The External World Is Fitted To The Mind.....

I'm a big fan of poetry, off the top of my head some of ones who's poetry I enjoy the most are; Dante Alighieri, Edgar Allen Poe, Octavio Paz, T.S. Eliot, Matsuo Basho, Robert Frost, Federico Garcia Lorca, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Nazim Hikmet, Charles Bukowski, William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Homer, Li Po.


Thoughts about Violence and Pain plauge the conscious
there isn't any change or thought of precaution
Only the music and instincts function
Feel the warm grip, the thoughtless demented thoughts drip
With a smile in his face he potrays no remorse
He came to the intersection and chose none of the roads
As I'm here, subjected to his actions with no chance to stop this
Tomorrow scapegoats will be brought to the forefront rather than the thoughtless

That's a poem I wrote, I could stay here and write a long post about this poem, discussing it and what not but I'd rather not. It has a concept, if you read it carefuly it's actually pretty easy to grasp. I wrote it from the prespective of something that you could say has a big impact on the outcome of some cases that sometimes are used as examples when discussing the influence of music on the human consciousness. I hope that some of the people that read it (even if it isn't many) get what the poem is about, if you don't then I will gladly expand on it and break it down.

Uh-oh it happened again it was actually a few weeks ago and I don't know who has paid attention to this story but I have for a while. I've been tracking this story because I feel it's the perfect example to bring up and to present concerning this blog. Here in America we might have seen it various times, they're are highly covered by the media but after a while when it gets boring or there's isn't anymore shock value to it they move on. It's about a school shooting that happened it Tuusula, Finland one of the first of it's kind in that country.

The school shooter Pekka-Eric Auvine shot and killed nine people including himself in his High School. The reason I bring this up is that once again like always some people are putting music under fire after this terrible crime. Before commiting the massacre Auvine has posted several videos on Youtube hinting about him going through with the shooting. Many of those videos showed him firing handguns, various videos showing or involving death. Before actually going to school and openening fire Auvine created a new alias called sturmgeit 89 (meaning storm spirit in German) posted a video named Jokela High School Massacre, were it is accompined by Industrial Rock Band KMFDM's song "Stray Bullet." The High School is shown then dissapears, in the background appears a picture of the school shooter in a red screen pointing a gun at the screen. The song by KMFDM had also been used by Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were they quoted some of their lyrics. Now once again KMFDM has come under critisizim for having their music once again connected to a violent crime.

Besides KMFDM another band STURMGEIST from Germany has also been blamed for what occured because they shared the same name that the school shooter decided to use to post his video before the shooting. Frontman of STURMGEIST, Cornelius von Jackhelln has responded to these allegations saying "Understandably, journalists keep calling me, eager to prove a link between my band and the massacre. However, as an artist, I can neither control the actions of my fans nor be held responsible for them." This statement right here might be the voice of every other artist in the world, their job is to write and perform music not to be looking over each of their fans to see if they're about to go out and do something of this caliber. Jackhelln would go on to say "Knowing the boundary between fiction and reality was always a prerequisite for dealing with dark matters in music, literature, film and video games. It seems obvious that the Tuusula murderer was ignorant about this boundary."

If that doesn't open some eyes and some minds that maybe what these artists are doing aren't what's causing all of these terrible events, then we might as well keep our eyes blind and our minds locked.

Came to The Fork In The Middle Of The Road And Went.....?

Throughout this blog I have firmly stood by my thoughs of my subject and while there have been somethings revealed and sought out by me there are still many other people out there claiming different thoughts and with the knowledge to back it up. Whether it's how music is postitive or negative on our minds, emotions, actions and sense of right and wrong there are debatable arguments out there that have legitimate points for both sides. I have wanted to read these opinions because no matter how hard your standing up for your thoughts there are still things out there that might shed a new prespective on things you thought you already knew.

Don Robertson a songwriter and composer posted in his website dovesong.com his thoughts about the positive effects of music on people. "A happy song might appear to make an angry person angrier, yet it is not the music itself that is creating the anger; rather it is the positive effect of the music. The angry person does not want to accept the song’s happy feeling: it points out his already existing anger, and makes that anger come to the surface." Now if we analyze that comment and put it in context into how it might affect a person and stimulate their thoughts than that is indeed true. If the Actual song is not affecting him rather than he is affecting himself than how would that imply to negative music. If the song is negative would the person accept it and became even angrier to the point of actually carrying out these angry thoughts on a whim, like so many people claim. If a song that has a good positive message is helping someone tame that anger and helps them become calm and happy but the person is wants to maintain his angry attitude than that's on them, not the music.

Now the negative effects apparently should be much more easier to decipher a person listens to a negative song and takes the song to heart and decideds to do something negative caused by the music, right? Alfred Ubiora on nigeriaworld.com says: "Those musicians that churn out vile lyrics as well as their recording companies should begin to understand that to whom much is given, much is expected. While no one is calling for regulation of free speech or legislation of morality, they must understand that as role models, albeit reluctant ones, they have a social responsibility to watch what they say, wear and do." Granted that is also a great point that affects this topic. If many of the people being affected by this so called "negative" music are looking up to these artists as role models and taking every word they say to heart or even to the point that what these artists affects them in a severe way than why shouldn't the artists be responsible. First of all it's not an artists fault if a kid decides to shoot up a person or break into a house because they listened to their music, if someone actually does something like that than they have other things going on other than music affecting their actions.

In the end there's always to sides to every story even if you think you've heard them all than be on the lookout for the third. It's not easy to come to the fork in the middle of the road and choose one road or the other the same goes for this topic but it's up to everybody to research and find out the most they can before coming to conclusions, no matter where one stands with this topic it's easy to say it's thought provoking nonetheless.

So, What Do You Think?

I printed 10 of my surveys and I gave some to a few of the kids that I talk to but I got the urge to print a few more and hand them to people outside of the school atmosphere. Safe to say there was mix results in my short three question survey, if you can even call it that. Whether they were affected because I handed them the surveys in school or because they didn't really know what I was blabbering about it was different from the rest. My survey focused mostly on the impact of the music in general rather than what genre it was primarily from. It was three questions and they were pretty simple and to the point of what information I was attempting to obtain from the people that took the survey.

The main question I was focused on was one were I asked "Do you believe that Music really is a major problem?" and surprsingly a large percentage of the people asked answered no. Why was it a big surprise well because it seems that even if the people asked were few in quantity, it seems that what I have been thinking and saying in this blog since I started is viewed genuinely also by other people. Putting everything else aside it isn't hard to make up your own mind on a big topic like this when you actually look into it. There was different opinions in other questions for example one where the question asked was "Are people really so weak minded that we let things like music persuade our minds and inner conscious" I would say about 70% said that Yeah we are so easily influenced by music and also things like the mianstream media like movies and television while the other 30% claimed that we are influenced but when the media is applied to the context in which the person affected is currently in. That information you can take what you want from it while I have my opinion that it does affect us to some short extent but that's about as far as it goes the rest it just us. Seeing and reading outside opinions really adds a new dimension to the topic which I hadn't seen and read until someone else implied and shed light on their opinions and thoughts about this topic.

Why Do I Get Blamed For Everything :( ?

"You don't blame the person, the victim, you blame the opressor." A quote I've read and heard that has stayed with me since. I bring this quote up because I think this quote goes perfectly with the question about my topic, Do Certain Genres Get More Blame Than Others?. By this I mean, do specific genres get targeted more than some others would when it comes to more controversial topics or issues. Right off the bat you don't even have to be familiar to the topic to say "Yes". Why such an easy answer? Well because if you've been alive for the past twenty years or more so the past decade than it isn't hard to tell what's really going on. Some genres do get more blame because of their content, popularity, and aggressiveness.

For example the biggest case that will probably be brought up will be the Columbine massacre. Now I think everybody knows the basic outline in what happened with this tragedy but let's get to my point, Marilyn Manson along with a metal band Rammstein got a lot of the heat for this case. My question is instead of bringing into the light the problem that kids gave, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold how they were outed out of their own social high school scene for being different or for not being cool, instead their preference of music is brought into the discussion more so than than some other real issue. So they liked some metal, does that mean this made them go out and massacre thirteen people? Until I get factual evidence that the content of metal music had more of an impact and influence for them to commit these acts rather than the neglectance and pain that they seem to think they were suffering until they were pushed to the limit, I think those claims are propaganda. In 2002 the Secret Service conducted a report that examined school shootings; Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely were sudden, impulsive acts and Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack were some of the common themes that stood out to me. Statistics like these show at least to me that, rage and anger that had been accumulating for quite a while possibly because of the constant bullying was finally unleashed when it reached it's tipping point. This is pointing to the whole bullying angle more than to what music they preferred if you ask me.

Not to long about eight months or so there was this case about two teenagers giving marijuana to a five and two year old on video, the reason I bring this up is because (yeah you guessed it) another controversial music genre got the blame for it. This time Hip-Hop which seems to be the current scapegoat was brought to the plate. Like usual your Fox news and all your other news networks started saying that "the popular genre of hip-hop praises behavior like this and glorifies drugs." I thought well true enough, a lot of acts do glorify drugs these are usually the ones trying to fit a specific persona but to categorize this particular case where there isn't the slightest trace of hip-hop music or influence over their actions is absurd. Why would hip-hop even be brought up honestly, is it because of the actions in the video or maybe the answer is deeper, because it was two urban black kids doing this. People saw this and immediately put two and two together and said "oh, well it has to be that damned rap music which drove them to do this." With how easily the media labeled it as Hip-Hop's fault and didn't try to dig deeper into the real cause to make this teen do this it seems they went the same old reliable route.

I've heard country songs about someone putting a boot in someone's bottom side, or pop songs about boy bands "killing" to be with a girl yet the mainstream continues to be irrational and target some specific genres. Instead eyes should be opened and be able see that every genre has their black sheep.

Who knows though, maybe in a few years Disco will be "in" again and it too will be targeted........?

Nah.

Does Reflection Rhyme With Deception?

I'll admit when we started this assignment a while back I didn't have the slightest clue what I could or should write about. What was something interesting that would relate with people in this school and people in our age group? I really didn't know until I was recommended Music, I decided upon it and made that my topic of choice. What could I write about? Several genres, it's effect on the mainstream, Censorship, there was several topics that stemmed from Music that I could focus on and I didn't have to have the spotlight on one specific genre. Knowing this I knew that I had many paths which I could pursue and I dove into the world of blogging.

Even though I had some prior knowledge of most of the topics I touched on in my blog I did learn some interesting facts about it. On the blog which spoke of back masking for example I knew a lot of songs have a hidden message in there willingly or without prior knowledge of it but it's up to out minds to decipher what is said. Our minds have a quality to put things together even if they're not there, we might hear a sound and another one right after it and our brain will automatically fuse them and trick us into thinking we're hearing something when we're really not. This is one of the few things that really puts a hole on the controversy of back masking whether is it truly a hidden message or are we just whispering in the wind with this topic. Besides the ones that have been proven and actually acknowledged, some of the messages on various tracks are very disputed.

I've learned a few things like how in the past ten years the music industry has actually had more lawsuits and claims toward them than it had in some decades combined. This brings me to how I feel about my topic and it pretty much hasn't been swayed by my constant explorations into the realm of it's controversies and flaws. No matter how much power the music industry has over the mainstream media and air waves it still is belittled by the other severe issues plaguing the world right now at this exact moment. In English class we are discussing slavery which is as alive in the world as it has ever been, so why aren't politicians and so called world leaders out there fighting slavery than some music company who put out some song which they find offensive or incorrect for the masses. I wonder why society today will always point fingers to something or someone first than actually realize that problems are far more deeper than what someone is listening to on their way to work or in a club. The world today has to find a balance rather than tip the scale over.

If I'm Ze Pequeno, Who's Benny?

City Of God (Cidade de Deus) has to be one of greatest and realest movies I have put my eyes on. What do you think this has to do with music? Well besides the music that adds to the score of the actual film, it's movies like these that sometimes are belittled and condemned in the movie industry because of the harsh reality and and pure raw emotion pulsating from the movie. These kind of films your average movie audience might find "too real" or even to the point of disturbing, which I think are some key similarities that I see with music especially genres like Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, Punk Rock who put that rawness into their material and are pursued and singled out for it.

The Story of City Of God is one of desperation, fear, loathing and greed put through the eyes of the figures taking part in the events going on in their world. It starts of with an amiable boy named Rocket who lives in a slum of Rio de Janeiro named Cidade de Deus (City Of God) a place riddled with crime and poverty. The Tender Trio are three teens who rob from businesses and local companies transporting gas through their city and share the profit with all of the citizens of the city. One of these kids is Rocket's eccentric brother, Goose, who besides hanging out with the rest of the Tender Trio is being followed by an amoral kid named Lil' Dice. They device a plan to rob a motel to which Lil' Dice convinces the Tender Trio that it will be the big times and they will have more profit that they could think of. Willing but a bit reluctant they go into the motel and proceed with the robbery, tying up all the people and stealing their valuables. Lil' Dice acting as the lookout then let's out two shots from his revolver to let them know that the cops are coming and they need to disappear from the scene. However the three later find out that Lil' Dice went into the motel and murdered every single person in there, and that the shots he let go where just to get rid of them so he could have his way with the people in the motel. Knowing that they are the prime suspects and that they were set up by Lil' Dice they have no chance of being absolved, the three of them flee. They take an adamant stand to leave crime in the past, one joins the church the other two continue living without committing crime but constantly fighting it's temptation. A few years later one of the three, Goose, encounters Lil' Dice with his friend Benny who have come back to the City of God after leaving for a few years after the motel incident, he confronts him but Lil' Dice shoots and kills him in cold blood marking the end of the Tender Trio. Meanwhile Rocket is a spectator to all of these events currently happening.



Years pass, Rocket is older and wants to pursue photography as a career. On the opposite side of things Lil' Dice has adopted another name, Ze Pequeno and him and Benny have taken over other drugs cartels and made their own drug ring empire. There is other drug lords out there one called Carrot especially is not happy with Ze's new found position and showing some animosity towards him. This is the climax of the story, events just start happening that shake the entire story and puts the City of God into turmoil. First.........



Wait...nah forget it. I already told you the basic premise of the story the would be antagonist and what happened in the beginning to set up the climax and the best part of the entire movie. This movie is the epitome of great film making so for me to just give you a bare bone description of what happens next I would be maligning this film. If you can, watch it. You won't be disappointed with the conclusion.

These words by Rocket I think, describe the entire atmosphere of the film and describe the movie better than anything I could of written.

"What should have been swift revenge turned into an all out war. The City of God was divided. You couldn't go from one section the other, not even to visit a relative. The cops considered anyone living in the slum a hoodlum. People got used to living in Vietnam, and more and more volunteers signed up to die."

Can You Tell Me A Story...?

When Hip-Hop started as just another sound in the block and just someone rhyming over a funky beat who would now that a few decades later it would be the biggest genre of music. With a title like that you should expect some backlash and that is exactly what hip-hop is getting and has been getting for years. In the late 70's when hip-hop first came to be, people thought it would be gone soon enough. In the 80's when hip-hop really developed itself to a real art, everyone became aware that this was a legit genre of music with many artists having success and the genre becoming bigger. The 80's especially the late 80's are what is considered now the Golden ages and they continued on through the mid nineties, this is when arguably the best music hip-hop music was being released. However the late 80's and mid nineties were also when hip-hop started getting pursued as just another bad influence and negative form of music. This is when groups like N.W.A. (N****Z With Attitude) one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time, started up and caused a ruckus with their songs about rebelling against cops and other controversial topics. This caused a stir all over the country about how can music like this actually be supported and why is it being played on airwaves everywhere. N.W.A. still had some positive songs but the media only wanted to point out their songs which they thought sent a wrong message noteven trying to see the other side of the story. Ultimately cases like this went on through out the best era of the music which only increased it's appeal and popularity. While songs about negativity were being put in the limelight other songs and artists like Public Enemy focusing on positive issues and trying to raise awarness, were still being played and were out there making music. Hip-Hop survived several attempts to try and stop it and it still is going on today.

Currently Hip-Hop is probably the biggest genre in music with several artists and albums coming out frequently and getting major success. However the music has been in a downward spiral being as repetetive and boring as it could possibly be. It's still getting heat for several issues like degrading women and praising drug use and distribution. You can't watch the news without somebody blaiming Hip-Hop for something currently wrong with society like murder or drug use, it seems that it has become the scapegoat for many issues that in reality are part of a bigger picture than just music. As for how will this genre be years from now in the future, well it will probably still be going on strong and poular as ever and maybe by then there will be another genre that's blamed for dumb issues that people don't want to admit are problems in our society and not just being caused by one thing or maybe things will still be the same. Whichever way you look at it, if you agree or disagree or don't really care remember that these topics go way deeper than just nodding your head to your favorite kind of music.

Did I Just Hear That?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjnxWDSQ58Q

In the honor of speaking about how music is used as a scapegoat, I decided to post this video. For people that are malinformed this video would be a dream come true, except that there really isn't anything bad in here. This is a video of Backmasking, backmasking is the process of adding hidden messages on songs by listening to the track backwards some of these are intentional and some are not. Backmasking has been some of the fuel adding strength to the music bashing debate, "This song made my kid into a violent, crazy psychopath" is a common theme, if you will, with backmasking since many of these groups of angry parents or just legislation seems to think that these songs will have an automatic effect on teens or any other person and influence their actions. Truth is that it has never been proven fact that backmasking can influence the mind with hidden backward messages so why all the fuzz? However this video I posted are some of the softest songs with backmasking there are other videos out there with other songs that do have some strange messages that might make you wonder. Anyway it's up to you to decide what your position on this stands. Next time that you're listening to your favorite song and maybe you feel like fighting a grizzly bear or punching a tree or maybe your not affected at all, remember this.

Music?

Music used to be for entertainment and to be enjoyed but recently in the last few years where music has become a focal point, things have changed. Now music is attacked daily by politicians, parents and even the so called listener. Music is one of the biggest industries today so it's only obvious that it will constantly be blamed for problems today. The way industries push their products is almost by shoving it in your face, this is not far from the truth with music, when you might hear over a few dozens times on t.v., radio or on your own personal music player. Censorship, warning stickers are some of the precautions taken on albums against profanity on CD's and only people a certain age can buy a certain album. Is music, just music, or does it have a powerful and lasting effect on the consumer or are people overreacting and forgetting it's just entertainment. Many people are affected by this but it seems that recently in the past few years music has been aimed at the younger children to teenage demographic. Teenagers are some of the biggest music targets and it seems that music industry knows that they will fall for whatever they make hot and appealing at the moment. Are teens really enjoying music or are they taking farther than just entertainment?