I’m just going to dive right into this topic…Secular music, is it good or bad? Healthy or brain-washing?

Often when I think of secular music, I immediately picture Taylor Swift. I mean, come on! She’s only super duper duper duper popular, and her music is everywhere, her fans are everywhere, and she just seems ever-present in the pop-culture/secular/musical world.

Now, I’m not about to go into a big debate about whether Taylor Swift’s music is good or not. But, I will be explaining the pros and cons for secular music for Christian teens, or anybody at all, actually.

Pros About Secular Music
So, I personally can’t think of any pros except for the fact that secular music is almost always super catchy or fun to listen to. Other times, it’s calmer, but there is always a song for whatever mood you’re in.

1. Feeling sad? Listen to a song about a sad girl whose boyfriend dumped her for another girl.
2. Feeling angry? Listen to a song about an angry girl whose boyfriend dumped her for another girl.
3. Feeling lovesick/romantic? Listen to a song about a romanticizing girl whose boyfriend dumped her for another girl.
4. Feeling peppy/happy? Wanting to dance around a bit? Listen to a loud, colorful, electronic-sounding song about a girl whose boyfriend dumped her for another girl, (except she’s happy because she doesn’t like him anymore, so she’s happy! (But you’re dancing so you don’t pay attention to the words.)
5. Feeling lonely? Listen to a song about a lonely girl whose boyfriend dumped her for another girl.

See? So many songs for every occasion! But for pros, all I can think of are the awesome sounds and beats of the music. 90% of the lyrics are the last thing I wanna listen to.

Cons About Secular Music
Okay, so you’ve read about how I (clearly) don’t love secular music. Like I showed up above, the topics of secular music isn’t very variable.

Is there a song by a secular artist about how you’re loved (not in a romantic sense) and always will be? Maybe, but it’s honestly rare for that to be a big topic.

So, cons for secular music:

1. It’s not uplifting
2. While it may make you feel like the song/singer understands you, the songs are depressing and make your situation even worse.
3. The music kind of forms a “blanket” around you, and not one that is good. It’s kind of shielding, but not in a fantastic way.

I rarely listen to secular music because it doesn’t make me feel good about myself, it doesn’t encourage me in any way, and I end up sitting in a big pile of self-pity.

Now, I’m not saying secular music is bad! Secular music can be pretty great and so catchy. But! If it’s full of not-so-wholesome stuff, we can start to think or live in that not-so-wholesome crap.

But what if the secular music has a tune and beat that is just so so amazing and you wanna dance to it, but don’t want to fill your mind with that kind of stuff? Well, there are plenty (when I say plenty, I mean PLENTY) of Christian (or clean) artists who make that kind of music too. (With the exception of cuss words, sex, depressing topics, etc.)

Here is a list of artists who have incredibly music, but it’s clean and wholesome. They might sing/rap about faith, but they also sing/rap about their own lives and stories as well.

In conclusion, I just wanted to add, I don’t hate secular music. I find it does more bad than good though. We should take care of our minds by filling them with good words and verses than not-so-wholesome things.

~Willow