Music

12-11-08

I recently watched the movie Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. I enjoyed it, and despite the editing that made it seem almost too good to be true on certain points, I was particularly amused at his interview with shock rocker Marilyn Manson. I had for gotten the backlash he had received after the Columbine shootings. After the tragedy, all of the media outlets were looking for answers. They couldn’t accept that these two young men could possibly have the kind of anger that would be needed to shoot up a school of their peers, and then turn the guns on themselves. Someone needed to be blamed.

It is incredibly easy to blame music. We had been doing it for some time. Music has been under fire so many times to be the reason why our youth do the awful things they do. Rap music is causing gang wars, rock is causing kids to do drugs. It is a wonder that we don’t have more problems with the kids these days.

Blaming musicians and their artistic statements has always really bothered me. It isn’t as if these rock stars are telling kids to go shoot up a school. And even if they are, I don’t really think they mean it. Rap artists have talked about killing cops and just about everyone they come in contact with. Sure, their lifestyles often mirror their lyrics, but I am guessing most of the folks that listen to their music will never be in a situation that would be similar to the song. And the ones that do, they would have been in said situation despite what song was playing on the radio at this time.

On my way home from work yesterday, I had the radio on. The song playing was a song that I sang to my boys when they were little. Every time I sing the song, I get choked up. It never fails, either. Every time I hear the song, I think of my boys and I get all mushy. If often alters my mood instantly into super mom mode and I find that even when they are being crazy kids, the music will calm me and almost rejuvenate my patience with their antics. As I started to consider all of this, Marilyn Manson came to mind. Here was a song that willed me to being more in touch with my boys. Lyrics and melody all combined with the end result of me actually, if even for a split second, being different.

Of course, this was a positive effect. I had euphoria because of 2 and a half minutes of some British guy singing his heart out. My brain then went back to when I was a teen. Angst was my favorite state of mind, and how many times did I turn to my CD collections to find something to relate to, something to numb the pain I was feeling or perhaps to inspire healing in my soul. Erasure, George Michael, Depeche Mode, all of these people were my therapists. Lucky for me, their fees were very reasonable. For $12 I could get unlimited time with them forever. It was as if they all could understand me on a level no best friend would ever be privy to. When I was in a fight with my boyfriend, I would blare the song, “I Love to Hate You!” over and over, screaming the lyrics, feeling empowered about the current breakup, and it was this that got me through so many rough times.

So how is it any different for other kids who were listening to other styles of music. My choice was British Electronic Pop. Pretty harmless when you look at the grand scheme of things. What would happen had I listened to a more angry song? What had happened had I been more than just mildly emotional about things? What if I had already been troubled to a level where I was angry at the world and the music was ALL I had? I cannot speculate what the psychological issues that the young men who shot up Columbine. I wonder, though, if it is at all possible that they had deeper issues, and the music they happened to choose empowered them in different ways then my little pop songs inspired me. Is it possible that the anger and pure adrenaline that is contained in those songs could have made them feel better because they knew they didn’t have to put up with anything anymore? It isn’t to say that they were told to kill students in such a brutal fashion. It was just fuel to an already burning fire deep in their soul.

We have always ruined to music to inspire, to touch, to laugh at, and to really define our existence. Decades were characterized by genres of music simply because they explained the mood of the youth that listened to the tunes flowing from their radios. Drugs were done to particular songs because they were the best mood enhancers. We slow danced to ballads sung to the artist’s girlfriend, and we dedicated it to our own love. Sure, her name wasn’t Donna, but Richie Vallens knew how we felt about Betty. Music is what makes the soundtrack to our lives and for most people, it is featured prominently in every facet of our existence.

Maybe the media was correct in saying that the music had something to do with Columbine. These boys were influenced in some way to release their inner demons. That being said, though, do we blame the artists for their songs? Do we point the finger at them, making them share the blame of multiple deaths all because they sang a song that inspired a kid to cause those deaths? Is there really blood on the guitar at this point?

It isn’t fair to expect a singer or songwriter to censor their artistic expression simply because there are a few people out there that might find this to be the key to their dungeon of hate. Many of these musicians are using the music to get out their own anger in a more constructive way. Many of them actually help people to do the same thing. Just because one or two people do a horrific crime, it doesn’t mean that the artist caused this.

What is to say that a happy band doesn’t inspire hate? I can tell you when I was young, I would hear New Kids on the Block and I would practically seizure from their cheery boy band ways, and I wanted to hit someone in the face. Did I? No, I knew right from wrong and I was aware that the New Kids Defense would be mocked endlessly by my peers. People snap for various reasons. It could be because someone put onions on their burger when they clearly asked for none. Someone gets fired, someone stubs their toe, someone sees a movie with violence, someone loses their keys. Can we prevent all of these things from happening? Charles Manson was rumored to have snapped when the Beach Boys, one of the most cheery bands ever, ended up not recording with him. Are we then to believe that a band of guys who sang about girls and cars caused Sharon Tate to be sliced up with all of her friends? Let’s hope not.

Should artists be mindful of their lyrics? Probably. It would be a good idea to not target songs to kids that are filled with profanity and hate. Of course, they will still hear it, but it would be good to not shove it down their throats. Kids will discover the music they need, and if talking about beating the hell out of their girlfriend while scoring a whole ton of drugs is what they need and it is what you wrote, then you are set. I am guessing, though, that kids would much rather listen to something that will help them in a more productive way.

So yes, go ahead and blame the music for their actions. But when you do that, you need to look closely at all of the music that has influenced you. When you were so depressed about some boy not asking you to prom, and you polished off a whole gallon of ice cream while listening to the Cure, which resulted in gaining 5 pounds, I would recommend throwing out all of those albums you have cherished all these years. Oh, and when you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas, make sure to blame Andy Williams since he is the one singing about how Santa is coming to town to bring you everything you wanted. When you get divorced, make sure to file a lawsuit against the band that played at your wedding. We know they must have caused the problems since they are what played at the start of your marriage. If we are truly willing to blame, and credit, all of the artists for everything they have given to society with their voices and tunes, then and only then can we really place any kind of responsibility on the likes of Marilyn Manson for Columbine. And even then, shouldn’t we just know that even if the music plays out hate, it is still our responsibility to turn it off?