Studies have shown that the content of popular songs has changed over the years from love, to social protest and drugs, and to a more recent emphasis on physical love. Each of these studies is the result of adult examination of written lyrics, and each study implies that teenagers would understand the lyrics as did the researchers. In one study, a questionnaire sent to 266 students at 4 junior and senior high schools in southern California in 1987 asked the subjects to list their 3 favorite songs and to describe each song in about 3 sentences. Each song was coded to determine if the interpretation fell into any of the four categories developed by the censoring Parents' Music Resource Center: sex, violence, drugs-alcohol, and satanism. Love seemed to be the theme most often perceived. Many students did not know or understand the lyrics of their favorite songs. Interpretation of lyrics was quite literal, and the students rarely understood the frequent use of symbolism and sometimes complex metaphors. Descriptions of content lacked the level of comprehension that critics of rock music appear to expect of teenagers. Adults who heard explicit sexual references or allusions to violence, drugs, and satanism may be more knowledgeable than the young or they may have been looking for these references. Thus, rock culture seems to have a symbolic meaning that may transcend an interpretation of lyrics. Censorship may be counterproductive in educating youth about themes on recordings of which they were previously unaware. Any form of censorship might only increase the value of popular music as a tool for teenage rebellion. 1 note and 31 references.