"I found that to be rather interesting. What did he say and which songs did he discuss with you?"I had to step back and think about this, since I don't want to sound like a irresponsible mother, or that my kid is a super genius...
but he is different.

My husband and I are not the type to shelter our son, or coddle him. We're raising a child in rather sketchy times, where the monsters are not hiding under the bed or in the closet, but walking down the sidewalk with him, or leading countries. Also, dad is a SFX makeup artist, so monsters and horror films are kinda the norm around here. Freddy Krueger is great and zombies just rock.

Back to NIN, I am the main parent that drives him around, and I usually had it playing, not realizing he was absorbing as much as he did. One day, as we were tooling down the hightway, he asked that I play the "there is no you, there is only me" song. Huh. So I put it in, surprised to hear him singing along with over half of it. (he didn't hear "fucking", he heard "bucket"... so it's "there is no bucket you!", LOL) Then he proceeded to explain that Trent was talking about being different from everyone else, and that made it hard to be himself, so it was easier not to be anyone at all then try to be someone else.

Well.

Then we move on to "Something I can never have" "Trent's sad because his girlfriend left and he really misses her and is lonely.

"Capital G" was about someone in charge that wasn't really helping anyone. (although I think he started liking it because he thought Trent was "talking funny" at first)

My favorite? "Mr. Self Destruct" I asked him what he thought about that one, and he looked at me like I was the stupid one. "Mommy, it's about the devil." .... "Okay, what makes you think that?" "The devil is the one who makes you want to do bad things. He doesn't do them, just makes you wanna do them."

And here I thought he liked the beat, or the music. He also digs the instrumental stuff, being very partial to The Hall of The Mountain King and the end of Piggy.

My son also likes Mumford and Sons, Voltaire, and thinks Victoria Justice is just "too cool"! He watches Spongebob and Curious George, but also likes Wheel of Fortune and CSI. He's happy doing math problems and playing soccer.

And he likes Nine Inch Nails, and gets it, on some level. He even knows he's not supposed to repeat the swear words, because only Trent's allowed to. ("He says that because he was angry at someone", my son's words, not mine.)

We've talked about other ones, but those are the ones that stick out at this moment. And as I said, I don't think that I would exposes all kids to what I've exposed mine to. Maybe I wasn't thinking too clearly when I let him listen, but he <i>listened</i>. And he thought about waht was being said...

and isn't that what we've all done with the music?

What are you guys concerned about in the first place? They're just songs. I mean, I can understand how some kid might get scared hearing Mr. Self Destruct at a loud volume or something, or how weird it would be for them to hear the lyric "fuck you like an animal" and then ask one of your neighbors what it means or something, but when it comes down to it....it's just music, you know?


Also, if it were my kid and they repeated shit they heard, I'd probably tell them to cut it out, but I wouldn't condemn the subject matter and I'd advise them to come up with their own statement on what he/she thinks about fucking someone like an animal. I feel I'm the only one who thinks this way (no IDNWT pun intended) for the most part, but I'd reeeeally like it a lot if my child were to exercise his/her freedom of speech and know that he/she can do so whenever they please.

downward spiral is really dark and it scared me away from NIN for a while. I think kids need to be assertive and not get swallowed up. its easier said than done. i know. i wouldnt of liked to have been exposed to that paticular album as a kid. hell my mother didnt let me watch an 18 rated film until i was 18.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2011 04:13PM by oitribe.

Kids are scared of all sorts if things. I was terrified by Labyrinth the first time I saw it but I don't think my parents should have stopped me watching it.

My father always listened to music, but he never "introduced" me to anything (until a couple years ago I think, when I started playing guitar and shit). He would just play whatever he wanted, or the radio.

I ended up with NIN in my lap when I was 15 or so? Although obviously I'd heard Head Like A Hole and Closer. Hell, my first memory of hearing Head Like A Hole is hearing it on the radio in my room and thinking "This is the coolest fucking chorus ever." Too bad I never looked into them before!

[www.youtube.com]

I completely agree. However, I still don't think that children ages 10-12, or perhaps even 9 are too young to listen to NIN. I could see how some of the music videos are obviously R-rated, but the music itself doesn't seem to be that bad. But of course, I still can't speak for everybody. I also think that 9 could be the youngest age as well, but if anything I'd rather have children discover NIN on their own, or at least when they're actually into music.

Aside from that, I don't think NIN needs to be brought to them, unless they want NIN. I also understand why most people wouldn't expose children ages 6 years and under to NIN though. I still don't know about that, but such things are on them, and that's their decision. I also can't help but notice that when people talk about children, they don't often refer to ages 9-12 as much as children that are 8 years of age and younger. Not to get too off topic, but I can't help but see that happen a lot. 9-12 year olds are children as well despite the differences in age and intelligence. Perhaps it's just me, but I never really got that because to me: "12 and Under = Child" (At least in the literal/chronological sense.)

And yes, there is some truth to that. Children aren't always as naive as they seem to be. Some of them really are ahead of their time.



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2011 07:05PM by SalavanteK.

I first heard NIN when I was 9 when Only came out (coincidently, came out one day after my Bday).
Even though I didn't become a NIN fan until April 2009.
Though I gotta admit I didn't like TDS at first for constant use of swearing, don't get me wrong though I do love the album now.

11-12yo = grade 6.

Sorry...subject matter is too deep for them to understand regardless of the language.

Sure, they can listen to it, but they don't enjoy it. The music/beats/rythems are just too complex. It doesn't sound simple. It doesn't sound happy. It doesn't sound fun.

To a kid, those are the things that matter. There's gotta be a melody that's easy to follow and catchy, and one that moves fast. You won't find a kid finding Reptile as a catchy tune... NIN is for high school when kids start experiencing some deeper emotions during this stage in life.

It has nothing to do with censorship. It has everything to do with when their minds are developed enough to enjoy what's presented.

Those who try to listen to it at an early age do because they are intrigued, but not exactly sure of what...it's almost a forced listen because they know it's different and a departure from the simple beat/pop music they previously found fun to listen to. I experienced this in Grade 7 with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It was different from what everyone else was listening to...(The Humpty Dance, Pump Up the Volume, etc) I knew it was special, but I didn't know why...so I stuck with it.

It took a few years to grow the catalogue on me...was joked about in high school by friends for not making priority the newest of rock because it was the thing to listen to (at that time Nirvana, Offspring, Green Day, Pearl Jam...etc...) trust me, most girls didn't dig that stuff either...and was worse with NIN (TDS days) except for the few easy chicks who liked "CLOSER" but never knew the meanings behind it...or the concept of the album it was taken from.

It took friends another 10 years to finally listen to what they've been missing all along. This will hit kids at different ages when their brains start changing to adolescence.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2011 11:38PM by Mike_Osadciw.

Well, is Closer really less suitable than "S&M" or a recent Chris Brown song which feature the lyric "I'm the Super Soaker, I'ma make you're whole bed wet."

Besides, acts like 50 Cent ride high in the charts, and it doesn't take much brains to realise that the subtext to "I got da East Side" is "I employ teenagers to sell dope to people, buggering their brains up, impoverishing them and causing all manner of crime and social ills". In comparison to that NIN is quite positive.

Besides, taking lyrics from one song as proof that NIN are unsuitable is like basing your opinion of, say, Slipknot on the opening lyric of "Disasterpiece".

Seeing/hearing and doing is two different things.

You should take pride in being a parent who has raised a child to act on their own morals and sense of self instead of copying what they see and hear. Children are like sponges, I agree, but that is your place to educate them in what is acceptable and what is not; that their actions will have consequences.

Blaming ongoing problems on society and entertainment just shows your lack of parenting skills. If you cannot handle controlling a child then you should not have had one to begin with.

I grew up watching Terminator and listening to foul mouthed musicians, but I knew better than to copy what they did/said... I knew if I did I would be in for it!

Besides, NIN is a lot better than bands like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. I would rather my child say "fuck" then to be an arrogant a-hole like them.

I let both my children aged 4 and 7 listen to NIN. They both know that people swear in music, but that it's not ok for them to use those words.

I sing NIN (and Linkin Park and Weezer) songs to my 3-month old son when he gets fussy. It calms him down nicely.

I was in 5th grade when I started listening to NIN. With Teeth had just come out at the time and I really liked it. I wasn't familiar with them at all at the time and I remember getting on iTunes and seeing Closer as the highest downloaded song, so I bought it. I took the song literally at the time. I didn't grasp the deeper meaning. I'm 16 now and the Downward Spiral is probably one of my favorite albums of all time. NIN is the only band that has helped me through sadder periods of my life.

Most of what music consists of is dealing with the inapporpriate. I think the best way to put it is this: my parents raised me on the 1950s, 60s and 70s because they though the 90s was too sex and drugy. I've been listening more and more to those childhood songs, over and over to find it talking about sex and drugs more than the 90s- the difference was it was more metaphorical or subtle.

Music is for all. Ten bucks says a kid won't even repeat a dirty word if you don't say anything about it being bad in the first place. They'll hear it, but they'll probably hear 'suck' or 'chat' instead of 'fuck' or 'shit'.