Over the course of the past few months I have researched – though not extensively – the effects of contemporary music on society and how it has affected the liberal social ideology that we are so often confronted with today, both in our older and younger generations. I began my research by watching a documentary series titled, “Hells Bells: The Dangers of Rock ‘n Roll,” produced in 1989 by Eric Holmberg an evangelical Christian, who attempts to expose the dangers of music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Though a bit outdated, and quite evangelical in its presentation, it holds nothing back in speaking about the twisted perversion of contemporary music. Now, when speaking of “contemporary music,” I am referring primarily to the musical eras ranging between the 1960s to the early-90’s. Though much of our music today is corrupt and perverted enough, many of its influences derive from this particular period in music history (i.e., The Beatles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, George Michael, Prince, KISS, etc). Throughout the documentary, Holmberg introduces the viewer to several examples of musical artists through the decades who have ravaged our youth and robbed them of their innocence by exploiting their pubescent, and heavily hormone-driven sexuality. Therefore, I am determined to expose the dangers of our music industry by its roots, and how it has been so successful in the current demise of our youth. Sex sells
To give you an example of what exactly I’m talking about, in Hells Bells (a name derived from a song by the acclaimed rock band, AC/DC) one of the many samples of music gone awry is seen in Billy Idol’s music video, “Hot in the City.” In the video we watch as Billy Idol dons a silver cross around his neck (I could only imagine as a mockery of Christianity and its salvific hope for man, a “hope” in which Mr. Idol views solely in releasing the tension of his uncontrollable sexual urge), gazing through a punched-in hole in a wall, only to catch a glimpse of a hyper-sensual peepshow of sexual domination, and quickly gazing back at the camera to remind us all that “we’re still young on a hot summer night,” and implicitly, as well as explicitly, seeing to it that we live a similarly sensual lifestyle. Not to mention, in the end Mr. Idol also finds it appropriate to crucify his girlfriend on an iron cross, which makes no sense whatsoever in the grand scheme of the video, but is meant to serve as a mockery of Christ, and ultimately attacks what he sees as the underlying “suppressive” force against a new age view of human sexuality: primarily the Christian perspective on human love and sexuality. What else could possibly be so oppressing to a culture that defines its freedom from the waist down?
Dr. Allan Bloom, one of America’s most notable political philosophers at the University of Chicago, wrote a book entitled, The Closing of the American Mind, which served as a litmus test during another significant transformation of a culture and a generation. In a chapter properly titled, Music, Dr. Bloom captures almost perfectly the effects of contemporary music on society and our youth. In it he states:
Picture a thirteen year old boy sitting in the living room of his family home doing his math assignment while wearing his Walkman [or iPod] headphones or watching MTV. He enjoys the liberties hard won over centuries by the alliance of philosophic genius and political heroism, consecrated by the blood of martyrs; he is provided with comfort and leisure by the most productive economy ever known to mankind; science has penetrated the secrets of nature in order to provide him with the marvelous, lifelike electronic sound and image reproduction he is enjoying. And in what does progress culminate? A pubescent child whose body throbs with orgasmic rhythms; whose feelings are made articulate in hymns to the joys of onanism or the killing of parents; whose ambition is to win fame and wealth in imitating the drag-queen who makes the music. In short, life is made into a nonstop, commercially packaged masturbational fantasy.
Music, as experienced by many, can become an extension of what is found deep in the subconscious realm of the mind, and can even act as an extension of particular human emotions and passions. Nietzsche believed that music was the soul’s primitive form of expression, irrational and without the need for articulated speech. Now whether this is true or not, even when articulate speech is added to it, the rhythm always remains the driving, inspirational force behind it all – thus influencing and stimulating the passions, which are later revealed in the song’s lyrics. As we’ve all been able to witness at one time or another, either through the pulsations of the bass, the ecstatic high-pitch solos of an electric guitar, or the erotic lyrics of a Twisted Sister, Def Leppard or “material girl” Madonna, each element has assisted in promoting “not love, not eros, but sexual desire undeveloped and untutored” (Closing of the American Mind, 73) in the lives of the youth then and now. It is believed that music possesses such a profound ability to influence youngsters more so than pornography, that there is no longer a need for the voyeuristic perspective, but rather the answer can be found in performing such acts on themselves or even experimented with in the misguided, sexually active encounters of our pre-teens and teenagers today. So much can be transmitted, especially to our youth, when words are accompanied by the swaying power of music. This becomes ever more apparent when artists both “implicitly and explicitly describe bodily acts that satisfy sexual desire and [are then treated] as…only natural and routine [for] children who do not yet have the slightest imagination of love, marriage, or family” (CAM, 74). By simply listening to the rhythmic tones of our contemporary music, as produced by artists in their Hollywood studios, disconnected from any notion of genuine love or family life, one is able to perceive carefully the deceptiveness of the harmony, as it enchants and elicits the desire for sexual intercourse without the utterance of a single word. It should therefore be no surprise to us all that “rock ‘n roll” got its name from a term suggesting pre-marital sex in the back seat of a car. Sex becomes one of the over-arching themes of the rock ‘n roll lifestyle, to the point where, as Prince would have it, “Sex related fantasy is all my mind can see.” Its because of the influence of artists such as these that many young people today find date rape, pre-marital sex, and the sexual exploitation of women justifiable.
Looking for inspiration – Drug abuse & the occult
Sex, though one element among many in the rock ‘n roll world, sadly sells itself at a discounted price. However, the search for pleasure and escape does not stop here though, but is intricately linked to drug abuse, and even suicide. Drug abuse was and is a popular theme with bands such as The Beatles in the 60s, as they alluded to and sang about the magical, stimulating effects of LSD, to the lawless behavior of the Beastie Boys in the 90s, and the “90 references to alcohol and drug abuse,” in their best selling album, “Licensed to Ill” (Hells Bells). As it seems, the most common reason for the use of drugs and its association with rock ‘n roll music is the desire for a profound "spiritual" experience. However, little attention is given to the potential dangers that linger when combining sense altering substances and dabbling in the realm of the occult and satanic rituals, as was common practice among many of the well-known past and present artists (i.e., Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson). It is in these ecstatic experiences that many receive the inspiration to write their songs, which obviously obtain their perverted lyrical prowess from a realm other than our own, if you know what I mean. Jimi Hendrix, one of the world's leading guitar sensations of all time, often spoke about being tormented by certain unknown spirits, that would take possession of him while on stage, and transform him into someone he hardly knew. This was also accounted for by his recording manager. Some of the most well-known bands, such as Alice Cooper and Cheaptrick, received their names after nights spent dallying around with the cultic Ouija board. In their earlier days, the members of Ozzy Osbourne’s group Black Sabbath, while in the studio preparing to write what would become their next multi-platinum album, would often joke about the “fifth member" of the band. Black Sabbath was certainly well-endowed with inspirations from the Evil One, so much so that they even produced a song titled, Crowley, as a homage to the founder of the Satanic Cult, Aleister Crowley. Their music eventually became so inspiring that it soon after resulted in the death of a 14-year old boy. In the late-80s, as Mr. Osbourne was de-boarding a plane, he was approached and caught by surprise by a member of the paparazzi, who asked him how he felt about the lawsuits being filed against him for the suicide of a 14-year old boy, who was found shot dead in his room with his headphones still on his head and listening to his song, "Suicide Solution." Mr. Osbourne had no idea what he was talking about. In a special interview Gene Simmons, frontman for the world-renowned group KISS, admitted that often times while on stage there would be this aura that would pervade the audience in such a way that if he would have said to the crowd, "Kill!", they would have done so.
Drugs, unfortunately, are only the beginning for such deviant behavior; and often times the end of the road for some. It would be virtually impossible to separate rock ‘n roll and drugs, as one feeds and gives life to the other. Rock ‘n roll created drugs, and therefore loses its power and cannot survive without them. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, when accused of being a devil and casting out demons by his own power, “if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). Moreover, its unfortunate that all that is associated with the rock 'n roll lifestyle usually attains its fulfillment in the notion that life is meaningless, a void yet to be filled with as much carnal pleasure until one is literally "bored to death," tired of life, seeking to escape the daily grind of a 9-5 job, the heartaches of a bad relationship, the "oppressiveness" of one's parents, something to soothe the boredom that lingers after its all said and done. What then is the suggested response of a generation such as this?
Suicide – the answer to a generation’s boredom
If sex, drugs and rock 'n roll aren't enough, its no wonder that these elements have all served as catalysts in the lives of so many youngsters - devoted to the "spirit of rock" - to seek a swift escape from the world's troubles. As alluded to in the previous paragraph, contemporary music has had a significant impact on our current culture's worldview, and has even played the devil's advocate in such a way that it has "effectively short circuit[ed] [the] primary human instinct: self-preservation" (Hells Bells). To accomplish this, it has had to subvert some fundamental metaphysical principles; mainly, that there is a transcendent purpose to man's life, and that life on earth is merely the beginning of something good. Its unfortunate that young people today pay more credence to their pop icons, rather than the parents who have nurtured them along, and have sought their well-being from the beginning. Another significant element that contemporary music has subverted is the meaning of human suffering. In his Apostolic Letter, Salvifici Doloris, the late Pope John Paul II writes, "suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence: it is one of those points in which man is in a certain sense "destined" to go beyond himself, and he is called to this in a mysterious way" (Salvifici Doloris, 2). Suffering is indeed an objective reality which contemporary music has taught all to abhor, and to ultimately escape, because if it doesn't feel good, then it can't be good. It is undeniable that "physical suffering" becomes deeply manifest in man's "spiritual/psychological" suffering, and vice versa. Man, in his psychosomatic persona, is a perfect whole; he is not one without the other. Here, then, is where contemporary music has been successful, by separating the two, and throwing away the other; namely, the spiritual. With this, the modern culture has redefined man as a babbling beast, one who devours the countless pleasures before him, without a single hesitating thought. Indeed, the current culture sees no need for young people to "go beyond [themselves]," as there is nothing waiting for them on the other side - "God is dead."
What I find to be so ironic about the "suicide solution" of our teens today, is that so many deliberately anesthetize themselves to the world prior to any surfacing thoughts of ending their lives. They walk around like wobbling corpses, plugged into their psychosomatic drip (i.e., iPods) and swaying to the enchanting rhythm and lyrics, as words such as, "where to hide, suicide is the only way," are injected into their psychological bloodstreams, dissolving any hope of a stimulated response to a potential life filled with meaning or purpose.
Much to our own demise, we have become and are becoming with each passing generation, the products of our own musical and lyrical misconstructions. In his book entitled Laws, Plato expresses his displeasure with the musical revolution of his time, as the people of his society were “[deceiving] themselves into thinking that there was no right or wrong in music – that it was to be judged good or bad by the pleasure it gave. By their work and their theories they infected the masses with the presumption to think themselves adequate judges… As it was, the criterion was not music, but a reputation for promiscuous behavior and a spirit of lawlessness” (The Secret Power of Music, 189). Need I say more? Can’t we already perceive the direction of our youth in contemporary music’s quest to captivate its audience, in order to contaminate the youthful soul with its “loose love” dead-end propaganda?
To avoid furthering the effects of generations gone wild, parenting in the 21st century and beyond must take a new approach against the powers of the music and entertainment industry as a whole, by being observant and using discretion when choosing what their children listen to or watch. It’s unfortunate that the parenting of today has become resonant with Plato’s quote above, as many simply deny the real effects of modern music on their children, while in their stupor they watch as another generation concedes to the same lies and false dreams promised long ago. In their day they became the equivalents of the chained prisoners in Plato’s allegory of the cave. Rock ‘n roll and its "trusty companions" were the shadowy images projected on the cave wall, as they remained captives of the puppeteers of a culture that was simultaneously transforming and cannibalizing itself through the sexual revolution of the 60s, the rise of the free-spirited hippie generation, the burgeoning feminist movement, and the "let me be me" hoopla of the 70s, to the establishment of the MTV entertainment empire of the 80s. Their forlorn attempt to escape music's effects on their generation has since proven in many instances to be unsuccessful, and few who have managed to escape did not emerge unscathed. My question to this generation of young people and mine is, are we able to make a courageous attempt to rise from the ashes of generations of cultural deconstruction, and open our eyes to see and spurn the deceivors of this age, and reclaim from them our “sacred traditions,” which since have become a thing of the past?
