The Relationship Between Music And Society

Music has played a major role as an agent of socialization in each of my 4 decades. I know and hope that it will continue to do so. During each period music has affected my personality, shown my personality, affected my perceptions and helped me to cope with growing and changing as a person. My Looking Glass Self has compared the person in song and possibly the singer themselves to myself to gain perspective of who I was at each time. I am going to discuss each decade with the thought of how music was an agent of socialization in each.

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.

Music, for many cultures, is held at a high prestige. It has been used since the beginning of time to elicit power, emotion, spiritual forces, and a sense of community among its listeners. It has helped us, as music enthusiasts, to understand the role that music plays within our own lives in today’s society, as well as how it has functioned in the lives of those before us. So why is this? What makes music, instead of other forces, so influential to our kind? In Thomas Turino’s book Music as Social Life, he argues that, “Musical participation and experience are valuable for the processes of personal and social integration that make us whole” (Turino, 2008). Many believe that music offers us a source of identity, which in turn develops our idea of self and allows us to fit inside certain communities throughout our lives. Turino also describes a theory proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi that offers additional incites to this idea of “psychic wholeness”. This theory introduces the theme of flow and how heightened concentration can produce an optimal experience when associated with music. This paper will address these concepts stated above in association with the African American spiritual. The spiritual will be traced back to its origin in West Africa, described how it evolved as a result of the transatlantic slave trade, and the influence that it has on today’s genres like blues and gospel. I propose that, these notions of flow and identity within the music of

Music has been known throughout time. It can help us through everything. There are so many solutions with music to help a person go through so many situations. Music can affect many people in many different ways. Without music some people would be lost and would have no motivation. Music can provide inspiration and insight through education. Music has influence on suicides, killings and shootings, and provocative actions. It can also influence good morals, respect, allowing differences, health, and much more. Music can come in many forms and categories and music is very good for the world.

Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.

Scholars and artists commonly describe music as a reflection of the human condition. The period in history from the mid-1930s onward marked a tragic phase in twentieth century music and this reflection: the total politicizing of the art by totalitarianism means. Dictators, including Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, were manipulating popular culture to take control of their people. Stalin supported the idea of a “Soviet modernism,” a school of art that would embody the power of the new proletarian state. He monitored every recording made in the country, writing judgments of “good,” “so-so,” and “bad” on their sleeves. Stalin believed music to be the engineer of the human souls, and hoped to use this as a way to influence his people that Soviet life was improving. Fearing a phone call from the dictator or being arrested in the night, Soviet composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich wrote music with chained hands in an effort to please their leader. A study of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7 will reveal the influence of communism in the Soviet Union on his music as well as his dynamic relationship with Joseph Stalin.

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?”.

American Idiot, released in 2004, has been changing the lives of rock and rollers all around the world. It expresses a generation shaped by many important events such as the Iraq war. American Idiot was actually originally meant to be Cigarettes and Valentines, but when the master tapes were stolen Green Day decided rather than re-record the material, they’d started fresh. This concept album and “punk rock opera” consists of vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. For much of the group's career, the band has been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990 prior to the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). In 2012, guitarist Jason White became an official member after having performed with the band as a touring member since 1999. Green day started of in Berkeley, CA, and since then has been all over the world touring and spreading their music.

Throughout its history, music has permeated the significant events of American history. Its effect on American society and the way the American people cope with each event has only grown as popular music evolves and new genres reach more and more individuals. People can remember where they were and their exact surroundings to amazing detail when asked about life-changing events in history. Older generations will remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their children will remember when Kennedy was assassinated and when man walked on the moon. Their grandchildren will remember much of the turmoil of the ‘70s and ‘80s and their great grandchildren grew up in the world impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. Even one’s surroundings during the start or end of a relationship or personal events such as graduation, getting a driver’s license, or getting married can all be paired with the music that was popular at the time.

There is no disputing that society is influenced by its choices of entertainment. Some ways in which people are influenced are positive, but others are harmful. In the society we live in, the harmful ways always outnumber the positive. If we gravitated toward the positive forms of entertainment a little more often than the negative, then our society would have fewer problems. Popular music has a negative effect on society and endorses a lack of creativity.

When prompted about a song that was important to me in high school, one song in particular comes to mind: “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. Almost anyone who has contemplated the length and depth of life can relate to this gentle song with its slow, almost yearning tone and deep lyrics. To me, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” is a timeless ballad that never fails to comfort me in times of change and confusion. This song should be included in the “History of Popular Music, 1950-Present” course, not only because its deviation from normal punk rock epitomizes the struggle that Green Day faced in order to find its own sound, but also because Green Day has

Music has played a vital role in human culture and evidence based on archaeological sites can date it back to prehistoric times. It can be traced through almost all civilizations in one form or another. As time has progressed so has the music and the influences it has on people. Music is an important part of popular culture throughout the world, but it is especially popular in the United States. The music industry here is, and has been, a multi-million dollar business that continues to play an important role in American popular culture. This is also a art form and business that is forever changing as the times and more importantly, technology changes. Technology has changed the way music is made as well as how it is produced,

Punk-rock trio from Berkley, Green Day is on the music scene for a whole eternity. On the radio and other platforms we heard the hits innumerable times that have become anthems of modern punk-rock, such as the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “American Idiot”, “21 Guns”, “Good Riddance” and “Basket Case”. Over time, Green Day became an icon of the punk-rock genre, which many listeners like. Everything started more than twenty years ago, in 1987, when 15-years-old Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Pritchard formed a band called Sweet Children. After some time, they were joined by Frank Edwin Wright Jr. and Tré Cool (who later replaced the original drummer).

It has been many centuries since the early days of music where it was restricted to classical tunes and melodic melodies. In this time music has evolved to something of individual celebration, achievement, and even a battle call for the rights of people everywhere expressed though a large range of musical genres and styles. Music can be split into different sections based on how it is produced, what it contains musically, and how it affects the audience through language or influence. Although every genre of music has a different purpose and twist, pop music is the most popular in today’s society because of how it is produced, its chord progression, common and recurring cadences, and its relatable lyrics and by the influential singers behind

Media takes all forms of shapes, from video games to music it influences people daily because we are always surrounded by it. Music especially impacts individuals because in a lot of ways it can say what we want to say in times when we as individuals cannot say it. In those times we lean on music to help us understand the hardship we are going through, or as a mechanism to face our feelings or to block them out. Interpersonal violence which is defined as an individual using power over another in the form of violence whether that be emotional, physical, or sexual. With the many forms of interpersonal violence it’s apparent that it has been expressed in the form of music for quite a while, and sometimes not always in a preventative way. By