rock wisdom. from its inception to present day, rock and roll has excited, thrilled, and entertained millions upon millions of people. the sound, rhythm, energy, power, creativity, attitude, and showmanship are alluring and captivating and currently generate annual music sales of $14 billion. it is debatable that rock and roll's ambassadors of elvis presley, the beatles, the rolling stones, the supremes, james brown, aretha franklin, led zeppelin, stevie wonder, bruce springsteen, u2, michael jackson, prince, madonna, and marilyn manson may be some of the most well known and influential people on the earth, particularly to young people. however, is rock and roll without its problems? most contemporary music is great, but there are some growing concerns that need to be addressed to make it better. some of those concerns are the vast amount of negative lyrics that have grown in regressive content and volume with every passing year over the last 30 years. some examples of negative song lyrics are those that advocate drug use, rape, pornography, racism, gratuitous violence, perversion, hate, sadism, and narcissism. these trends have become so encompassing and pervasive that they are no longer kept to the fringes, but have flooded over into the mainstream, a mainstream whose current is very strong and influential.