Postitive Influence of Rock Music free essay sample

It has many positive influences that cannot be seen at a quick glance. Not only has rock affected individuals but society and time altogether. Rock music has had positive influences that stretch across the messages it conveys, its therapeutic values, the media, race, and gender. Rock music is a powerful tool, fueled by the positive messages it carries. Suicide is one of the many problems that society has to deal with. Among the different age groups, teenagers are the most prone to suicide. It happens to be the age group in which rock music appeals to most. Having music filled tit positive messages proves to be very useful. Some rock acts have chosen to write positive songs because they understand how influential their songs can be. After receiving an overwhelming amount of letters from suicidal teens, the band, Good Charlotte, wrote and released a song entitled Doll On. The song and video conveys an anti-suicidal message directed at those thinking about it. We will write a custom essay sample on Postitive Influence of Rock Music or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As stated in the chorus of their song, Hold on, if you feel like letting go. Hold on, it gets better than you know (Good Charlotte). Powerful messages can be translated through the medium and they understood the positive effects their music could have.Embracing the concept, they may have saved many lives. In contrast, many will argue that it there are many dark messages in rock music and may blame it for the unfortunate events leading to the Columbine high school shootings. Instead of addressing plain ignorance, hatred, or access to guns, American society is preferring to blame Americas various genres of youth-oriented music such as heavy metal and gothic-oriented rock for the Colorado high school murders (Lentil). A statement gaining credit only because the teenagers involved happened to listen to rock music.Strong statements that overlook the millions of teenagers out there that listen to rock music and still properly participate in society. Rock music also has a great amount of therapeutic value. It has proven to be a useful emotional outlet, reducing stress and other emotions. Personal experience illustrates how rock music can help drown out the world or provide a soundtrack to a good time. Many confide in rock music for their emotional needs that they cannot find anywhere else. There is a comfort when listening to a song about your specific problem, seeking the understanding that somebody else is feeling the exact same way.The content in rock music tackles many other relatable subjects such as depression, anger, and excitement. The ability to take refuge in the genre has helped with the coping of everyday life. The positive effects of rock music does not limit itself to individuals, but can also be applied as a tool. Bruce Springiness is known to donate money from his concerts to various causes, he also asks his audiences to participate in local food projects (Loving). Willie Nelson has also organized and played concerts to help the struggling farmers of America. A few years ago, a rock concert was held for the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Former Beetles member, Sir Paul McCarty, led the beneficial concert. After just five weeks of planning, the concert raised up to $14 million (Paul McCarty). A preview of how rock music has influenced positively. Rock and roll also provides an exposure to different views. Through rock, people are opened to different ideas and issues that may be overlooked otherwise. Politics are one of the many different views rock music can open a person to. System off Down, a successful and influential rock band recite in Dubos! , one of their newest songs: Modern globalization, coupled with condemnations, unnecessary death, matador corporations, putting your frustrations, with the blinded flag manufacturing consent, is the name of the game, the bottom line is money, nobody gives a f***. 4000 hungry children die per hour, from starvation, while billions spent on bombs, create death showers (System of a Down). Bands such as System of a Down are often charged with lyrics depicting their political views in the world they live in. Rage Against the Machine similarly expressed their views through rock music.They have been known to burn flags at their concerts, not to be malicious, button make their audience aware of freedom of speech and self-expression. Many have followed suit and become more involved with politics through bands like these, showing them that it is okay to be educated in the issues around them. Recently with a push from punk bands, many have taken initiative to vote and get educated in the 2004 elections. Punk rock bands joined together to start a website to further influence and educate their audience called Punter. Com. Although they were biased and stated so, their main goal was also made clear. Our goal is to educate, register and mobile over 500,000 of todays youth as one voice. We plan to use this election as a way to get our fans engaged in politics and evolve our movement into becoming involved locally to affect real change The merging of rock bands and politics is not a new fad or wave; earlier acts such as U, Bruce Springiness, the Clash, and Bob Dylan have all laid the foundation for the integration of the two. Bob Dylan was made famous for his political songs and messages. He was involved in Civil Rights marches and held many benefit concerts going toward causes such as peace in Vietnam. Without such involvement in politics, many would not know as much about it, if any at all. Rock music provides a way to get the message out to millions of people at a time, changing the way people view their world around them and influence them to take action. The genre has helped shape what we see on the media today, specifically television. What some may see as demoralizing, others will see as liberating. Moving away from the shackles of outdated restraints, rock music has helped the movement of media liberation towards a freedom in television that we have only now begun to experience.Elvis Presley was among those early acts that pushed the envelope on what was appropriate for television. During his final appearance on The De Sullivan Show, only his upper body was filmed because his trademark gyrating hips were deemed too risquà ©Ã‚ © for the television audience. As music and television would continue to merge and the popularity of rock music swelling, the musics role would also continue to grow. The content from songs were also proving to fuel the motivation for rock musics involvement in the liberation. Not only were the images becoming more and more risquà ©Ã‚ ©, so were the songs themselves.Men and women alike were finding refuge in the ability to express feelings they could not before. Girl groups sang about longing desire, and fulfillment of fantasies while men sang about flirting and boasting (Riley 36). The combination of sexy lyrics and images forced American television to evolve. Continuing to the late seventies and early eighties, when male rock acts were popular on television, bands would often have songs boasting sex and love with barely dressed women accompanying their videos; however, it became more and more accepted, instead of shunned, because it was what the public wanted to see. The increasing regularity of sexy videos and the battle for ratings further evolved television, with each showing more ND more and trying to top each other in hopes of winning an audience, because without one, there is no opportunity to make money. From there, the content would stem out towards other programs and influencing them as well. FIX, a station on regular cable, has been known to show mild nudity, content previously available only on premium channels. Some may argue that nudity on regular television is demoralizing and that children can watch them, perhaps corrupting them.Though it is an arguable statement, it should be the parents responsibility to monitor what their children watch. There are also options of blocking access to certain channels. As for adults that do not want to be burdened by the material, they always have an option of not watching the program or not watching television at all. Rock music helped nurture the concept of nudity on television, changing what would be shown to future audiences. This is where the controversy appears. Why would barely dressed women be a positive influence? The answer lies in the first amendment.Music videos allowed artists to speak and express themselves. Showing such provocative things only previewed how society was moving long from its conservative roots and rebelling against censorship. Modern rock acts would continue to do the same, further changing what was appropriate to show. During the nineties, a band called Nine Inch Nails emerged. Their video for a song called Crosier was so inappropriate when it debuted that the video could not be shown at all. Later due to publics wants, it would only be shown after midnight and heavily edited on MAT.In the present, anyone can see the video with minor edits to specific scenes. The short timeline captures how the media is still continuing to evolve. Although sock may not have been the reason why the media moved in direction it has, it certainly guided it along. Rock music and its positive influence on the media help defend a fundamental amendment on which the country was first constructed, the first amendment. Rock music has also provided a stage in which different cultures and people can come together. The genre is as diverse as those that participate in it.The mid-1 asss was still a segregated society but as rock music began to rise, opportunities to borrow musical ideas and covering songs from each other helped erase early racial barriers. As Glenn C. Altogether, author of All Shook Up, stated: Rockabilly was also breaking down parochial tastes and promoting a national culture, a phenomenon that seemed entirely salutary to most Americans in the sasss, because they linked an embrace of universal values to racial tolerance and integration (Altogether 48). Bands such as Living Color continued to provide awareness of different cultures when they appeared in the asss.They were an all African-American rock band that had a couple successful hit songs, which helped further pave the way for equality in the genre. They inadvertently stated that it was not just for white acts, in a period when it was rare to see an all black ensemble making rock music. Jim Hendrix, a hugely famous rock icon, was another who helped changed the way people looked at each other. His success and merit is based on his phenomenal ability and his innovative style of guitar playing, not the color of his skin.Thirty-four years after his death, artists of all cultures still try to imitate or incorporate his guitar style and sound. Their success forced people to think differently. The integration of cultures helped people to appreciate qualities in each other hat they might not have before, and in any other timeline of events, would have taken a longer amount of time to accomplish (Altogether 48). Rock music did not only benefit the musicians creating it, but also those that were listening. People began to be judged more on mental and emotional values instead of just physical attributes. When rock and roll was relatively new, it was increasingly common to see black and white youths at rock and roll concerts talking to each other and cheering for the bands (Altogether 48), a scene not common at other events and places. After all those years, mixed audiences still remains common in the rock music world. Just as anywhere else, anyone can be at a concert standing next to each other, an opportunity which rock music helped to provide. Rock music does not stop its influence at race but also gender. It provided a way for women to maintain a presence in an otherwise male dominated society.Female rock artists such as Janis Joplin were looked upon as a feminist heroine. Her existence in rock proved that it was not just for men; similarly how black artists showed rock was not just for whites. Janis Joplin cultivated a following of females and males, although the female audience was affected the most. In her years, she would become a feminist symbol, encouraging and influencing the female public. Janis unintentionally became a heroine because she blurred gender lines and raised gender issues (Rotundity 2).Her personality and looks were not normal for a woman in popular music but she became who she was by being herself, in turn, changed the way men looked at women and how women looked at themselves. The asss brought an all female rock band called Fanny. Fanny was the first all-female rock act to record an entire album for a major record label. They achieved success that was unheard of for a band comprised of all females, opening more doors for other females trying to get in the business. Modern women have now taken on the responsibility to secure a female presence.Over the years, women in bands and entire female bands have become increasingly popular in rock music. Their existence in the market has empowered women to believe in themselves and have made males take notice to them. Particularly, April Laving has been a large impact on girls in the recent years. She encourages girls to find their own identities and become individuals, which many of them have adopted. Artists like her have changed society through the positives influences of rock music. Rock music has had a definable positive influence on individuals and the societies that welcome it. It has conveyed positive messages that speak out to those looking for something to confide in. It also has had a tremendous positive therapeutic value, whether it is providing an escape or celebration. Rock music has helped lead the way to the liberation of the media, specifically television. Most importantly, the genre has contributed to unifying different races and cultures and altering the way society looks at gender. Once excavating the truth it is easy to see how rock music has had an influence; fortunately, it is a positive influence we can all embrace.