Should Catholics listen to secular music?

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Akiliane said:
As a Catholic is it ok to listen to secular music?
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I suppose it depends on the kind of music, but in general I don’t see why not unless the music carries a satanic message or something of that kind. Certainly secular classical music would be all right.
 
I think it depends on the kind of secular music you mean.

Secular songs like Daughtry’s “Gone Too Soon” or “Life After You” are clean. Carrie Underwood also has some really clean ones like “Just a Dream”. Her song “Before He Cheats” even deals with something morally wrong in a humorous way.

Now songs like Rihanna’s “S and M” or LMFAO’s “Sorry for Party Rocking” have some clearly objectionable lyrics for a Catholic.
 
Can Catholics listen to secular music? Of course. Should we? That’s another question. Personally, I have recently tried to listen to mainly Christian pop music because most secular popular music has some really bad messages when you pay attention to the lyrics. Also, I find that by listening to Christian music at work all day (I listen online to klove.com), I feel more uplifted and encouraged.

Of course, not all secular music is bad and some songs can be quite uplifting/positive.

Just my :twocents:
 
Most of the time, I think I’m listening to secular music. It usually turns out to be Christian rock, for some reason… 🤷

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with secular music as long as it isn’t objectionable or offensive. Some songs are really uplifting. I’ll also add that there’s a lot of great Christian music out there, but that doesn’t mean you can’t listen to wholesome secular music. 👍
 
Catholics should listen to beautiful music. That doesn’t mean only Religious or Secular. Just something that light comes through.
 
“Secular” covers a lot of bases. What passes for “popular music” today is, in my opinion, irredeemable trash. Folk music from the 50’s and 60’s would seem to be another matter, as would contemporary acoustic guitar, piano, etc. “Secular” would also seem to include Classical music (using that term broadly), and someone would really need some serious church citations to tell me that Catholics shouldn’t listen to Bach, Handel, Mozart et al - especially in view of the fact that Benedict XVI used to relax with Mozart. I also don’t understand what’s objectionable about Williams’ “Lark Ascending.”
 
Christianus_Dei said:
Catholics should listen to beautiful music. That doesn’t mean only Religious or Secular. Just something that light comes through.
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It is not just rock music that can be bad. I’ve heard some music from the “big band” era that could be pretty nasty too if you understood the words. Such as the “Dark Town Strutters Ball” they talk about the “jelly-roll blues” which is talking about a certain part of the female anatomy. I won’t say anymore since this is a “family show” but you get the idea?😊
 
I stopped listening to rock music when I considered how I would feel if my then-1-year-old askede what the words meant…

But now they are older–the one above is now 21!–and I listen sometimes… but as I told my daughter, listening to a lot of those songs was a lot more fun when I was secular…
 
St_Francis said:
I stopped listening to rock music when I considered how I would feel if my then-1-year-old askede what the words meant…

But now they are older–the one above is now 21!–and I listen sometimes… but as I told my daughter, listening to a lot of those songs was a lot more fun when I was secular…
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I can say a big [SIGN]AMEN[/SIGN] to that!
 
Catholics are asked to discern, to think, to decide what reflects truth and beauty versus what brings us away from truth and beauty.

With a particular piece of music, I ask first does it have lyrics? What do the lyrics mean? If it does not have lyrics, what does the music represent or incite in me?

And who is the composer? singer? If the answer is “Catholic”, that does not automatically mean that the music is compatible with our faith. If the composer is not Catholic, the same applies. If they are devil worshippers, I think it’s pretty obvious.

If it’s a secular song like “Wonderful World”, there is no harm. To some it may be too optimistic a theme: “What’s so wonderful about it; there’s wars, crimes, terrorism…” That is a matter of taste, not discernment.

If it’s some heavy metal nihilistic song that is full of darkness and lament, the harm may be to a listener who might be influenced deeper into their depression or psychosis.

If it is a love song without being an illicit love song, it is OK. It needs to reflect Catholic morality.

If it is music at church, that does not make it automatically good for us. Some of the hymns of the past 50 years were written with an attitude of “Me first”, not “God first.” It can be a more subtle influence and therefore more dangerous to the listener.
 
Christianus_Dei said:
Catholics should listen to beautiful music. That doesn’t mean only Religious or Secular. Just something that light comes through.
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Completely agree and beauty is completely subjective. We should try to see God in all things and celebrate the great talents he has bestowed on us… in this case musicians.
 
You become what you behold. So using that rule I think some secular music is fine.
 
I would say yes in general. Being a Catholic doesn’t mean locking your self in your house and not living in the culture of the times. I don’t think people should dwell on tastles garbage, but listening to a U2, coldplay, or elvis song is not going to hurt you. I do reccomend ignoring filth however. Going to extreams is always a problem. Just try to be a normal person, and lead a normal life.

To me, if a religion says you can’t listen to secular music in general than this is more of a cult. Brainwashing by denying people to listen to music isn’t part of any mainstream religion.
 
matt1985 said:
…To me, if a religion says you can’t listen to secular music in general than this is more of a cult. Brainwashing by denying people to listen to music isn’t part of any mainstream religion.
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definitely. I play drums in a small group, we do mostly American standards, jazz, blues, sometimes 50s and 60s rock. you couldn’t pay me to do Christian rock or praisercize, that stuff makes my ears bleed. Country-western music is written more for adults rather than teens, and so I can appreciate that too.

I think you’d have to be real hardcore to find something morally objectionable with The Look of Love or Love’s Been Good To Me so much so that you would walk away from them.

I see threads like this and I know we Catholics have to lighten up a lot and enjoy life.

F/
 
Fairwinds said:
definitely. I play drums in a small group, we do mostly American standards, jazz, blues, sometimes 50s and 60s rock. you couldn’t pay me to do Christian rock or praisercize, that stuff makes my ears bleed. Country-western music is written more for adults rather than teens, and so I can appreciate that too.

I think you’d have to be real hardcore to find something morally objectionable with The Look of Love or Love’s Been Good To Me so much so that you would walk away from them.

I see threads like this and I know we Catholics have to lighten up a lot and enjoy life.

F/
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There is a country song by Ty Herndon called “No Mercy” The song itself may be okay but the video of it I would consider pretty risque. There is an instrumental bridge during the song and the video shows this man and woman rolling around in bed. Mr Herndon claimed to be Catholic so you can’t just assume that if an artist or composer of a song is Catholic, it will be okay. A song that I don’t find anything objectionable is “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” Since you mentioned “The Look of Love” which like “San Jose” was composed by Bacharach and David.
 
LegoGE1947 said:
There is a country song by Ty Herndon called “No Mercy” The song itself may be okay but the video of it I would consider pretty risque. There is an instrumental bridge during the song and the video shows this man and woman rolling around in bed. Mr Herndon claimed to be Catholic so you can’t just assume that if an artist or composer of a song is Catholic, it will be okay. A song that I don’t find anything objectionable is “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” Since you mentioned “The Look of Love” which like “San Jose” was composed by Bacharach and David.
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You’re right, even with Country music, some of it is inappropriate. I’m thinking of “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, “Honky Tonk Bedonka Donk”, “Here for the Party”…etc.

However, Country is one of the few secular genres that isn’t afraid to produce a song with Christian messages. “Holy Water”-Big and Rich", “Lead Me Home”-Jamey Johnson, “Three Wooden Crosses”-Randy Travis, etc.
 
WingsOfEagles said:
You’re right, even with Country music, some of it is inappropriate. I’m thinking of “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, “Honky Tonk Bedonka Donk”, “Here for the Party”…etc.

However, Country is one of the few secular genres that isn’t afraid to produce a song with Christian messages. “Holy Water”-Big and Rich", “Lead Me Home”-Jamey Johnson, “Three Wooden Crosses”-Randy Travis, etc.
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Don’t forget “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way!” I think it is country but not sure. But inappropriate certainly, Country artist Tennessee Ernie Ford made a whole career out of songs with Christian messages. So I can agree with you there about Country music.
 
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