is called Habits.

Uh-uh uh-uh uh-uh
I eat my dinner in my bathtub
Then I go to sex clubs
Watching freaky people getting it on
It doesn’t make me nervous
If anything I’m restless
Yeah I’ve been around and I’ve seen it all

I get home, I got the munchies
Binge on all my Twinkies
Throw up in the tub, then I go to sleep
And I drank up all my money
Tasted kind of lonely

You’re gone and I got to stay high
All the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
High all the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
Spend my days locked in a haze
Trying to forget you babe, I fall back down
Gotta stay high all my life to forget I’m missing you

Pick up daddies at the playground
How I spend my day time
Loosen up the frown, make them feel alive
I make it fast and greasy
I know my way too easy

You’re gone and I got to stay high
All the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
High all the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
Spend my days locked in a haze,
Tryin’ to forget you babe, I fall back down
Got to stay high all my life to forget I’m missing you

Staying in my play pretend
Where the fun ain’t got no end
Oh, can’t go home alone again
Need someone to numb the pain
Oh, staying in my play pretend
Where the fun ain’t got no end
Oh oh can’t go home alone again
Need someone to numb the pain

You’re gone and I got to stay high
All the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
High all the time to keep you off my mind, ooh ooh
Spend my days locked in a haze
Tryin’ to forget you babe, I fall back down
Got to stay high all my life to forget I’m missing you

I never watched the video to this song, nor do I even want to. However, if you are curious, search for it on YouTube. I am not going to link it from here. However, after reading the lyrics of this piece- I believe that the artist is grieving quite badly after a break up or even losing someone important to her that she is experiencing utter hell. She is abusing her body, and is severely depressed to the point that she needs to escape.

Hey, I understand that these artists like Tove need to express themselves through music. Perhaps it may be therapeutic for them. I do know how it is to grieve. I know what depression can do. I get that it is crucial for them to find a healthy outlet that will help them cope. I know that is the only way they can move forward after facing any kind of devastation. However, as a mother of a preteen girl and son with autism that will eventually become quite influenced as well- my sympathies for artists like Tove can only go so far. Especially if they are conveying it through music that is attracting youths.

I mean come on. What if say for instance, a 13 year old girl had been listening to this song quite a bit, and by the time she was 16, she ended up following Tove’s footsteps after dealing with a major disappointment? What if she was the one who started binging and purging, having sex with random guys, doing drugs, and abusing her body in other ways because she had a bad break up with a boyfriend? If doing this stuff made Tove cope with the pain, then I will try her method out. Yup, that is how she would see it. Therefore she would act on it.

Most kids are not mature enough to even consider the fact that artists like Tove are expressing their reactions to painful experiences because it is an outlet. In fact this is how they see what she is doing- hey if this is her coping mechanism, then I will try it too if something bad happens. By the way, the fact that Tove is sharing this through her music is not an issue that I have. Music is a very healthy outlet to release pain. However, let’s face it. If she really found that music was healing, she could have been singing privately instead of making her way up to the top 40 that attracts and influences young, tender, developing minds!