The Devil Sings The Blues: Music's Effect On Society

Music is a tool that touches the world and does not require anyone to understand the words to hear its voice. It is something innate to every living human being that does not have to be taught, but is just felt or expressed. Music has been appreciated by people throughout time, enjoyed and celebrated from Beethoven, Bach and Mozart to AD/DC, Beyonce and Prince and will continue to be revered so long as man is free to play it. Music is also feared by many as it can unite a people, prompt the march of an army, express the feelings of the repressed, create an entire new group of people, or even be the tune to topple a dynasty. This was proven by the people known as the “Hippies” as this class of people rallied behind bands such as Janis Joplin, The Who or Jimi Hendrix, with none being more prominent than the Beatles. Music has an influence on society in a greater way than any can imagine, just take a look at the sixties and their figurehead The Beatles and how they did not make people hate the war in Vietnam, nothing in their lyrics says anything about the war. They just brought together like-minded people who started a revolution and changed the perspective on an entire altercation. But like Steven Stark says, “’Why on earth would anyone need another work [book] about the Beatles?’” and this is quite true if it wasn’t for the fact that most works written on this innovative group are bibliographies or dissections of the musical prowess. Instead,

Art has undoubtedly become a decisive aspect of our culture; embedded in the way we learn and grow on a daily basis. Art forms such as music, television and dance dominate our society as an outlet of freedom of speech for humanity. The evolution of music has rapidly exceeded its original classifications, developing new genres with greater appeal to an audience, hence its influence on society has expedited. In recent times, lyrics (specifically rap lyrics) have been introduced into the court room as a form of documented confessional evidence, evidently challenging law’s authoritative nature. This essay will closely follow the genre of rap and its relationship with law, through cases based in the United States of America (USA). In addition, the trial of Simon Bikindi in Rwanda and Smith v The Queen will be used to form an acute analysis on the influencing factors of relevance, identity, freedom of speech and current constitutional law.

Although the United States government is currently engaged in stopping foreign civil rights atrocities, it turns a blind eye to violence acted out against African Americans within its borders (PR N., 2014, para. 4). In South Carolina, the “rebel flag hang[s] from the state house walls” (Bryan, 1994, line 2), serving as a constant reminder of the institutionalized racism that reflects U.S. social tensions today. Another discriminatory racial injustice that occurred during the 1990s was the Anti-Drug Act of 1986. Possession of 5 grams of crack (90% of crack defendants were African American) and 500 grams of powder cocaine (more popular with

The language of music transcends cultural and physical boundaries. It conveys messages between the composer and the listener in ways that no other mode of communication. Artists would compose songs of romance to induce a feeling of romance into the listener. In contrast, artists would also compose songs of anger to induce a feeling of anger into the listener. These emotions were simple to provoke due to a special quality of music that distinguishes it from other forms of communication. With music’s tremendous success in conveying emotions with love songs and angry songs, other uses for music were explored.

Music has impacted the world in many great and powerful ways. It is a very powerful source that many people rely on. Music can help with stress and anxiety, can help reflect your personality, and can flow with the culture.

To go against the “norm” at a rave is to go against the spirit of the music. The music itself inspires everything that rave culture is. EDM focuses on the use of rhythm, an upbeat sound, and bass to enable the listener to “feel” the music and have their body move to the beat. Slowly the music builds up and then it drops, leaving the crowd reacting wildly to the change in beat and pace. Many people view EDM as just being sound .The “club culture” or “subculture” of rave culture may influence how people act in society and the values they carry, the people who do attend rave culture share common traits. Professor Roman Horak from the University of Vienna comments on the similarities amongst raves. Many of these people dress similarly, listen to the same music, visit similar places (shops, locations, etc.), and even buy the same products all because they take part in this specific “club culture” (Horak, 262). A raver from India and a raver from the United States may be drastically different in how they grew up and the media they consume, but they share common traits that are found with all ravers: the desire to be free and able to express who they are. At its core, this music promotes freedom. Professor Horak views music as “an omnipresent aesthetic phenomenon and an instrument for social and cultural exclusion and inclusion” (Horak, 265). Raves allows ravers to bridge the traditional social confines (sex, race, class, wealth) that are set established by society by providing a

Some types of music are not good for the mind, even though they may take away the pain away. However, negative music can also cause life problems. Life is already hard itself on everyone. Depending on where life takes you and what mood you 're in. The mood will determine the music you listen to, so it fits your state of mind. I ask myself, why do songwriters, and singers create such music? Is it because of what they were introduced to in life or the lyrics was a part of them. Meaning growing up in a bad environment. If you 're a songwriter and you know yourself that there are millions of fans following you. You already have them liking who you

Teen violence, murder, suicide; they seem to be becoming more and more rampant everyday. The media, as well as concerned, angry parents, look everywhere to find someone to blame for these tragedies. Their fingers are pointed in the direction of many music entertainers. Artists and performers are being badgered everyday for their lyrics and image they create for their fans. Can music really influence someone to acts of violence? Maybe, to the mentally unstable or uneducated. Is music at fault for these acts of violence? Absolutely not. It cannot be blamed for the crimes of obvious psychotic adolescents. The music business, mainly “death” metal, has been said to be at fault for major

Popular musical development and societal development are usually parallel with one another. Artists and musicians can change a society and have an enormous impact on how a country runs itself. A good example of how a country can be influenced by new, innovative music would be the Tropicalismo movement. Caetano Veloso is a Brazilian musician that started the Tropicalia movement and created music that combined many elements of different music together, and Veloso did this with other tropicalists. The background of Caetano Veloso, the two songs Caetano Veloso produced, information about Tropicalia, and the background of Brazil can help us comprehend how music has a great impact and influence on society. Tropicalia is more than just a music genre produced in the late 1960s, but a social-political movement that radically changed the way Brazilians saw contemporary Brazilian music.

After reading this article give your ideas on exactly how music can influence the thinking of a society.

The music industry is one of the most powerful and influential method that sends subliminal messages to influence people’s poor decisions; Today’s music has captured the attention of adolescents and the younger generation more than ever before by glamorizing all the negative aspects. Although, music can be soothing and relaxing, many teenagers are mostly impacted by the powerful lyrics that are sung by their idols. Consequently, many teenagers throughout America are following their role models and are developing serious destructive behaviors that cause bodily harm to themselves. Sadly, the younger generation does not understand the negative messages that are clearly being exposed throughout our society. Music should be inspiring and

To many people, music is a significant part to their daily lives and its role varies depending on the individual. I personally use music as a form of escape from reality and a tool to help me focus in certain situations. Other use music as an entertainer, an energizer, a coping mechanism or even as a stimulant. Due to this, music is able to play a developmental role in creating one’s identity.

The relationship between music and society is an exceptionally powerful and crucial one. In some cases, this relationship is viewed as one that is harmonious and beneficial to large communities of people. However, that exact relationship could also be scrutinized as one that is extremely discordant to other communities. Green Day happens to fall precisely in the middle of that musical spectrum, depending on who is asked. Regardless of opinion, songs are much more than just music and are essentially retained as pieces of history. These songs help showcase the trends, behaviors, and even struggles of different time periods. With that being said, one may ask “What all did the musical group Green Day contribute to society?”.

Beneath misconceptions attached to rock music, lies the truth. In a recent unpublished survey, results showed that the majority of people, a mixture of different age groups and genre listeners, disagree that rock music has had any positive influences that outweigh the negative (Do). Through lack of analyzing, many judge rock music without ever knowing the truth about it. Those that do not understand the genre may blame it for everything that is wrong with today. Rock music is not to blame for the darkness in our society; instead, it leads us away from it. It has many positive influences that cannot be seen at a quick glance. Not only has rock affected individuals but society and time altogether.

Drugs, alcohol, and violence: three major problems in our society. As you have most likely already heard on the news, these issues are not improving. Instead, they are running rampant in today's world. With constant acts of terrorism and alcohol commercials making drinking look attractive, music that promotes these serious matters are not helping the cause. Listeners are getting constantly battered with examples of how these three things are not as destructive to yourself as they truly are. An artist has the power to negatively influence his or her audience if the artist discusses drugs, alcohol, or violence in his or her content.