It’s happened to everyone — that terrifying moment when you’re at the wheel with Mom or Dad riding shotgun and that song inevitably comes on. It throws your drive straight into an awkward frenzy as you try to change the music — and the conversation — while making things irreparably uncomfortable. To avoid getting caught in this scene, remove these from your playlist before joyriding with Grandma.
“When The President Talks To God,” Bright Eyes
Is your father or mother a conservative, right-wing Republican? Have you been looking to get into a politically based screaming match lately regarding the Bush administration? Then Conor Oberst has just the song for you. This scathing, yelping cut that was released as a First Day of My Life B-side has every eyebrow-raising element that you could look for in a protest song.
“Radicals,” Tyler, the Creator
With the world’s most offensive hook ever (pulled from his younger brother’s debut album, Earl Sweatshirt’s Earl), this gem off of Tyler’s latest release, Goblin, would have Howard Stern blushing like a schoolgirl and Eazy-E’s lighter raised to the heavens. The entire song is basically NSFW (not safe for work indeed), but Tyler’s signature rasp shifts and slides over an off-kilter beat that’s reminiscent of a Pharrell production gone all kinds of awry, making for a can’t-pull-your-ears-away train wreck of a track.
“Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” Katy Perry
Hide your little sister, and possibly your mother — Katy’s stringing together anything risque that rhymes, and uses the phrase “epic fail” to boot (what year are we in again?). Unless you feel like explaining to your passengers why the menage-a-trois in the blacked-out blur of last weekend ruled, steer clear of this track. The beat is catchy and danceable, of course, but let’s be honest: Katy Perry isn’t something you should be listening to with your parents … or by yourself for that matter.
_“The 4th Branch,” Immortal Technique _
Yes, he wrote “Dance with the Devil,” and yes, he’s a hell of a rapper. The material Technique covers leaves no governmental or racial group untouched. If your parents can follow his flow, Tech will take them on quite the ride, expressing his views on media, political and social agendas which are prime to confuse, offend or even enlighten. Risktakers can turn this one up to 11 and buckle up for the ride, but maybe it’s best to play it safe and save the folks from squirming in their seats.
