Who knew that we could find life lessons in an Aerosmith song?
The boys always ask to listen to Dream On in the car (along with Safety Dance, also on the “Glee” soundtrack). They divvy up parts, usually 2nd row vs. 3rd row, to mimic Matthew Morrison & Neil Patrick Harris’ duet on the show.
Because we have rules in the car about singing songs aloud (ie, the local rock station is ok to play air guitar but usually not to sing along), they wanted to know if they could sing Dream On. That prompted a conversation about the lyrics …
We talked about the “lines on my face getting clearer” and how that refers to him getting wrinkles and growing older, so he’s thinking about his life. “The past is gone” means that you can’t have a do-over in life. “Dusk to dawn” is how quickly it seems that his life is going by.
We also talked about the phrase, “the good Lord will take you away” and how it refers to dying. The 9yo piped up: “Wow, that’s a pretty sad song then.” I agreed and said that it could be a sad song, but then why is he telling us to “dream on”? The song says to dream until your dreams come true and to sing together, even if it’s just for a day.
We decided that the song means to make the most of each day, because we don’t know how long we have to live. We all want to grow old and live a long life, but it doesn’t always happen that way, so let’s dream big and enjoy the life that God has given us.
So, there you have it: a sermonette from Aerosmith.
The boys have been wanting to put on a “concert” for their grandparents, so I suggested making a video to share. They jumped at the chance to be on camera, and despite the sound/video quality of my cheap equipment, I think the final product is pretty hilarious. I just hope Steven Tyler has a good sense of humor. 😉
faith, sweat & tears 
That’s awesome, Ang. Interesting rule, and it makes sense. How easy is it to enforce? And do you think it makes a difference?
Nice conversation to have with them. So great.
The singing rule is pretty easy to enforce. We basically listen to one of two local radio stations or CDs. One radio station plays contemporary Christian music, and they know that they can sing along to any of those songs; in fact, they recognize a lot of them from our praise band at church. The other station, as I mentioned in the post, is the local rock station. (My musical tastes are varied; what can I say? lol)
I’ve told them that sometimes musicians make really awesome songs but not-so-awesome lyrics/words to go along with the music. I want them to appreciate the music – even hard rock – because some of it is really fantastic.
As for whether it makes a difference, I think it does. We’ve had some good conversations about lyrics and how songs tell stories – especially with the older two who grasp more of the words than the little ones do, anyway. That said, there are some songs that I will not let them listen to, period (like “Crazy B**ch”) and change the channel immediately if it comes on the air.
The same rule applies when we play Guitar Hero/Rock Band. They can only sing vocals if it’s a song that Dad or I have approved. Some songs we don’t play at all, if they have bad words (I wish Activision & EA wouldn’t include songs with cuss words at all, but alas – the target audience is a little older than my crew, I imagine).