F bombs & graffic language

[Troy]

Many of the artists that rely heavily on profanity are indeed uneducated and probably borderline illiterate... That's not to say unintelligent, because as I think we all know - it is 13 year olds who get a titter (hehe I said titter) out of profanity and buy these artist's products - the record companies know this.

Yes, they are shrewdly pandering to their target audience. So in that regard, they ARE intelligent. But the context I was talking about, these artists are gonna say f*** instead of another more concise word because thay CAN'T come up with that more concise word. The kiddies think its cool and badass because their parents and geezers like me roll their eyes and the pathetic cycle of illiteracy continues. In America today, stupidity is considered cool and inteligence is considered highbrow and dorky. A conspiracy to control the masses? Depends who you ask . . .

On the other hand, sometimes a choice insertion of a four letter word is chillingly effective. Case in point for is Elliot Smith - just his whispered hush of "focked up" really conveys his sense of frustation and futility of a given situation.

I think no matter the genre, whether it's rap, rock, metal... profanity for shock value is cheap but in the proper contex can be an effective way of conveying thoughts...

Absolutely. Re-read my first 2 sentences.

On the same topic different spin... Does a comedian who uses profanity (Rock, Carlin) taking an easier way out than those who work clean( Cosby, Seinfeld)?

Yes, I think so.

BUT

Carlin's genius is that he made comedy out of the fact that the words were obscene. He turned it around on itself. He will always be one of my favorites BECAUSE of this. Guys like Rock that spew constant 4 letter words conversationally, as part of their story telling style fall into the catagory of propagating people's inability to articulate. "If Chris Rock says f*** every other word, it's good enough for me". Thing is, Rock IS a really intelligent guy. And articulate too. He's just pandering to the lowest common denominator, going for the cheap laugh and for that, he gets very little respect from me.