Suddenly, They Hear the Words : Violence: Songs like ‘Cop Killer’ have been around for years, aimed at women.

It has long been profitable in pop music to wax rhapsodic about torturing, raping and killing women. When a few souls complained about a Motley Crue tune about a man in a padded cell thinking of his late girlfriend: “Laid out cold/ now we’re both alone/ But killing you helped me keep you home,” one newsweekly wondered how anyone could not recognize the lyric as a “joke.”

Yes, there have been voices raised against the growing violence against women in movies, books and lyrics, but there have been more voices dismissing the complainers as humorless prigs, censoring crusaders or, worse, just unhip. “It’s just a book, or a movie or a song, it doesn’t mean anything” is the response. Or: “Sure it’s yucky, but there’s no connection between this stuff and violence in society.”

Now police are the target, in a song by Ice T, and suddenly a broad consensus develops. In a flash of perspicacity, community leaders recognize that this music just may encourage real people to commit real acts of violence. so the condemnation cavalry rushes in, from the Los Angeles City Council to Ollie North to George Bush, who calls the song “sick” and its distribution “wrong.”

The point here is not to discuss the merits of the song “Cop Killer” or the wisdom of a boycott of Time Warner. The issue is why a critical consensus emerges when the targets of violence are police. In fact, the song preceding “Cop Killer” on Ice T’s record talks of immolating a woman, beating her with a Louisville Slugger and finishing the task with a “handy carving knife.” Where is the moral outrage from our elected officials and community leaders?

When lyrics describe women being raped and dismembered, the imagry is breezily defended as some kind of mythic/gothic theme. When the group N.W.A. raps about tying a woman to a bed, raping her and then killing her with a .44 magnum in their song “One Less Bitch,” some people decry the language but defend the music as representative of the rage of the streets.

Fine. But it is no mistake that among the acknowledgements on Ice T’s album cover are nods to their white misogynistic predecessors Metallica, Megadeth and Guns ‘n Roses, all heavy-metal groups whose lyrics degrade women.

If you want to criticize Ice T for “Cop Killer,” fine. But understand that women have been the targets of this kind of lyrical assault for years. Welcome to the club, guys.