Ages Their Opinion On The Way Music example essay topic

I am trying to find out whether music influences a persons mood or behaviour. I will be searching the Internet for information of events due to music and peoples opinions. I will also be designing a questionnaire for people of different ages to share their views on this question. Without a doubt this project will be almost 100% opinion based as there is no scientific evidence to prove anything I am trying to find out. There has been one, big recent event to show that metropolitan police do blame music and band members for violence in the community. This event would be and being shot dead in Aston due to a gang shoot out in a territorial situation.

'So solid crew' (a music band) have been blamed for influencing these gang members. Three members of the band have been in trouble with the law regarding gun crimes. At their concerts, they, and people in the crowd have been in possession of guns. One of the band members (Asher D) was put in prison last year due to a gun crime. Statistics show that gun related crime has doubled in the past five years.

Whilst looking for information on the Internet I came across a website that asked members of the public the same question that I am trying to answer in this piece of work. The ages of the respondents ranged between thirteen and nineteen. Opinions seemed to vary very much so. Some said yes due to their beliefs of us reacting subconsciously etc and some said no. One comment suggested that only the weak minded were affected. A female of fifteen years of age wrote... ' music can alter the way we think about certain things... but! "can it load a gun up for you and cock it too?" ' The double quoted is a lyric by Eminem defending himself as he has been blamed countless amounts of times for influencing youths via his music.

Lyrics are either direct references (e.g. where a drug is named) or indirect references (where the drug is not named). Some see this as irrelevant as the listener will interpret it however they want to hear it and will be influenced (if at all) in that effect. People react to their perceptions, not reality. I found a table in which the contents ranged from 1933 1996 which included song titles, artists and the drug the lyrics referenced to. Here are a few abstracted... YEAR SONG TITLE PERFORMER APPARENT DRUG REFERENCE 1933 Texas Tea Party Benny Goodman and his orchestra Marijuana 1944 Who put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's oval tine Harry "the hipster" Gibbon Amphetamines / Nembutal 1966 Mothers little helper The rolling stones Valium 1972 Speedball tucker Jim Croce Amphetamines 1977 The joker The Steve Miller band Marijuana 1984 The smuggler's blues Glenn Frey Cocaine & Marijuana 1989 City of dope Too short Crack Cocaine, Marijuana 1996 This is a call Foo fighters Ritalin Some people would feel that the music / the tune of a song would influence them and others would say it would be the lyrics.

Different styles of music have very different kinds of lyrics. Some people may be very open minded until they begin to take interest in a band which discriminates as this could possibly change their views. For example there is a ska band called Reel Big Fish and one of their tracks is called "TRENDY". The lyrics are as follows...

Depending on how easily people are influenced, it is possible that this song could change a persons view on trends, persuade them to discriminate and change their taste in music. When bands perform on stage, they set influences whether they realise it or not. Most members in the crowd react to the lyrics in general. Cyprus hill smoke a lot of cannabis on stage with really tall bongs etc. Eminem was on stage with a chainsaw which represented the lyrics to one of his songs and caused chaos in the press etc. Bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Pink Floyd sing with reference to drugs and an amazing amount of people in the crowd smoke cannabis whilst they play on stage.

At more recent concerts such as Slipknot, Korn, system of a down and many more heavy rock bands see vicious fights within the crowd. In some situations people in the crowd even get stabbed. Music may have a little affect on a person along with peer pressure-the influence overall may be very strong. Recently a lot of people seem to be changing their appearance by wearing different clothes, hairstyles and accessories. People have been wearing the latest sports labels and have suddenly started to wear baggy jeans and hoodies (representing certain bands). This used to be an expression of individuality but is now becoming a trend.

There are children aged seven to thirteen wearing sports trousers and a heavy rock hoody. If they wear their clothes to express their personality then they have a mixed one. At the moment there is a lot of labelling taking place. Jeans and hoodies represent an alternative person and clothes from chain stores and sports labels represent people to be like others. To mix these is just silly but that is what people are doing. In my opinion, children as young as 11 should not be exposed to Slipknot lyrics.

What is shown on the T. V before ten pm is cut but parents need to be more aware of what their younger children are listening to. I have designed a questionnaire to ask people of all ages their opinion on the way music influences others. Here is an example.