ok. leitzonus aside, jewish music…(and by that, for all you idiots out there…i mean shwekeyish and your standard mainstream frum composers…) with english words is perfectly fine. plain music…be it from a jewish or non jewish composer…essentially has nothing wrong with it. as an extention of that, there is nothing wrong with taking a non jewish song and amking it jewish by changing the theme and lyrics. many old time niggunim are written originally written by non jews.
when it comes to non jewish music with words, the story changes. MANY (not all) non jewish songs these days are atrocious, with such sexually explicit lyrics, that would they be turned into a movie, they would be rated XXX. therefore in GENERAL (please note…in GENERAL) they are all assur. that being said, just because a non jew writes a song, and its lyrics…does NOT make it assur! take Guns N’ Roses – Cats In The Cradle for example. the lesson in that song is applicable to everyone, jews and non jews alike. there are no sexual references in that song at all. it is a song that tells fathers to spend more time with their sons. is there anything wrong with that?
now that that is established…back to the subject at hand. a jew should NOT be playing non jewish music with lyrics in his place of business. there is no reason for it, but if he IS, before judging, listen to the lyrics before making your objections. it may be a completely acceptable song.
when it comes to non jews. a jew walking into the place of business of a non jew, has no right to complain about the music, unless it is generally offensive (i.e…it has explicit sexuality in the song) it is their business, and if you dont like it, walk out. there is a story (i think it was about rav moshe…) he got into a cab, and the driver was playing non jewish music on his radio. the talmid that was with him was about to ask the driver to turn it off, when his rebbi stopped him. the basic idea was…this is what he does…he drives around in this car all day…who are we to deprive him of this simple pleasure.
like someone said above (forgive me for not quoting you directly) if you feel so strongly about it, then get an ipod, and listen to that.
on the subject of christmas carols. many of them don’t even reference christmas at all! i see no reason why anyone would find them offensive at all! for example…”jungle bells” just talks about a sleigh ride…whats wrong with that? or “let it snow” is a song about how cold it is outside! whats wrong with that? i am not advocating playing that in your house…but honestly, what is there to get so worked up about?
as for songs that directly reference christmas…if you are sooooooooooo offended by that…than get an ipod.
merry chanukah ;D;D;D
Guns ‘N Roses? Don’t know about that. “Cat’s In the Cradle” was a #1 hit for Harry Chapin. – Moderator 77