Band members and parents might be interested in a recent controversy just to our west, in the Garden Spot school district in Lancaster County.
It seems the high-school marching band wanted to perform Fall Out Boy's "Thanks for the Memories" (NOT the Frank Sinatra/Bob Hope standard) but after a parent objected to the lyrics on moral grounds, the song was banned from the band's repertoire.
Fall Out Boy heard about the flap and as a show of support invited the marching band to attend its show in Scranton on Aug. 31.
I heard about this when I was in New Holland at the annual Bluegrass Fest on Labor Day, and the delightful band member serving our (delicious) chicken BBQ apologized for yawning: the band didn't get home from the Fall Out Boy show until 3 a.m.
An interesting life lesson for all concerned in terms of community standards, squeaky wheels, and unforeseen consequences. I wanted to tell the band member that she would have a great story to tell for years to come (speaking of "thanks for the memories"!).
I checked out the lyrics in question, and although they're well beyond "I wanna hold your hand," they're about as tame as pop music gets these days. (I know, I know, I know: That's not saying much.) But as the band member quite sensibly pointed out, they were just playing the music, not singing the lyrics.
No comments:
Post a Comment