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Morals Anyone? [message #91996] Sat, 30 May 2020 19:16 Go to next message
Azuri is currently offline  Azuri
Messages: 315
Registered: November 2012
Grand Master
Not to get too deep or philosophical, but do you think morals come into play with music? When I was growing up, the old timers used to say that "today's music" didn't have any morals to it like theirs did (30's and 40's). Or that it was a bad example for kids who were just learning what morals were.

I thought they were just being old codgers, but now I'm thinking along those same lines. That the music we listened to back in our day (60's and 70's) reflected more of a moral structure than what we hear these days.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #91997 is a reply to message #91996] Sun, 31 May 2020 12:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently online  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I've heard the same complaint about sexually suggestive and/or violent movies, television and video games.

Which begs the question, do sexually suggestive lyrics, videos and games create promiscuous people? Do gay scenes in movies and television create homosexuals? Do violent movies, games and music create violent behaviors? Do they give influences that push people towards said behaviors? Or is it maybe that people that already have a predisposition to certain behaviors are attracted to music, movies and games with those behaviors in them?

I personally think it's a little bit of both. I don't think any of these influences create the behaviors, but I think they might reduce inhibitions. I also think they can generate endorphins that increase sexual and/or violent urges, even in well-adjusted people. That's what the sexually or emotionally charged lyrics and/or scenes are there for - to create an emotional reaction.

People naturally have sexual arousal, they naturally have anger and they naturally have fear. Those are physical responses to certain stimuli. They can even be responses to internal thoughts. So in my opinion, each of these three feelings are natural and good. Our sex drive pushes us to find the right mate. Our fears move us to a safer place. And our angers push us to fix something in our lives that isn't working.

But I think it's really easy to get stuck in those three particular emotions. An obsession with arousal can cause a person to be stuck in an unhealthy pattern, to not be able to let go of a relationship that isn't healthy, or even to get them into date-rape situations. An obsession with fear becomes a phobia, and a person can become paralyzed and never approach the feared thing to solve it, or maybe even never leave the house. An obsession with anger becomes a resentment, and the resentful person tends to hate the world or some aspect of it. They forget how to be grateful for life, have joy and experience love.

I find that when I'm in a "good place," little disturbances don't affect me. I walk through them, so to speak, and easily brush off slight irritations. In that mental place, I'm not particularly interested in hearing any angry music or being around any person or environment that is negatively charged.

But if I have something difficult in my life, perhaps the loss of a loved one that makes me grieve or the loss of health or income in my life of the life of a loved one, then I feel fear and perhaps anger. There are lots of things that can make me feel fear or anger, and I know that time will take care of those things if I "walk through" them and resolve the situation. Sometimes it's just a matter of time. In those cases, I find I just have to accept the situation and wait for time to heal. Other times, I need to take action to resolve the situation. Often times, it's a little of both.

During those times - when I'm uncomfortable, angry or afraid - I find myself more attracted to angry music. It's time to break out some Tool, Metallica or Limp Bizkit. I'm sort of expressing an internal rage through the music. But I usually get sick of it after a while and calm back into a more mellow musical selection. I find it funny, sort of laughing at myself, for my lack of acceptance in those minutes. It's a part of a grieving process, I think.

I could easily get stuck there though, especially if I think someone else has wronged me. I can look at politicians and think how stupid they are. I can get angry at how people look like they follow stupid things blindly. The world looks ugly and dark and stupid. When really, most of what I'm looking at is through the filter or my own inner dialog. And I know that. So that keeps me from getting stuck there. But sometimes I linger a while. Laughing

OK, I've been way too philosophical. How 'bout this for some levity:

https://audioroundtable.com/images/Bitch_Slap.jpg

Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #92002 is a reply to message #91997] Mon, 01 June 2020 08:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rusty is currently offline  Rusty
Messages: 1076
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
That old generation gap thing. Like old man river, keeps rolling along. What was once Devils music, or Race music, dirty music. After the years roll on. Can seem quaint in perspective. Are we that more enlightened? Not bent out of shape, with what caused such a commotion, way back when. I know I'll never be able to appreciate hip-hop, and certainly not death metal music. What will be perverse to the elders of the future? Will they note the disparity of what plagued us old pfarts today and think, you ain't heard nothin' yet. Man, I hope not. I hope life in general isn't so oppressive as to inspire music to reflect that.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #92186 is a reply to message #91996] Wed, 19 August 2020 11:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Vaiger is currently offline  Vaiger
Messages: 102
Registered: December 2012
Viscount
As Wayne said, inhibitions can be loosened. We listen to artists that appeal to us for various reasons. One being, the topics they sing about. So if you are predispositioned to violence, you're going to enjoy songs about violence. Same with love, social issues, etc.....

As the old saying goes "You can't take somebody somewhere that they haven't been to before".
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #92190 is a reply to message #92186] Thu, 20 August 2020 22:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
gofar99 is currently offline  gofar99
Messages: 1895
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hummm.... Good stuff. having achieved through little fault of my own the ripe age of 74 I have discovered a few things. Nothing is permanent. Being mellow is much better than being angry. Smiling and trying to see other people's perspective is always useful...if not to them at least to me. So I take stuff without getting riled up by it and hope to hang in there for a while longer. Rolling Eyes



Good Listening
Bruce
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #92198 is a reply to message #92190] Sat, 22 August 2020 15:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Noise is currently offline  The Noise
Messages: 164
Registered: October 2012
Master
Yep, time does have a way of smoothing out the rough edges Gofar.

But this is the old chicken and egg argument. You have to remember that most musical acts don't do it to become trendsetters. What they do reflects their social circle. I don't really know of anyone who tries to speak for, and affect, the world.

Musicians simply reflect whatever moral structure they live with.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #94606 is a reply to message #91996] Sun, 10 October 2021 05:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Phonetic Ear is currently offline  Phonetic Ear
Messages: 45
Registered: August 2021
Baron
Azuri wrote on Sat, 30 May 2020 19:16

I thought they were just being old codgers, but now I'm thinking along those same lines. That the music we listened to back in our day (60's and 70's) reflected more of a moral structure than what we hear these days.
Seeing the lyrics of some of the songs now, I can see what that post is pointing. Music before expressed more about life and offered more meaning. Indeed artists have different approaches, but we know more important things to put in our song.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #94607 is a reply to message #91996] Tue, 12 October 2021 12:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Concorde is currently offline  Concorde
Messages: 149
Registered: December 2013
Master
Morals come into play, but I don't think it's a conscious thing with the artist unless he or she makes Christian music. It's the people listening to the songs who read morals into the songs.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #94825 is a reply to message #91996] Tue, 16 November 2021 10:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kingfish is currently offline  Kingfish
Messages: 548
Registered: November 2012
Illuminati (1st Degree)
This is a "Chicken or the egg" conundrum. Artists tap into the public consciousness in order to better appeal to the public, the public puts their own personal interpretations into the art the artist is selling, artists then take that change as a shift in public morals and make art that suits that.

Just goes to show just how subjective morals are.
Re: Morals Anyone? [message #95163 is a reply to message #91996] Tue, 01 February 2022 05:43 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
sammi40 is currently offline  sammi40
Messages: 81
Registered: October 2020
Viscount
Wow, great topic. Artists now sing what "sells". To me a lot of it is just plain garbage. If you think back I bet a lot of people said the same thing about the older singers. I bet a lot of parents didn't want their children listening to Johnny Cash.
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