When correctly viewed, everything is lewd.

This week I didn’t have time to type anything myself; however, I did find an article from the late 1950s with an interesting commentary on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock". Please enjoy.

Rock and Roll is the newest (and perhaps the most harmful to date) pop music fad. Targeting kids, these songs are loud and often filled with sexual references. Here I will point out the harmful lyrics of a recent rock and roll hit.

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing.
You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.

I suppose the warden of a jail attempts to reward inmates with entertainment as a way to stave off unhealthily poor morale, but this “party” seems to have gotten out of hand.

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone.
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
the whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.

While I’m sure music is a fine way to reform outlaws, a saxophone may be the lowest form of musical instrument. There mere fact that they are almost exclusively found is jazz music should be enough evidence to conclude that saxophones lead to an even greater disdain for the law. Additionally, “blowing” on a trombone hardly sounds respectable. The Purple Gang were infamous bootleggers in Detroit and would no doubt be smuggling alcohol in the bass and piano.

Number forty-seven said to number three:
"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
I sure would be delighted with your company,
come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me."

Homosexuality is not a suitable subject for a song targeted towards children. Please note that 47 and 3 equal “fifty”- only two letters away from “filthy”.

The sad sack was a sittin' on a block of stone
way over in the corner weepin' all alone.
The warden said, "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square.
If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair."

Here the warden coerces a man who is already on solid ground into joining the debauchery. Furthermore, he intimates that the acquisition of “things” is the only way to gain acceptance. I suppose being a “square” means that you wish for a better life than being locked up in a jail with murderers and perverts.

Shifty Henry said to Bugs, "For Heaven's sake,
no one's lookin', now's our chance to make a break."
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, "Nix nix,
I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks."

This final verse nicely summarizes the dangers of rock and roll. Even though I certainly don’t endorse jailbreaks, the song glamorizes the allure of rock music. The inmate would rather stay and listen to the cacophony than escape to the free world. This kind of thinking will most likely lead to youths seeing prison as the “hip” place to be. When the crimes rates start to go up, you will know why.

Written by: Merle M. Kramkin