Hey everybody,
I live in Marin, which is just north of San Francisco. As such, I get a lot of 1.) Hippies 2.) Rich Old Boring White People 3.) Hip hop wannabes who insist that they're ghetto when their parents each make six if not seven figures, and 4.) Indie supremacists. When I say a lot, I mean more than I'd like to see.
What I'm getting at here is that the fourth group, and some of the first, tend to have what is in my opinion a strange way of appreciating music. My friend, let's call him John, fits into the first and fourth primarily. He's a great guy, don't get me wrong, but he absolutely refuses to listen to anything that contains lyrics he doesn't agree with. To him, music is a statement and if he doesn't agree with the statement he can't like the music, no exceptions. I have another friend, let's call him Joe, who doesn't give a rats ass about the message or the lyrics as long as the music sounds good. (I tend to hang out with Joe more.)
I am of the opinion that the lyrics and 'message' of the music is there as an OPTIONAL deeper level. In that if you don't want to get into it, you don't have to. One of my favorite bands ever is Tool, and they spout pseudo-psychotic spiritualist dogma that I don't even get, much less agree with. I listen to Switchfoot, but am hardly religious. Sometimes I like to look at song's deeper meaning, like with Poets of the Fall, but it's not essential at all...I only do it for fun.
Essentially, if it sounds good, who cares what the message is? If it's not blatantly offensive, I don't think a song's message should prevent you from enjoying them as a music enthusiast.
Your thoughts on the matter?