AlteredEgg.com - Goodbye Aerosmith

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Goodbye Aerosmith

I just recently rid myself of the last bit of my Aerosmith music. I took their expensive box set, tore it apart, shattered the CDs, and recycled the book it contained.

“You WHAT? Didn't you used to be the guy who drew their logo on everything?”

Yeah.

“Are you psycho or something?”

No. Well maybe, but things change, and so do people. There was a time when I thought Aerosmith was the best band around. I had all their albums. I knew the trivia. When they came to town, I was in the front row of their concert, holding up my lighter during the ballads (I didn't even smoke). I cheered as Steven Tyler made lewd gestures before his adoring fans. I even bragged after I got to touch his hand.

Bye-bye! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the band, Aerosmith began in the early seventies and soon became a popular riff-based rock act known for their drug use. They almost collapsed in the mid-eighties, but kicked their drug habit and came out with a new style and a series of multi-platinum albums. Some would say that they cleaned up their act, but unfortunately drugs were not their only vice. Aerosmith lyrics often promote sexual promiscuity and lust with varying degrees of subtlety, and their comeback took their lewdness to new lows.

Back in high school this meant little to me. I didn't even think about the lyrics; I just knew I liked Aerosmith's sound. What changed my mind? You guessed it — I became one of them religious people who can't have any fun. I jest, of course, but if you don't want the complicated answer that will do I suppose. The complicated answer is that I learned some truth from Him that I couldn't learn on my own. I learned who He is first of all, and as I walk with Him through life I am understanding more of what is good and right in the world, and Aerosmith ain't it.

So what do I know now? I know God designed sex, and for humans it's meant to be a blessing for married people, a pleasurable union that can bring forth the greater blessing of children in its complete purpose. God told us not to have sex with a non-spouse because that's what's best for us. He wants us to have happy marriages and stable families with no sexually-transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancy. By contrast, the Aerosmith ideal for sex is "more, more, more," with no real respect for women as people. I believe this is a recipe for pain and emptyness for all involved, and it ultimately harms our society.

For my own good, I rid myself of the major portion of my Aerosmith collection a few years ago now and traded it for other music at a swap store. But before destroying this last portion, I decided that I didn't even want their music to be available to others, especially my children. Sure, Aerosmith will tell you to “use a rubber and don't do drugs”. They can even come up with somewhat inspirational songs when they want. However they just don't have enough good to outweigh the bad. I still have a bit of music around with questionable themes or words, and maybe I'll decide later that those artists also crossed my line of tolerance. For now, I know Aerosmith definitely has crossed it, and I have no regrets.