History ValuesDissonance / Music

* Similarly, the remake of '70s feelgood summer hit "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QQW4twgWts I'm Going To Barbados]]" by [[OneHitWonder long-forgotten band]] Typically Tropical, when it was reworked in the early 2000s as "We're Going to Ibiza," omitted the introduction by the pilot, spoken in a thick West Indian accent, and the cod-West Indian singing voice used for the song....

* "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (originally by Music/TheSupremes, covered by Music/VanillaFudge and Music/KimWilde) is a song about a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship, who for the most part is sympathetic. Then, it gets to the line "Why don't you be a man about it?" which would make the woman sound sexist and not too much better than her ex.

* Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit "In the Summertime", which reached #1 in the UK and Canada and #3 in the US, says, "Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find". Even the edgiest rock today doesn't advocate drinking and driving. It was presumably for this reason that the song was used in a famous PIF for the British advertising campaign Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives, wherein it begins with many people enjoying themselves at a pub garden and drinking; two of those people drive off in a car, and the song slows down to a disturbing stop before we cut to the car inevitably wrecked and bloodied. The next verse includes the lyrics "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal. If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel," which could easily be interpreted to mean that if you're dating the daughter of a poor father, you can be a cheapskate, and/or that if your date's poor, you can take advantage of her and get away with it.

* Many [[TheSixties '60s]] songs [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs were written and/or sung while high]]. But back then, drugs were used for "expanding your mind" rather than trying to be cool. (We're lookin' at you, [[Music/TheGratefulDead Jerry Garcia]]!) These days, though, singers who do drugs get a lot of flak from fans and bandmates, or at least more than '60s singers would.

* The holiday standard "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is ''notorious'' for not aging well since its release. The wintertime duet (it technically has nothing to do with Christmas) is about a man using a snowstorm to convince his girlfriend to spend the night with him, while she repeats that she should go home and worries what people would think if she stayed. When the song was first released in 1944, her resistance was meant to sound flirty and coy (especially since she decides to stay after all). At the time, it wasn't socially acceptable for an unmarried woman to spend the night with a man, while the boyfriend is saying that the weather makes a perfect cover story. But listening to the song with more modern sensibilities makes it sound like he isn't respecting her wishes and is [[DateRape forcing himself on her]], especially given her more insistent lines like "The answer is ''no''". In addition, the line "Say, what's in this drink?" sounds ''way'' more sinister nowadays than originally intended, as she was simply commenting on the alcoholic strength of her beverage rather than [[SlippingAMickey the presence of an illicit substance]]. Even the song's intended meaning--a girl feigning resistance and using a snowstorm as an excuse to sleep with her boyfriend so that her family won't call her a floozy--isn't much of an improvement when women can now be straightforward about wanting sex.

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* The 1960 song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland is about a girl afraid to let people see her in the new swimsuit, so she sits in the water until she turns blue. Back then, wearing bikinis was on the verge of acceptable; in fact, the song did a lot to change that. On the other hand, when ''The Creator/DickClark Show'' had Brian perform the song, they didn't dare put a teenager or adult in a bikini on TV, so instead they had an elementary school girl... which today, a lot of people in the USA [[PaedoHunt would consider]] the worse option.
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* Creator/ToneLoc's 1989 song "Funky Cold Medina" has become this over time with the increasing awareness of date rape. Despite the comedic nature of the song, several of the lyrics come off as encouraging date rape ("Put a little Medina in your glass and the girls'll come real quick"). There is also a portion where the singer has an encounter with a woman named Sheena. [[UnsettlingGenderReveal Sheena turns out to be transgender and is promptly kicked out as he refuses to "fool around with [an] Oscar-Meyer weiner"]]. Considering the humorous nature of the song, this would have been a common joke in the 1980s. Nowadays, it comes off as very transphobic. Not helping is the line "And you must be sure that your girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina", which implies that transgender women are unworthy of sexual relationships due to not fully being women.

* Some older rock songs, such as Music/TheBeatles' "Run for Your Life" and Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}' "Under My Thumb", can be a little problematic for post-feminist ears. "Run for Your Life" is a good example of something that led to values dissonance within years; shortly before his death, Music/JohnLennon said that [[OldShame he was himself embarrassed by the message contained in the song]]. He later wrote the song "Jealous Guy", which seemed to be an AuthorsSavingThrow.

* The lyrics to "Red Barchetta" by Music/RushBand describe a world where combustion-powered vehicles have been outlawed in favor of bulky, two-lane-wide "air cars". This is portrayed as strict and oppressive, and we're meant to sympathize with the protagonist who borrows the titular CoolCar from their uncle and drives it around while outsmarting the police. However, a listener from a few decades after the song's release is likely to interpret the "Motor Law" as having been created to fight pollution and climate change, which can make it harder to sympathize with the protagonist as it makes their actions feel much more selfish.

* The lyrics to "Red Barchetta" by Music/{{Rush}} describe a world where combustion-powered vehicles have been outlawed in favor of bulky, two-lane-wide "air cars". This is portrayed as strict and oppressive, and we're meant to sympathize with the protagonist who borrows the titular CoolCar from their uncle and drives it around while outsmarting the police. However, a listener from a few decades after the song's release is likely to interpret the "Motor Law" as having been created to fight pollution and climate change, which can make it harder to sympathize with the protagonist as it makes their actions feel much more selfish.

* Music/{{Queen|Band}}'s video for [[Music/TheWorks "I Want to Break Free"]] was beloved in the UK, but was met with significant backlash in the US when it first premiered in 1984, as it features the entire band in drag. While that is a common trope in British comedy, in the US in the '80s, drag was mostly seen as promoting homosexuality or cross-dressing, not helped by the huge backslide in LGBT+ acceptance in the wake of the AIDS crisis. It also didn't help that the video was a spoof of ''Series/CoronationStreet'', a show that most Americans at the time were unfamiliar with. In the UK, the song reached the top 3 on the Billboards, but only reached 45th place in the US. Four decades later, the song was used in US commercials for a cruise line.

* Music/{{Queen}}'s video for "I Want to Break Free" was met with significant backlash in the US when it first premiered in 1984, as it features the entire band in drag, and while that is a common trope in British comedy, in the US in the 80's, drag was mostly seen as promoting homosexuality or cross-dressing. It also didn't help that the video was a spoof of ''Series/CoronationStreet'', a show with which most Americans at the time would be unfamiliar. In the UK, the song reached the top 3 on the Billboards, but only reached 45th place in the US. Four decades later, the song was used in US commercials for a cruise line.

* A ''lot'' of HeavyMetal and HardRock and ShockRock and VisualKei and similar, in that the high drama and desire to shock and offend to make a point often runs counter to the mainstream societies it originates within. There's too many examples, but they go both ways with this trope: from Visual Kei bands using being out about bisexuality to make a point about sexual freedom and equality that was ''way'' beyond FairForItsDay and bands singing passionate anti-war and anti-violence songs (even if they gained a MisaimedFandom because TruffautWasRight) all the way to the other side of the spectrum - bands and songs irresponsibly glorifying rape and murder and pedophilia and whatever else solely for shock value or for being edgy.
* Finnish military march ''Sotilaspoika'' (Soldier Boy). Originally a poem by J.L. Runeberg, the lyrics are about a boy of perhaps ten or eleven, whose father [[ChildSoldier was drafted in the army when he was 15]]. The boy himself can't wait till his fifteenth birthday and is eligible to get drafted [[spoiler:like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather]]. While in the 19th century the lyrics implied PatrioticFervor, in the 21st century they are easily interpreted as gung-ho militarism and use of child soldiers.

* Not even Music/{{KISS}} is immune to this. Listen to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-PuYU7OKdc Deuce]]." Just a wee bit sexist, isn't it? Plus, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSB7G732Eg Domino]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMlVZ6RDets Christine Sixteen]]" might be seen badly in today's PaedoHunt world (especially "Domino," which never gives the girl's age but it can easily be taken as less teenager and more paedophilia). In fact, a lot of Kiss songs fall into this. Seeing as some Kiss albums contain nothing but songs about sex (Gene Simmons has claimed to had sex with over a thousand women; and for crying out loud, this is the band that has a song called "Let's Put The X In Sex"), the chance for sexism pops up quite often.
** If you think that's bad, check Music/LoveHate's song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sku2Him53TM "Rock Queen"]] - "met a little girl, just thirteen, she's a knock-down blue-eyed slut psycho-virgin tease. Rock queen, thirteen, buxom blonde, bad dream, let me touch your cookies - let me eat your cookies - now".
* The song "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg (not the same as Auld Lang Syne, a Creator/RobertBurns song) is about a chance meeting between former lovers who have since gone their separate ways. They talk with each other about their life, buy a six-pack of beer (admittedly, American beer is relatively low in alcohol compared to most places) at a liquor store after failing to find an open bar, split it, reminisce, and drive away to go on living their lives as they had been doing. The offhand reference to driving after drinking alcohol introduces an element of {{Squick}} into what is otherwise a heartfelt romantic ballad. The song was released as a single in 1980 and included on Fogelberg's 1981 album ''The Innocent Age'', which was before all the "Don't Drink and Drive" {{Public Service Announcement}}s began to appear. Values Dissonance can be NewerThanTheyThink.

* Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit "In the Summertime", which reached #1 in the UK and Canada and #3 in the US, says, "Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find". Even the edgiest rock today doesn't advocate drinking and driving. It was presumably for this reason that the song was used in a famous PIF for the British advertising campaign Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives, wherein it begins with many people enjoying themselves at a pub garden and drinking; two of those people drive off in a car, and the song slows down to a disturbing stop before we cut to the car inevitably wrecked and bloodied.
** The next verse includes the lyrics "If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal. If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel."

* Many [[TheSixties Sixties]] songs [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs were written and/or sung while high]]. But back then, drugs were used for "expanding your mind" rather than trying to be cool. (We're lookin' at you, [[Music/TheGratefulDead Jerry Garcia]]!) These days, though, singers who do drugs get a lot of flak from fans and bandmates, or at least more than sixties singers would.

* Music/TenCc's hit single "Dreadlock Holiday" passed without comment in the 1970s. It was based on a real life incident in which Graham Gouldman was mugged for his (minimal) bling in the West Indies - the mugger made it look like an agreed, if not unforced, sale by deliberately paying Gouldman a dollar for jewellery worth many times that. The song has since been criticised for its implication that all dreadlocked Jamaicans are violent robbers and all Jamaican women are hookers. The "dark voices" in the song have also been described as stereotypical, and the fact it was done to a (quite good) reggae beat has also been criticised as reinforcing the "all blacks are criminals" message perceived by some in the song. The Jamaican Tourist Board wasn't exactly inclined to use it in adverts, either.[[note]]''Come to sunny Jamaica and be mugged!''[[/note]] It was alleged that two white British Jews (Goldman and Creme) were mis-using West Indian culture (reggae) to reinforce prejudice.

* Similarly, the remake of seventies feelgood summer hit "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QQW4twgWts I'm Going To Barbados]]" by [[OneHitWonder long-forgotten band]] Typically Tropical, when it was reworked in the early 2000s as "We're Going to Ibiza," omitted the introduction by the pilot, spoken in a thick West Indian accent, and the cod-West Indian singing voice used for the song....

* Julie Brown's "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun", which depicts [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a homecoming queen with a gun]] [[BallroomBlitz shooting absolutely everyone]] [[AxesAtSchool at her high school prom]]. Except, [[RefugeInAudacity it's a parody of]] TeenageDeathSongs. It was made in the '80s as a novelty song, but is almost rarely played today even on novelty song stations since the rise of school shootings. Brown has admitted that she [[OldShame no longer feels comfortable performing the song in today's climate]].

* K.T. Oslin's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA-TqZuuEA4 You Can't Do That]]" {{deconstruct|ion}}s the [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin zero tolerance]] social climate of the [[TheEighties late eighties]] and [[TheNineties nineties]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6F2HU4JAIU A French singer did a song like that]] in 2011. "J'aime les moche" (I love the ugly ones). It's played for laughs and is a quite liked song.

* Rap music from the 80s to early 2000s was extremely homophobic. A lot of rappers now regarded as legends (Music/GrandmasterFlash, Music/TheBeastieBoys, Music/PublicEnemy, even Music/WillSmith) had songs casually insulting and demeaning members of the LGBT community (usually gay men, but occasionally lesbians and transgender women). Nowadays, any rapper who wants a chance of mainstream success avoids making homo/transphobic statements, not only in their music but also in interviews and on social media (and if they do, a public apology is quick to follow). Additionally, many older rap songs are extremely sexist. While rap today has a problem with sexism, it was even more pronounced in the early days. For example, in 2013 Music/RickRoss got in hot water for a lyric that implied he was going to DateRape a woman; in the 90s nobody would have batted an eye at that. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many rappers would say "no homo" whenever they said anything vaguely gay sounding. Radio stations began censoring it due to homophobia, and the practice as a whole fell out of style in the early 2010s.

** Also from 1980, Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen", in which the man singing the song is implied to be at least in his 30s (since he reminisces about his college days "in '67") manages to avert this trope, probably because the song's entire point is about how this age gap forecloses any possibility of a relationship beyond getting drunk and stoned together.[[note]]It was inspired by one of the assistant engineers, who had just reached the age of 30, coming in and relating with astonishment how the 19-year-old he'd dated the night before didn't know who Music/ArethaFranklin was ...despite having several hits in the 70s).[[/note]]
* Several R&B/soul songs in the 1970s and 1980s were about a woman being okay with dating someone who already had a girlfriend/wife. Examples include "Sweet Thing" by Chaka Khan, "Call Me" by Skyy ("Though your girlfriend's a friend of mine/Here's my number and a dime, call me anytime"), "Just Be Good to Me" by SOS Band ("I don't care about your other girls/Just be good to me"), "Saving All My Love for You" by Music/WhitneyHouston and "As We Lay" by Shirley Murdock.

** A regional example is his use of the word 'spastic' in 2014's "Word Crimes". In the USA, this is akin to 'jerky and erratic' or 'manic'. In the UK, it's an offensive slur for a disabled person which carries the same connotations as the word 'retard' in the USA or worse. Al apologised for using it, having not realised the difference between the American and British use of the word, and didn't sing the word whenever he toured in the UK.

* The Colombian cumbia song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOjuL8WxnE0 La Colegiala]] (The Schoolgirl) is about a man of indeterminate age - but clearly an adult - who tells how much he is suffering when he is in love with a teenager, to whom he asks that when she goes to school with her school uniform "Do not be so coquette". Nowadays this song would be clearly considered {{ephebophil|e}}ia, although it is still very popular among a certain audience, the same type of audience that considers the most modern reggaetón songs too sexual or misogynistic.
** On the same vein, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y22w9ObONtQ ''17 años'']], another very popular cumbia song by Los Ángeles Azules, has the singer gushing about his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 17-year-old girlfriend]] and how "innocent", "shy" and "young" she is. The singer does NOT look or sound anywhere near 17, either. And just like the song above, it is quite popular with a certain kind of crowd. It should be noted, though, that in its country of origin you become a legal adult at 18, so it is not as eyebrow-raising - however, going to quinceañeras to watch a bunch of 40-year-old uncles dancing happily to a song praising teenage girlfriends can be...jarring.

** A more recent example is his use of the word 'spastic' in "Word Crimes". In the USA, this is akin to 'jerky and erratic' or 'manic'. In the UK, it's an offensive slur for a disabled person which carries the same connotations as the word 'retard' in the USA or worse. Al apologised for using it, having not realised the difference between the American and British use of the word, and didn't sing the word whenever he toured in the UK.

** Garcia, Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones, etc. most certainly were criticized and served time in jail for their substance abuse and rock excesses in TheSixties as well; Music/MickJagger and Music/KeithRichards' drug bust in 1967 was very controversial.

* Some older rock songs, such as Music/TheBeatles' "Run for Your Life" and Music/TheRollingStones' "Under My Thumb", can be a little problematic for post-feminist ears. "Run for Your Life" is a good example of something that led to values dissonance within years; shortly before his death, Music/JohnLennon said that [[OldShame he was himself embarrassed by the message contained in the song]]. He later wrote the song "Jealous Guy", which seemed to be an AuthorsSavingThrow.

* Rap music from the 80s to early 2000s was extremely homophobic. A lot of rappers now regarded as legends (Music/GrandmasterFlash, Music/TheBeastieBoys, Music/PublicEnemy, even Music/WillSmith) had songs casually insulting and demeaning members of the LGBT community (usually gay men, but occasionally lesbians and transgender women). Nowadays, any rapper who wants a chance of mainstream success avoids making homo/transphobic statements, not only in their music but also in interviews and on social media (and if they do, a public apology is quick to follow). Additionally, many older rap songs are extremely sexist. While rap today has a problem with sexism, it was even more pronounced in the early days. For example, in 2013 Music/RickRoss got in hot water for a lyric that implied he was going to DateRape a woman; in the 90s nobody would have batted an eye at that. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many rappers would say "no homo" whenever they said anything vaguely gay sounding. Radio stations began censoring it due to homophobia and the practice fell out of style in the early 2010s.

* Speaking of Sting, back in his days with Music/ThePolice they recorded "On Any Other Day" for ''Regatta de Blanc''. In it, the singer details all the horrible things that had happened to him on that day, i.e., his wife burned the scrambled eggs and let him know she was having multiple affairs. One of them is his discovery that "my fine young son has turned out gay". In 1979 that was a generally unremarkable sentiment; in 2020 it is decidedly at odds with large portions of society.

* In Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart's opera ''Don Giovanni'', Zerlina wins back her fiancé's good graces by singing him an aria inviting him to beat her. However, if you listen to the music, it is obvious that she's actually suggesting something much more pleasant for both of them.

** Also from 1980, Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen", in which the man singing the song is implied to be at least in his 30s (since he reminisces about his college days "in '67") manages to avert this trope, probably because the song's entire point is about how this age gap forecloses any possibility of a relationship beyond getting drunk and stoned together.[[note]]It was inspired by one of the assistant engineers, who had just reached the age of 30, coming in and relating with astonishment how the 19-year-old he'd dated the night before didn't know who Musci/ArethaFranklin was ...despite having several hits in the 70s).[[/note]]

* In ''The Four Seasons'' by Music/AntonioVivaldi, the joyful dance-like finale of ''L'autunno (Autumn)'' can be very uncomfortable to listen to when you realize that the music's accompanying sonnet reveals it's about hunting wildlife. In Vivaldi's time[[note]](March 4, 1678–July 28, 1741)[[/note]], many people saw nothing wrong with hunting and killing wildlife for pleasure and the activity was popular, but nowadays increased awareness of endangered species means hunting for pleasure would be seen as immoral at best and illegal at worst.

* "You Are My Destiny" by Paul Anka is a love song about a younger man pledging his love to an older woman despite the age difference, but the narrator sounds desperate and obsessive towards their lover to modern ears. Sing the song to somebody you love, and they would be more likely to interpret the song as AccidentalNightmareFuel than romantic.

* Rap music from the 80s to early 2000s was extremely homophobic. A lot of rappers now regarded as legends (Music/GrandmasterFlash, Music/TheBeastieBoys, Music/PublicEnemy, even Musci/WillSmith) had songs casually insulting and demeaning members of the LGBT community (usually gay men, but occasionally lesbians and transgender women). Nowadays, any rapper who wants a chance of mainstream success avoids making homo/transphobic statements, not only in their music but also in interviews and on social media (and if they do, a public apology is quick to follow). Additionally, many older rap songs are extremely sexist. While rap today has a problem with sexism, it was even more pronounced in the early days. For example, in 2013 Music/RickRoss got in hot water for a lyric that implied he was going to DateRape a woman; in the 90s nobody would have batted an eye at that. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many rappers would say "no homo" whenever they said anything vaguely gay sounding. Radio stations began censoring it due to homophobia and the practice fell out of style in the early 2010s.

** A more recent example is his use of the word 'spastic' in "Word Crimes". In the USA, this is akin to 'jerky and erratic' or 'manic'. In the UK, it's an offensive slur for a disabled person which carries the same connotations as the word 'retard' in the USA or worse. Al apologised for using it, having not realised the difference between the American and British use of the word, but continued to perform the offending line in concert as of 2019.