The Psychology of Heavy Metal Music Essay

“Numerous studies indicate that a preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risk, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors during adolescence” (http://www.aap.org/policy/01219.html). This statement, and others like it, has been used as a hypothesis as to why the students opened fire killing 13 and wounding 23 at Columbine. The explicit lyrics have been thought to motivate teenagers into committing acts of violence. Take, for example, the lyrics from a band named Drowning Pool, “Push me again, this is the end, skin against skin, blood and bone, you're all by yourself, but you're not alone, you wanted in, now you're here, driven by hate consumed by fear, let the bodies hit the floor” (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/drowningpool/bodies.html). This song is titled Bodies and speaks out about committing murder because of alienation. All teenagers feel these feelings at some point while they are growing up. While most teenagers can look to someone or something to get them through this difficult time, some find release in music. If they are exposed to these types of lyrics, without any rationality, the teenagers can find themselves in

As the title implies, Rosen warns against blaming music and the industry due to the fallacies in substantiating the validity of antagonizing the safe and expressive culture of music. She notes that rather than being a fuel for violence, it is a healthy expression of the internalized societal tensions that are present. Furthermore, “the most controversial lyrics...reflect the violence and despair in an artist’s imagination...but they reflect it–they don’t create it.” (Rosen 5) Therefore, there must be a distinction between promotion and causation–”music cannot cause action” (Rosen 5) To suppress and ban violent music would simply repress and internalize one’s expression, and “if you simply silence the songs, you may end up knowing less about

Rock music has been a large part of our lives since its origins way back in the 1940’s. It’s tone has advanced and changed to meet the needs of specific sub genres, but the message is the same throughout the decades; Rock music is a staple of American culture. Emo and Death Metal hit on the emotional strains of their listeners, while Christian Rock and Rock and Roll give a more positive and upbeat feel. Regardless of the tone, music has been proven time and time again to be directly linked to the brain’s pleasure system. Songs that release a lower level of dopamine have been proven to trigger negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. They are also more likely to cause an emotional connection between the listener, and the song. Other

For years, music artists have been blamed for violent acts that people have associated with their songs. These genres are the most attacked because of the

Mr. Carter, a regional chaplain for Ontario and an instructor at Queen’s University, expresses his strong opinion about music do not influence violence. The author believes that there are circumstances or factors that can lead to commit violent crimes, but music is not the source of committing crimes. The author describes that people are just using music influence as excuse when people commit crimes. Mr. Carter mentions that although he grew up listening to the music that contains inappropriate lyrics, he never hat the urge act upon it. The author blames the newspaper that in attempt to make money; the newspaper targets songs with violent lyrics because it increases their sales.

In contrast with all of these successful bands, artists and festivals, music accomplished a few things as a medium in political discourse. The main reason for this sad incident is people are selfish and they basically ignore problems of the world. As a result of consumerism, people became more apolitical. Majority of people do not understand or ignore what the lyrics are really about and they listen to it just because of the sound. Rhythm or melody gives them temporally pleasures and as a result, lyrics fail to change their ideas or increasing the awareness. Grossberg noted that:

In life, music affects everything many people look at all the different stories of teenagers committing violent acts and have begun to wonder can violent songs make teens violent? With all the violent acts that music glorifies as of recently many psychologists and parents alike have begun to wonder why certain types of music cause their children and teenagers to become so violent. Because of the questions that violent songs raise and why teenagers have started to gravitate towards violent songs more than ever before. Some factors that could be reasons as to why violent songs have such a powerful effect on teenagers could be that: teenagers learn violence from their surroundings, teenagers can have a history of violence, and violent songs give teens a place to vent their frustrations at,

Music is perhaps the most accessible form of art in the world, and it is used regularly for people to cope with issues, to gain inspiration or to simply raise moral. The possibilities of music are endless, and one could consider music a great example of freedom in general. Music with lyrics that are entirely up to interpretation are commonly censored by the radio and the music industry, even the lyrics are acceptable on a concrete basis. This proves that sometimes the mind is dirtier than the lyrics in general. Even in times of sensitivity, songs were banned from the radios that were not lyrically involved whatsoever with what occurred.

In conclusion, messages/words in music, especially in rock/hip-hop rap music are sometimes dangerous to young people because they could lead to misogyny, violence, suicide, taking drugs, drinking alcohol, and other negative behavior. Contemporary music has as positive as negative effects on young people. The beneficial effects of music can express the fact that it helps many people cope with a bad mood, depression, sadness; however, negative changes in American culture, society, and music have led to increasingly dangerous musical lyrics that have created serious problems for some teenagers. Most of today's musical trends promoting free love, and sometimes even distorted its manifestations. Many bands advocate even drugs. They are singing

In a number of ways in his article, Beaver argues “at the very least” that companies involved with the recording industry should meet what he calls the “‘moral minimum’” to prevent the harm he feels is inflicted upon all aspects of society by rap music and should consider “censoring” the derogatory language observed in rap lyrics in order to “correct social injuries,” even if the lyrics of the genre itself generate a sustainable profit from consumers (107). Beaver calls attention to the fact that the lyrics of any genre of music, not just rap, can impact human behavior in a negative way due to the violence and unfavorable messages embedded in the lyrics themselves. He bases this fact not only on the opinions expressed by critics of the rap genre, but also on the results of a variety of suggestive scientific studies involving groups of people ranging from college students to youths aged twelve to seventeen. Beaver notes that the results of the studies have shown increases in negative behavior such as aggression and sexual activities. Beaver does endorse the fact that researchers

For music to be popular, it needs to be catchy. Listeners don’t really pay attention to the lyrics until asked to do so. Because of this, there are many songs that suggest rape but aren’t negatively viewed unless the lyrics match a visual

     Hamerlinck supports his article with random songs that have to do with violence and love, in hopes of proving that music has an impact on it’s listeners. Lonnie Johnson sang a 1920’s song called “Careless Love,” in which he promises to shoot his lover numerous times and then stand over her until she is finished dying (241). A song like Little Walter’s “Boom, Boom, Out go the Lights” has a harsh and frightening image (241). The listener may not be aware of the destructive words in the songs because of the snappy, up-beat rhythms the artists’ create. I disagree with this statement because if this is the case, how can the listeners really not know what the

First of all, Heavy Metal is not bad for you though some might say that it causes injuries. The music itself does not cause any harm to any Heavy Metal fan, it the “banging” of one's head that can cause an injury. The most common injuries are neck and head injuries. In the early '90s, a 15-year-old drummer in a small neighborhood rock band suffered an aneurysm (an excessive localized enlargement of an artery caused by a weakening of the artery wall) in his neck from "violent head and neck motion." Only a year after surgery did he recover. Terry Balsamo, a guitarist for Evanescence,

Can delinquency be attributed to heavy metal music, the research conducted a survey on the effect of heavy metal music on delinquency of youth and whether parental supervision can reduce the likelihood of behavioral issues by monitoring the heavy metal music. To support the hypothesis, the researcher had to conduct a survey from a sample group of 1,475 youth and of that 705 youth were surveyed. The sampling method used to obtain the study represented was the systematic sampling. According to Michael Maxfield and Earl Babbie (2015), the researcher chooses all elements in the list for inclusion in the sample (p.215). A survey was given to all participants, which was used to measure the response of the likelihood of metal music on their behavior.

found me. His sound was more of classic rock, with hints of a heavier style, but not metal. In his lyrics I found comfort and insight, and I became transfixed by his performance of such beautiful songs. Eric’s music transcended a powerful sense of authenticity through his poetry and haunting melodies. Because of the passion of his music, he helped me to heal my hidden emotional wounds. Music can bring peace and healing.