By Richard Parker

While some bands use revolting lyrics in their songs, others lower the quality of music because of commercialization, and Lady Gaga always has the latest excessive publicity stunt, some bands put more focus on what I consider to be a higher function of music. This function is social commentary.

Jason Michael Carroll’s “Alyssa Lies” offers a heartbreaking social commentary on the issue of child assault. I use the term child assault in the place of child abuse because I have no desire to use the euphemism of abuse to describe violence toward children. The chorus comes from the voice of the singer’s daughter, describing how her new friend Alyssa lies.

“Alyssa lies to the classroom / Alyssa lies everyday at school / Alyssa lies to the teachers / As she tries to cover every bruise.”

I remember how the blunt force of the sadness hit me the first time I heard the verse near the end of the song.

“My little girl asked me why everybody looked so sad / The lump in my throat grew bigger / With every question that she asked / Until I felt the tears run down my face / And I told her that Alyssa wouldn’t be at school today.”

How often have you seen the men in your life show tears? To express vulnerability of any kind, especially in the form of tears, is to invite physical and social violence against you, particularly in adolescence. Tim McGraw’s “Grown Men Don’t Cry” questions the masculine ideology that prevents us from expressing sorrow – and even joy – with our tears.

“Keep having this dream about my old man / I’m 10 years old, and he’s holding my hand / We’re talkin’ on the front porch watchin’ the sun go down / But it was just a dream he was a slave to his job and he couldn’t be around / So many things I wanna say to him / But I just placed a rose on his grave, and I talk to the wind.”

With each verse McGraw illustrates a scene in our minds where tears are almost inevitable. He follows these narratives with the chorus, stating his confusion to the idea that men aren’t supposed to cry and show vulnerability.

“I don’t know why they say grown men don’t cry.”

Craig Morgan’s “Almost Home,” Billy Currington’s “Walk a Little Straighter,” and Emerson Drive’s “Moments” are also examples of social commentary. However, my first experience with musical social commentary was Tupac Shakur’s “Changes.” He specifically addressed the social problems of racism, apathy, gang violence and drugs in this song, but I feel the message he gives toward the end of the song holds true today.

“It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes. / Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live / and let’s change the way we treat each other. / You see the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do / what we gotta do, to survive.”

We need to change the way we approach social issues, and make sacrifices in order to show love to one another. Discrimination, murder, suicide, bullying, homelessness, sexual objectification of women and children, war, disease, child rape, child assault, eating disorders and poverty are all social problems facing our nation. We must re-engage with these social issues. Showing love to each other and resolving social injustices are significant. It is our duty to do both. Sometimes we just need a little encouragement from our music to bring these issues to light.