Music and Violence

"I felt the blood pumping through my veins and my eyes are popping out of my head. I feel the instant urge to kidnap my neighbor's kitten and put it in a mixer. Instead, I bang my head on the office desk until blood is running down the side of it. I have to kill. I have to hurt people." According to the Blunt Magazine of the UK, edited by Liz Hufton, these are the reactions and feelings of an office going man after listening to the song "Read my Lips" by Sophie Ellis Baxter. The question is, do you think there is a link between Music and Violence? Is music capable of making you violent? I became interested in discovering the link between music and violence when I saw 4th grade children on my school bus wearing black lipstick and nail polish, aiming to be like the famous but strange rock star Marilyn Manson. This bizarre behavior made me wonder to what extent these children can be affected by the music they listen to. So I am, here not only to persuade you, but also to make you believe that music does cause violence. Today I will discuss what subliminal messages are, how they lead to suicide and killing, and other brutal acts of violence.

First lets discuss subliminal messages. It is true that, subliminal messages and explicit lyrics can induce us to commit acts of violence on others or ourselves? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word subliminal, According to ThinkQuest, the Oracle Education Foundation, it means "below the threshold of consciousness". It is also stated that there is a thin dividing line between something that can be processed by the conscious mind and something that enters the sub-conscious mind without being processed and this can become dangerous if used improperly. Subliminal messages are rampant in the world of advertising. For example I vaguely remember an advertisement on a popular soft drink. It showed different people of different ages sipping the drink. But to further make it appealing to the audience the word "Thirst" rapidly flashed a few times during the 60 second commercial. Now if you were watching it the word "thirst" would not be seen by your naked eye in the conscious mind, as it would be too fast for the mind to capture. But in fact it will enter your sub-conscious mind. So this message would stimulate the thirst of the people. You should be aware that in a similar way, negative and cruel subliminal messages hidden in the lyrics of music contributes to people's violent impulses. A more direct influence on our minds are explicit lyrics in music. Some of us here, whether unintentionally or intentionally admire the forbidden. Music with explicit lyrics and subliminal messages are usually bought by some of us maybe even right here, who feel "cool" if we get away with buying a CD for instance with a warning label on it. According to the article, "Calls to ban songs with explicit lyrics", Dr. Fatamat Kamara feels strongly towards this and states that, "This satanic music into our society will end up polluting our children."

This might be only a cause but sure does lead to dangerous effects.

The first major effect of music is suicide and killings. One example of subliminal messages in music is the one about Judas Priest - a British heavy metal rock band. According to Timothy E. Moore in the Psychology Department of the Glendon College, the subliminal Phrase "Do It" in Judas Priest's song "better by you than me" caused two teenage boys Vance and Ray to attempt suicide. Ray died on the spot but Vance survived and later died of an overdose of drugs. The Phrase "Do It"