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342heavy_metal_music_1.docxRunning Head: HEAVY METAL MUSIC 1
HEAVY METAL MUSIC
Heavy metal music - A promoter of drug abuse and reckless behavior Name: Institution: Date:
Introduction
Since its early beginnings, heavy metal music has been source debate and controversy across the society. The origin of heavy metal is traced back in England and the United states towards the late 1960s and the early 1970s (King, 2011). The Blue Cheer group based in California was the first band given the title "heavy metal band". The musicians introduced a fresh sound and stage character to the music industry. Their stage performance was also associated with what the public viewed as outrageous acts (Martin, 2013). They were seen as the mock-up for afterward heavy metal bands. They dressed in black leather coats, along with wild guitar solos (Levine, 2009).
The strong subculture
The term “heavy metal” was coined from Steppenwolf’s song "Born to Be Wild". In this song, the musicians use the phrase “heavy metal thunder,” hence people termed all type of music using such style as heavy metal (King, 2011). During those days, bands that qualified under this category included ACDC, Metallica, Blue Cheer, and Led Zeppelin, among others. All of them had similar stage characters and musical styles (Levine, 2009). They employed exceedingly fast tempos, and rapid guitars and drums. The psychedelic rock and blues-rock are frequently quoted as the roots of heavy metal music. Only that the musicians developed a thick, heavy, drum-and guitar-oriented sound, typified by highly amplified twist and rapid guitar solos. According to Levine (2009), of all rock & roll’s innumerable forms, this type of music is the most intense in terms of theatricality, volume and machismo.
One of the major characteristics of heavy music culture is the language and communication. Most of the songs, no matter their origin are predominantly in English. Artists from Italy, Japan, Mexico and Finland write their songs in English (Weinstein, 2001). This could either be due to the origin of metal music in English-speaking nations or a way of appealing the large population of metal fans in the United States and Britain (Lacourse, 2001 & Stack, 2004). Interestingly, when bands take stage in non-English speaking countries, the crowd literally sings along with the band in a language they do not even speak. It is implausible type of music that surpasses cultural barriers. For instance, from the video footage of the song Japan as it is played by the band Judas Priest to a crowd of thousands of fans shows almost every person singing along with the musicians (Levine, 2009). Through cheering, crying and facial expressions, the crowd is crowd is very emotionally moved.
In addition, when listeners and fans discuss and rate bands on the Internet, English is the predominant language. In spite of having people from non-English speaking states such as Switzerland, Finland and Japan, approximately 87.5% of online forums dedicated to heavy metal music do their presentations in English (Stack, 2004 & King, 2011). Some listeners make the effort of learning English in order to understand the song content and converse with the artists and other bands while others will employ translating applications to communicate.
From what is described above, one can see that heavy metal music has a very strong subculture which is sometimes viewed to isolate its fans from the common traditional culture. Most of its fans demonstrate extreme dedication to their type of music and rely on it to serve various purposes (Weinstein, 2001). According to analysts, this type of over-dependency can lead to extreme influence based on what is preached in the music (Lacourse, 2001). Unfortunately, most songs in this music genre speak about drug use and as a result impact the fans to believe in the goods that come with the use of drugs. In addition, the violent nature of the music is viewed as one that promotes violence. As a group that can be easily influenced by what they see and hear in the media, adolescents who prefer heavy rock are thought to quickly grasp the message in these songs and put it into practice. This therefore, predisposes them to develop delinquent behavior and drug abuse issues (Lacourse, 2001). Conversely, supporters of heavy music argue that, most people who come up with such conclusions do not actually know what the music genre entails and their negative judgments are founded on hearsay and superficial knowledge. They are just mere misconceptions (Levine, 2009). However, the author of this essay will argue that, while it has some positive side of it, heavy rock mostly has negative influence on people, especially the adolescents.
Heavy metal music – A promoter of drug abuse and reckless behavior
Over the years, heavy metal has had to receive suppression of ideas, words and images that, according to the general public, are deemed offensive. While this censorship has restricted the musicians freedom of expression and the true value of their creations, this been seen to be for the interest of those whose lives were and could be destroyed by the messages communicated in some of the songs (Weinstein, 2001 & Arnett, 2012). For example, one of the key artists of heavy metal Ozzy Osbourne has faced numerous lawsuits for hidden messages in his songs and stage performances viewed as disturbing by many individuals in the public. In particular, the musician was blamed for three adolescent suicides which came after listening to the song “Suicide Solution” (Stack, 2004). In one of the cases, a 19-year-old was said to have been listening to this song when he reached for the gun and blew his head off. The incident that occurred back in 1984 has been said to have occurred s a result of the young male following to the preaching in the music (Lacourse, 2001). The lyrics of the song were used s evidence to prosecute the artist.
On the contrary, supporters of heavy metal argue that, while it is true that the music influences behaviors among teens, so do the TV and movies. It is what one chooses to see or hear that matters (Arnett, 2006). All media have negative and positive information. In the lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne, his fans believed that the artists was wrongly accused by the public and his songs falsely repressed by the law (King, 2011). Although the coroners who found the young man dead reported that he had his headphones on, no one is exactly sure what particular song the teenager was listening to at the time he pulled the trigger. The prosecutors could have jumped into conclusion as recent study by NIDA demonstrated that, after conducting investigations on the famously called pro-drug songs by Black Sabbath, the music does not essentially fit the stereotype (NIDA, 2016). One of the investigators, Dr. Conway, stated that, whereas previous research indicated that heavy metal praised substance abuse, he was surprised to come up with his own contradicting findings after his own listening – Black Sabbaths’ music contained advisory tale on the threats of substance use and the awfulness of drug addiction (NIDA, 2016). As a result, it is safe to conclude that, most stereotypes associated with the music genre are negatively constructed misconceptions.
However, going deep into the band’s music, the investigators listened to every song recorded by Black Sabbath from 1970 to 2013 while studying the lyrics and coding them. At the end, four main themes were identified: love and loss, doom and gloom, overt references to drug use, and implied references to drug use (Arnett, 2012 & Took, 2014). While only 13% of the band’s songs talked about substance use (either implied or explicitly), majority of them were positive on the subject (Zuckerman, 2008). They glorified drug as an amazing tool that enables people to overcome the struggles of life (Took, 2014). To most heavy metal artists and fans, drugs are way of leading and all-time-partying life.
Many young males and female with various psychiatric conditions, especially those who are dependent on or have substance abuse issues, prefer heavy metal music to other types of music. Adolescents who fail to identify with customary value may discover simple but untraditional answer to intricate problem in the lyrics of heavy metal (King, 2011). While a straightforward relationship cannot be identified between destructive behavior and heavy metal music, available data indicates that such music encourages and promotes patterns of violence, promiscuous sexual behavior and drug abuse.
Conversely, enthusiasts of the music genre maintain that, while another cultural occurrence is that people who like metal have a higher tendency of tobacco smoking (especially cigarette) than others, the hypotheses and explanations for why this is the situation seems to be at variance across different countries (Arnett, 2006). In both Britain and the United States, for instance, there is a strong correlation relationship between high risk behavior and delinquency and heavy metal music (Johnson, 2014 & Took, 2014). However, this is just a correlation and does not involve causation. As such, this certainly does not denote that this type of music influences or causes young people to acquire delinquent behavior.
However, in a study by xxxx, adolescents who preferred heavy metal music were matched up against those who did not on a selection of outcome variables, especially focusing on reckless behavior, including sexual behavior, driving behavior and drug use. It was established that, most adolescent fans of heavy metal were less content with their family relationships and female participants were more reckless in aspects of vandalism, shoplifting, sexual behavior and substance use and demonstrated lower self esteem (Lacourse, 2001).. Furthermore, participants who liked this kind of music from both genders were higher in sensation seeking and more self-confident in dating and sexuality. . In regression analyses, the relation between preferring heavy metal music and reckless behavior was maintained for 5 out of 12 variables regarding reckless behavior, including 75% among girls, when family relationships and sensation seeking were included in the equation prior to liking or not liking this type of music (Arnett, 2012)..
As a new type of music that brought a new look and sound to rock, the reaction from the public was as expected with any other associated with something fairly new; people found the culture outlandish and looked down it. Most people in the society did not even actually look into heavy metal music to come up with facts about its nature, and made up postulations that were wrong. Heavy metal music had a beautiful beginning and an appealing history, but has received criticisms that are mostly founded on misconceptions. As Took (2014) argues, heavy metal music is frequently repressed for being a harmful influence on teenagers due to the genre’s aesthetics and lyrical content. This is especially by those who are unfamiliar with the genre and are quick to make this supposition based on the darker and often proscribed themes found throughout the music (Johnson, 2014). However, if these people could give it a little more analysis, they would discover that those dimensions perceived to be destructive actually bear positive results among metal fans (Arnett, 2006). What is contained within metal music is actually an exhibit of views and emotions that have a purging impact, which enables adolescents listening to it muddle through the relentlessly transforming world around them. Furthermore, heavy metal music is employed as a tool for conveying emotion in passive way, rather than through physical demolition sought by some young people.
A research investigation conducted in Israel concentrated on the role of music reverence and adolescent culture identification. Young people obsessions for music could mirror n endeavor to eventually gain some autonomy and distance from the family and enter different social system within their peer group (Arnett, 2012). Although young people’s participation in fashionable culture is vital from developmental point of view and for independence attainment, a heightened level of attachment as marked by adoration of teen idols may be suggestive of challenges in the process of personal-identity formation and over-dependence on the group of peers (King, 2011 & Took, 2014). The later is frequently linked to drug use and abuse, which is deemed a possible risk factor of suicidal ideation. In addition, heavy metal music could have negative effects by representing a futile avoidance survival mechanism, which dissimulates significant issues that may remain unattended to.
As a music that has been associated with the devil, Martin (2013), argues that this just a misconception probably originating from the brutality of the instruments and the believed intensity behind the lyrics. “The distorted guitar, overpowering drumbeat, and clean vocals alongside with some screaming probably create a totally different image – away from the truth” (Arnett, 2012). People view such a mixture as loud, disturbing, and dangerous (Johnson, 2014). However, through such a combination, heavy metal communicates the truth about the world they live, through such a combination, it shows them that they are not all by themselves. Heavy metal musicians connect with millions of adolescents as they reflect what’s going on in their minds – and the music notifies them they are not unaided” (Lacourse, 2001). Regardless of its bad repute, this type of music is helpful to adolescents: it talks to the murky side of life that is ignored by most media, and actually informs the teens that they are not deserted. Heavy metal has been viewed as venom that enters the minds of the adolescents and nurtures their dark wishes (Took, 2014); conversely, the piercing vocals and imprecise beats truly symbolize a refuge for these young adults. The common belief that the explosive lyrics vicious, rebellious and put down in anticipations of causing the world to collapse are just pure misconceptions.
While people who like hard metal are inclined to posses some suicidal risk factors, they are also apt to idolize their favorite musicians and listen to the music they like for vicarious release. These two dimensions could to a certain extend explain the past correlations established between preference for hard metal music and suicidal tendencies (Johnson, 2014). As such, they have been deemed as likely risk factors. In addition, there are several songs that are known to preach anti-Christianity hence promoting devil worshipping. For instance, "Satan is Endless Satan is Timeless” and “Goat Worship” are two songs from Nattefrost’s album “Terrorist” produced in 2006. Even before listening to the song, their title sends a message of anti-Christianity, which according to psychologists is likely to influence the minds of the young as they tend to emulate what the media tells them
On the contrary, through three elements of heavy metal (nihilism, psychological chaos and themes portraying anti-Christian opinions), Walser (2013), gives an analysis of the political formations of this genre in adolescents. Under “psychological chaos”, the author explains that way themes in heavy metal assist young people to identify with music as the surrounding world is chaotic. The connection aids in forms of relation and expression that are unavailable in other music genres. Nihilism found in metal lyrics is viewed as a challenge to the customarily created code of conduct (Arnett, 2012). As adolescents discover their beliefs, they can defy what is conventionally acknowledged and see the bigger picture hence forming their own beliefs. Furthermore, nihilism and violent aspects in metal music are employed by fans as a kind of expression rather than action, such that emotions can be articulated through music rather through physical violence (Zuckerman, 2008). Anti-Christian aspects found in heavy metal bear the same effect in that, they shove the limits of what is generally accepted. In his article, Walser (2013), asserts that, rather than for concrete identification of non-Christian views, such elements are employed more for “shock value”. For instance, in the photo of a DIO album cover that depicts demonic images provide the “shock value” to the collection (King, 2011). As such, the scenes in this genre of music provided way to articulate the prejudiced condition if a subtle repression.
However, even if the images contained in this type of music were used by the fans for “shock value” purposes, most of them promote disrespect for religion among the youth. For example, the band Marduk that takes the name of the ancient Babylonian God is famous for its religious and philosophical Satanism themes (King, 2011). One of their wicked early tape covers displays masturbating with a crucifix and the words “Fuck Me Jesus.” In addition a few choice songs including “Blessed Unholy” and "Jesus Christ Sodomized," are clearly not just meant for purposes of shock value but demonstrate a concrete identification of non-Christian views among heavy metal artists.
Conclusion
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