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Senator ROCKEFELLER. Do you think that parents, not only those
who are in PMRC but other parents who are concerned here and
across the country about the development of new trends in music
and the lyrics that go along with that music, are naive or somehow
missing the point?
Do you think that they are unduly worried about some of these
writings about sado-masochism, suicide, rape, and other things? Do
you think that this is not really a serious problem for this country
and our young people?
Mr. SNIDER.. That is sort of a multiple question. I do not think
they are naive and I do not think that at times they are unduly
worried. But I do think sometimes they take it overly serious.
I mean, there are monster movies on all the time, they have
been going on for ages, and people watch a monster movie and they
get scared, and they walk away and it was just a movie. Rock and
roll many times is the same thing, to try to get an effect of either
laughter, sadness. A lot of the heavy metal bands are trying to
scare people and just make them scared like a horror movie.
Vincent Price is not having problems because he has done all of
these monster pictures. He is just an actor. I am not going to say I
am just an actor, but I am entertaining people and a lot of these
bands are entertaining people.
And when they were reading some of these lyrics before, I could
not help but laugh. I mean, I had not heard some of them, but
some of the lyrics were ridiculously ridiculous. I mean, a kid, even
a kid reading that I think would go, oh my God, what is going on?
It is ridiculous is the only word I can think of, some of the lyrics.
Senator ROCKEFELLER. In the vehemence with which you
attacked Senator Gore's wife, I detected a defensiveness somehow on
your part, a lack of assuredness on where you stand on this. Why
did you feel it necessary to attribute some of the qualities to her
that you did? Why was that important to your testimony?
Mr. SNIDER.. First of all, I was not attacking Senator Gore's wife.
I was attacking a member of the PMRC.
Senator ROCKEFELLER. You were attacking Senator Gore's wife by
name.
Mr. SNIDER.. Her name is Tipper Gore, is it not? I did not say the
Senator's wife. I said Tipper Gore.
Second, defensive. I have been working very hard. I believe in
the music that I play. I believe we have a very bad reputation and
I have been doing a lot on my part to try and say, hey, this is not a
bad thing, this is fun, this is fantasy.
Kids are coming out, they are screaming, they are yelling, they
are letting out their emotions, and they are going home, they are
feeling better because they let out a lot of their frustrations.
As I said, I pride myself on writing lyrics that are not offensive
and that are saying something positive. Most of our songs are
about personal freedom. And when somebody tells me, after all I
have done to fight against sexism, that I have a shirt with a
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