Musical
influence biased toward dark genres
Krystle
Ralston
It
is no secret that music is one of the
most influential aspects in our lives.
It is been that way since our ancestors
banged rocks and sticks together as they
danced around the fire. But where do
we draw the line between influence and
manipulation?
My music collection is versatile, to say the least. Just to name a few: Linkin
Park, the Beatles, Coldplay, Led Zeppelin, Billie Holiday, Yellowcard and (don’t
judge me) maybe even a little Christina Aguilera. Music is something that can
always make a day brighter, and sometimes can make it darker.
I’m not sure if this happens to any of you, but music has the ability
to bring me down, even to the point of tears. And it is not just because I’m
a girl and we have a talent for crying at the drop of a hat.
Music moves us; there is no question about it. But does it cause us to do things
we would never have done had we not listened to a particular genre of music
for an extended period of time?
In 1999, when the shootings at Columbine High
School occurred, the investigation led to information about the killers’ lives
before this awful incident.
The two boys’ music included Marilyn Manson and other artists who had
a parental advisory sticker on their CD covers. Manson’s music is certainly
not wholesome enough to listen to as you drink tea with your grandmother, but
did his lyrics drive two troubled teens to go on a killing spree?
Manson is not included in my deck of CDs, but I do have music that throws in
a scream or two during the chorus. Some of the lyrics in my favorite songs
are not songs I would play with my 10-year-old sister in the car. When in the
company of my friends or just by myself, I listen and take in the melody and
rhythm of the songs. I haven’t killed anyone yet.
Artists always write music for a reason. Whether they want to tell the world
how much they hate their ex, how much they love their dog, or they just want
to spark controversy, they are always feeling something as they write and it’s
obvious how much heart and soul is put into a song when we listen to it.
It’s
pretty clear I’ll have a different reaction to “She Loves You” by
the Beatles than I will to “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem.
But I do not label one good and the other evil.
Everyone is so quick to jump on musicians who produce angry and heated music,
saying it causes the youth of America to be violent or act out of character.
If this were the case, what about artists who play slower songs with lyrics
about heartbreak and loss? Are they frowned upon for making teenagers sad and
depressed?
Do songs by musicians like Jeff Buckley and Tori Amos cause us to
be so overcome with sorrow that we completely lose it? Of course people don’t
think this way, because this music is soft and beautiful, therefore it holds
no power.
They may not be screaming about how they want to kill their moms, but lyrics
about getting your heart broken or losing someone you love can affect us in
many ways, maybe even more so because it sings about feelings young people
have everyday.
Hearing a musician sing about tripping on cocaine does not make me crave it.
Listening to someone sing about how much they want to do the girl next door
does not get me excited.
If I hear Eminem sing about how he wants to kill a
cop, I’m not going to grab a gun and go all trigger-happy on the next
cop I see.
I am not saying that music does not influence people to behave irrationally.
It can, if you let it. Music is not meant to command, it’s meant to teach.
If a person lives life with no proper guidance or understanding about how to
be happy and healthy, lyrics that reflect anger and hatred are taken literally
and acted upon literally.
Maybe the Columbine killers were influenced by their music, but that is not
what caused them to do what they did. Music does not kill people, people kill
people.
Music speaks to me, but the lyrics do not become stenciled in my brain and
cause to me engage in the actions expressed in the song.
It makes me contemplate
what the artist was feeling and allows me to relate their feelings to my own.
Almost every song has a meaning, whether it be hateful or heartfelt, and its
up to us to find it.
Krystal Ralston is a senior journalism major.
|
