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Violence In Music Analysis

Decent Essays

Music has been a tool of subjective violence and objective violence multiple times. The documentaries Shut Up and Sing!, Amandla!, and Soundtrack to War show how music is a tool to create violence and to stop it. In Amandla!, the music that black South Africans sang in protest were often heavy with objective violence. In this music, black South Africans protested against their white South African government and sometimes included hateful speech towards their superiors. Specifically during Toyi-Toyi demonstrations, these protests often would lead to, and end in, some form of subjective violence. Even though white South Africans were unable to understand the language of the Toyi-Toyi chants, the dancing and shouting that accompanied these chants …show more content…

People voiced their reactions to this comment by voicing their hate for the Dixie Chicks and insisted that the Dixie Chicks’ music be banned from being played on radio stations. The violence goes even further when it became physical, with people smashing and burning their CDs, and this violence escalated all the way to death threats being sent to the Dixie Chicks. Aside from how music can cause violence, these documentaries touch on how popular music and violence are more directly connected. In Shut Up and Sing!, it is clear that people do not expect, or want, to hear the political opinions of famous musicians, and the listeners feel they have the right to respond in whatever way they want to, no matter how violent. In addition, in the documentary Soundtrack to War, the most popular music is often the most violent music. This is because this violent music is the music most soldiers need to get into the right mindset for going off to war and to commit the acts of violence needed in the war environment. Moreover, it is not just the music, but the musicians themselves that interact with the

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