An Hour of Hell, Boy?

I thought this story on CNN about a judge who is sentencing noise violation offenders to an hour of music is kind of interesting for its popular culture value. Since the point is to deter these folks (mainly young men and women) from violating the noise ordinance again, I assume these songs are meant to be annoying or boring ... or both. What's telling is that this might serve as an indication of how United States society views the musical interests of teenagers and young adults as well as how U.S. society views the social meaning of the likes of the Barney theme song, Patti Page, and the Platters.

I'd think, though, that Southpark's Eric Cartman singing Styx's "Come Sail Away" would be appealing to this crowd. I'd also think that the Barry Manilow selection might have some appeal as well, after this memorable scene from one of this past summer's big film releases.