Violence In Band Lyrics
After a hectic day, I find myself falling asleep to music brimming over with violent to semi-violent lyrics. The gory words are easily pictured in my mind to fall out of the deep-voiced mouth of a mock-frightening man with his face painted pale and his lips bright red. I finally drift off as I hear the words, "So face the dark and I'll teach you about fire in the blink of an eye... Now drink the cyanide!"
Government and overly protective parents think that lyrics like the ones from the song "Cyanide" will affect the young adult population badly, but violence in media - especially band lyrics is not making teenagers more violent.
Everyone is influenced by what they listen to, and some may change their appearance and tastes if they become really obsessed with what they are hearing, but teens won't start doing what they hear or see in music videos. Unlike 4 year olds, who learn by observing and imitating, teenagers are trying to be independent and different from the world around them. Teens want to be special, not copy what they see. Four year olds can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, but by the time a kid reaches 10 years old they know what is real and what is not, so young adults understand that what they hear is not real.
As I mentioned earlier, I fall asleep to some not-so-cuddly music. Being a very passive person, I have no real way to get my aggression out. With the loud music mimicking my emotions, I eventually "run out" of the angry feelings as they song ends. Henrik Flyman, a guitarist in the band Evil Masquerade that originates from Denmark, has told me, "I think that several non-violent people are drawn to what some would call, violent things - and use this, consciously or unconsciously, to ventilate small aggressions before they get built up and dangerous". Maybe, without the music people believe are brainwashing me into being evil, I would be aggressive and explode regularly. (Fun?)
Some people, like I said before, believe that violent music is creating more violent young adults. Supposedly, some kids commit suicide because of band lyrics. Emil Nödtveidt, or "Nightmare Industries," the guitarist in an industrial goth band named Deathstars has written that, "it's every mans decision if they want to end their life, but it's not because of a bands lyrics they ultimately decide to do it. It's because of their own problems."
His opinion holds true also concerning shootings blamed on band lyrics. On November 7th, 2007, 18-year-old Pekka Eric Auvinen massacred his school in Jokela, Tuusla in Finland. Finnish media blamed German band, Rammstein and Swedish band, Deathstars because the boy listened to them. That is wrong to think that it is the band's fault because the boy DID have other problems. Auvinen described himself as "cynical existentialist, antihuman humanist and godlike atheist". Auvinen was also a victim of years of bullying.
You might be wondering why this even concerns you, right? Well, in a world changing to become more violent in real life, you have to keep your opinions open to older art, like self expression in the form of music. Just thinking that angry music makes you violent starts a pattern of wrongly given stereotypes and bands become infamous for the wrong reasons. Media today is like a less depressing version of the real world; a mirror that is reflecting all the bad so that everyone can see it looking back at them.
