The Sexuality of the Lyrics in Janet JacksonÆs Music
Over the evolution of Janet JacksonÆs entertainment career, the sexual overtones in the lyrics of Janet JacksonÆs music have aggressively intensified. After initially entering the pop music world as a performer whose lyrical focus was centered on youthful innocent topics, Janet Jackson has shifted her focus to more sexually overt lyrical content.
This bait-and-switch phenomenon is difficult to analyze without a concomitant examination of how Ms. JacksonÆs music relates to her personal life. Clearly, the changes evident in Ms. JacksonÆs music have much to do with a redefinition of her inner self.
Her first album, recorded in 1982 when she was 16 years old, was ôJanet Jackson.ö In ôForever Yoursö on that album, her lyrics were the romantic, starry-eyed declarations of an innocent high-school girl with a crush:
Two years later, she married against her familyÆs wishes. Her next album, ôDream Street,ö was less successful than the first, and her career already seemed to be failing. Before long, the marriage was annulled, and Janet submitted herself to her fatherÆs guidance again. This appears to be the turning point where her personality and values began to change.
Her father put her into the hands of his friend John McClain, a record executive, who was tasked with remaking her image from innocent to naughty. She lost weight and added new dance moves to her performances. Her next album, ôControl,ö reached number 1 on the charts. The lyrics to the title song demonstrate how deeply the changes in her image were related to her familyÆs overbearing domination in her life:
This is a story about control, my control
Control of what I say, control of what I do And this time I'm gonna do it my way à Cause it's all about control And I've got lots of it When I was 17, I did what people told me Did what my father said, and let my mother mold me But t...