(Rolling Stone, Aug. 22, 1975 p 15). Sometimes, this type of frantic behavior at rock concerts leads to killings. All week long before this carnage, Thomas had been humming a rock song about blood and killing your mother. Different forms of violence are on the increase in rock music. For example in a song titled "I Kill Children" by rock group Dead Kennedy we hear "I kill children, I love to see them die. I kill children to make their mothers cry. I kill children, I bang their heads in doors. Just kill and kill again. One study revealed that of the 700 most popular songs of "heavy metal," 50% speak of killings, 35% of Satanism and 7% about suicide. Some rock music composers preach suicide - sometimes through hints and sometimes directly. For example, Ozzy Osbourne's song, "Suicide Solution" advocates suicide: "Suicide - this is the only way out..." In "Suicide's an Alternative" the following is sung: "Sick of life - it sucks / sick and tired - no one cares / sick of myself - don't wanna live / sick of living - gonna die / suicide's an alternative." "Sacrifice your life and commit suicide. Educational psychologist, Dr. Hannelore Wass, considered an expert on death and dying, indicated that while only 17% of teenagers listen to music containing manifestly destructive contents, among the youthful criminals this figure reaches 40%. (Wass, et. al, "Adolescents' Interest" p. 186, sampled 700 adolescents. The themes were: homicide, suicide and Satanism. The very names of some "heavy metal" groups also known as "death metal," glorify death and speak of destruction. Here are some samples: "Blessed Death," "Carnivore," "Coroner," "Destruction," "Mace," "Malice," "Overkill," "Rotten Corpse," "Sacrifice," Violence etc. (Cf. Dave Hart, "Heavy Metal Madness," Media Update, July/Aug. 1989 p. 5)
."Rock Music and Violence." OthordoxPhotos. OrthodoxPhotos, 2010. Web. 19 Mar 2011. <http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/rock/violence.shtml>.
!!BE THE SOLUTION AND NOT THE PROBLEM!!
I am a huge music fan. I grew up listening to rock, rap, hip-hop, r & b, alternative, and gospel. Unfortunately, most of these genres of music are violent. My questions are, "Are the artists simply reflecting the violence that the teenagers created themselves, or did the music create the violence within the teenagers? Is art a reflection of society, or is society a reflection of art?"
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