Perception of Violent Music

[Jaymes]

Spawned by the comments in the "Question for fundamentalist Christian parents" thread, after it went on a tangent about Marilyn Manson's music:

What I find hilarious is that songs by Marilyn Manson are horrible, terrible, Satanic, encourage violence, etc... but take a listen to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". Although it encourages violence against objects, not people, it is still a violent song that glorifies revenge.

Why is "Before He Cheats" widely popular and people hardly bat a lash at it, while anything by Manson is labeled Satanic and a terrible influence?

The lyrics from Before He Cheats, for anyone that hasn't heard the song, can be found here.

 

[Druidus]

Violent music is not an inherent threat to anyone or anything. There is no reason to believe that it is. Simply hearing violent phrases does not cause people to do violent things. If this were the case, all of the novels I've read would have me stark raving mad, bashing anything in reach.

/thread

 

[MaddLlama]

Probably because Manson is controversial, and gets publicity by doing things that make people sit up and stare. So, people over-analyze his music. Carrie Underwood doesn't put herself out there in the same way, so nobody pays attention.

 

[Bishka]

It's okay for them to think Carrie Underwood it okay, because she is a wholesome, Christian girl who believes in God.When you believe in God, anything is okay. :areyoucra

I've honestly heard this out of Christian's mouths, if you believe in God, I can do anything I want and I am still saved. :sarcastic

 

[BFD_Zayl]

if you want to hear a violent song, check it out here, it was the only link to it i could find, so...ignore the video if you want.

EDIT-- Lyrics

 

[mrsk]

Uh.....Carrie Underwood's cute? Just Joking.Seriously though, when I listen to her song it just seems silly to me. When I listen to the other I don't like the way it makes me feel. Can't explain it.

 

[Bishka]

Uh.....Carrie Underwood's cute? Just Joking.Seriously though, when I listen to her song it just seems silly to me. When I listen to the other I don't like the way it makes me feel. Can't explain it.

So destroying someone property is 'silly' having songs about killing each other is silly (i.e. Dixie Chicks)? Let's all just be silly then and feel good about ourselves.:sarcastic

 

[Ðanisty]

Uh.....Carrie Underwood's cute? Just Joking.Seriously though, when I listen to her song it just seems silly to me. When I listen to the other I don't like the way it makes me feel. Can't explain it.

Is it possible that it's just the style of music that's making you feel that way? I mean, what if we took some of Manson's lyrics and had Carrie Underwood sing it in her own style? Or what about the other way around? Manson has done a number of covers in his career.

 

[doppelganger]

Perhaps we should cut all the crucifixion scenes out of the Bible, block the news, forbid military advertising, imprison Bruce Willis and Ahnold . . .

We live in a violent society that celebrates, glorifies and worships violence. Why is it the same people complaining about Marilyn Manson lyrics are often the same people who are ardent gun rights advocates? How do we get all these young kids ready to go kill for us like we want them to if they aren't desensitized and conditioned to violence? Our sports are violent. Our movies are violent. Our music is violent. Our mythologies are violent. The history we teach kids at school is centered almost exclusively around warfare. Our dominant cultural ethics concern taking what you can get and exploiting who you can exploit.

More often that not, the shock value of things like Marylin Manson's music and Oliver Stones Natural Born Killers, which are semi-satirical, come from the fact that they reveal through that satire much more of our own cultural character than we are comfortable looking at. Which is part of why they are great art.

 

[Panda]

Some From First To Last is quite violent From First To Last- Ride The Wings Of Pestilence
Lyrics
It is also quite sick and disturbing yet listening to it doesn't make me go out and kill people. There isn't any real link between violent music and violent crimes.
However listening to Beethoven has been proved to make you most likely to crash while driving so leave your classic music at home it is dangerous

 

[kadzbiz]

Violent music is not an inherent threat to anyone or anything. There is no reason to believe that it is. Simply hearing violent phrases does not cause people to do violent things. If this were the case, all of the novels I've read would have me stark raving mad, bashing anything in reach.

Unfortunately there are people whose unstable mental states allow them to be violently influenced by certain music. It's on par with anyone being moved by a piece of music, ie a love song, a piece of gospel music, a workout music video, etc.

 

[mrsk]

So destroying someone property is 'silly' having songs about killing each other is silly (i.e. Dixie Chicks)? Let's all just be silly then and feel good about ourselves.:sarcastic

Of course not! Destroying property is not silly....writing a song about it is though!
Honestly I don't put that much into the lyrics of a song. Every once in awhile a good one comes along, but in general I think it's the beat that catches my attention.

 

[Bishka]

Of course not! Destroying property is not silly....writing a song about it is though!
Honestly I don't put that much into the lyrics of a song. Every once in awhile a good one comes along, but in general I think it's the beat that catches my attention.

So the beat can make an evil song?

 

[djackson]

Personally, I can relax to Nine Inch Nails and Tool as easily as I can New Age or Classical. I believe that a person's mental state is only going to be influenced by a song towards evil acts if that person is evil to begin with. The music has nothing to do with the original intent of evil. Mozart in his day was considered a rebel and heretic by the church/state. Are we in danger of those same judgement calls? Music is expression, and yes sometimes that expression is one of anger, frustration, even evil thought. Does it cause evil? No.

 

[Ðanisty]

Unfortunately there are people whose unstable mental states allow them to be violently influenced by certain music. It's on par with anyone being moved by a piece of music, ie a love song, a piece of gospel music, a workout music video, etc.

Those people are unstable in the first place. They are drawn to that kind of music, but that doesn't prove that the music is the cause.

So the beat can make an evil song?

That's what I was wondering also and why I asked if it was the style of music.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

As I stated in the other thread, MM is a lightweight. Nay, he is a featherweight in terms of violence, satanism, and hateful lyrics.
A good Satan worshiping song is Dimmu Borgir's "Satan, my Master."
Godsmack, a very popular group who's only controversy lies in a few of there songs being used for Navy commercials, have a song titled "I ******* Hate You."
Cradle of Filth's song "Scorced Earth" is very violent, and the video is EXTREMELY violent and gory.
Black Label Society sings about being "Stoned and Drunk," and Hinder sings about going home, and getting stoned to deal with his nagging girlfriend, just to have make-up sex afterwards.

Yet MM sings "I am not a slave, to a God that doesn't exist" "Were all stars now, in the Dope Show" "The beutiful people, it's all relative to size of your steeple. You can't see the forest, for the trees. And you can't smell your own **** on your knees." Has lyrics about a "horned one" "Suicide is painless." and other stuff that doesn't compair to numerous other groups, and he is blamed?

 

[McBell]

Unfortunately there are people whose unstable mental states allow them to be violently influenced by certain music. It's on par with anyone being moved by a piece of music, ie a love song, a piece of gospel music, a workout music video, etc.

The music/video game/movie/bible/quran/news/etc. may well give them ideas on how to act out, but there has not been any reputable peer reviewed report I am familiar with that supports the allegation that these things CAUSE violence.

 

[Druidus]

Unfortunately there are people whose unstable mental states allow them to be violently influenced by certain music. It's on par with anyone being moved by a piece of music, ie a love song, a piece of gospel music, a workout music video, etc.

I agree with Danisty on this one. Their unstable state makes them more likely to enjoy violence and violence-related activites.

 

[cardero]

As I stated in the other thread, MM is a lightweight. Nay, he is a featherweight in terms of violence, satanism, and hateful lyrics.
A good Satan worshiping song is Dimmu Borgir's "Satan, my Master."

Yes!!
Ding!! Oooo...There's the oven, my Frubals are done!!

 

[kadzbiz]

Those people are unstable in the first place. They are drawn to that kind of music, but that doesn't prove that the music is the cause.....

(Darn it, I had a good lengthy reply then my PC rebooted after a power failure!) I didn't say that Danisty. Of course they're unstable in the first place.

The music/video game/movie/bible/quran/news/etc. may well give them ideas on how to act out, but there has not been any reputable peer reviewed report I am familiar with that supports the allegation that these things CAUSE violence.

Sadly I have dealt with several people who, because of their unstable mental states, have told me that they believe a piece of music was specifically "talking" to them and so reacted the way they did. I'm was only responding to Druidus' comment Simply hearing violent phrases does not cause people to do violent things.