The Power of Music

I was fortunate to be invited to the Elton John / Billy Joel concert in Oakland this weekend with amazing seats in the 10th row.

It is hard to communicate the incredible power that music has. I forgot how instantaneously the sound could put me in a time machine and zap me back to the Truax's Drug Store where I bought my first album ever at about age 13 - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player. Or, hearing Tindy Dancer and zooming back to a basement in the summer with a pool table and falling in love for the first time.

The memories were vivid; complete with emotion..stirring,intense and confusing even.

I could not help but think that if this power were something other than "Crocodile Rock" or "Uptown Girl" (LOL) what could it inspire in a person's mood; in their emotions and in their actions.

I know that there is no legal culpability for musicians - it's not Billy Joel's fault that some of his music makes me cry - but that doesn't diminish the power it may have in any individual and if the content is dark and it leads to... I think you know what I'm saying.

Now, I've just equated what SKR does to actual music. For the listener, I guess it has the same intense meaning that Tiny Dancer does for me.

I think what the kid was listening to matters; not legally, but it cannot be ignored.

ziggy wrote:I was fortunate to be invited to the Elton John / Billy Joel concert in Oakland this weekend with amazing seats in the 10th row.

It is hard to communicate the incredible power that music has. I forgot how instantaneously the sound could put me in a time machine and zap me back to the Truax's Drug Store where I bought my first album ever at about age 13 - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player. Or, hearing Tindy Dancer and zooming back to a basement in the summer with a pool table and falling in love for the first time.

The memories were vivid; complete with emotion..stirring,intense and confusing even.

I could not help but think that if this power were something other than "Crocodile Rock" or "Uptown Girl" (LOL) what could it inspire in a person's mood; in their emotions and in their actions.

I know that there is no legal culpability for musicians - it's not Billy Joel's fault that some of his music makes me cry - but that doesn't diminish the power it may have in any individual and if the content is dark and it leads to... I think you know what I'm saying.

Now, I've just equated what SKR does to actual music. For the listener, I guess it has the same intense meaning that Tiny Dancer does for me.

I think what the kid was listening to matters; not legally, but it cannot be ignored.

I agree. I need to see more live shows. In the past year I've only seen two. The surviving members of The Grateful Dead playing with Warren Haynes as The Dead. It was just like old times. I saw those guys play 25 times before Garcia died. The other band I saw, in a super small venue, was Gov't Mule (also Warren Haynes who also plays with the Allman Brothers). It was amazing.

ziggy wrote:I was fortunate to be invited to the Elton John / Billy Joel concert in Oakland this weekend with amazing seats in the 10th row.

It is hard to communicate the incredible power that music has. I forgot how instantaneously the sound could put me in a time machine and zap me back to the Truax's Drug Store where I bought my first album ever at about age 13 - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player. Or, hearing Tindy Dancer and zooming back to a basement in the summer with a pool table and falling in love for the first time.

The memories were vivid; complete with emotion..stirring,intense and confusing even.

I could not help but think that if this power were something other than "Crocodile Rock" or "Uptown Girl" (LOL) what could it inspire in a person's mood; in their emotions and in their actions.

I know that there is no legal culpability for musicians - it's not Billy Joel's fault that some of his music makes me cry - but that doesn't diminish the power it may have in any individual and if the content is dark and it leads to... I think you know what I'm saying.

Now, I've just equated what SKR does to actual music. For the listener, I guess it has the same intense meaning that Tiny Dancer does for me.

I think what the kid was listening to matters; not legally, but it cannot be ignored.

i bolded the text, and i believe this is very true. i love most music myself, and sometimes one can really absorb into it and do something with its inspiration. unfortunately, should they find that the music sam absorbed himself into had a big influence into his actions, that would be sad to follow thru with what he listend to as his reality. it is ironic that what he sang about became his reality.

of course there are no arguments against the power of music but I believe whatever you get out of it ,the kind of emotions depend on the listener ,not the music,people kill every day,I'm sure some listened to Elton or to Billy......

very true ,,, but i believe it was a part of the 'influences' that helped him do what he did.
i could be way off too.
i love music, and its good for relaxing, or if i am in a rebellious mood, i could do loud rock/classic rock, or what it was once called that good old psychedelic (sp) rock! i loved disco, was dubbed a disco queen in the day, lol, then came techno and progressive trance, i love that!!!! music can set a mood in me, that's for sure, but not to kill though.
i don't believe it is the sole factor in sam's life that got him to kill. he could have been a country/western fan and killed, u know?

exactly...that's what gets me,when this first hit the media everyone was just pointing out that he was a "horrorcore rapper",first of he was not exactly a rapper himself and people kill everyday,like today everything was about that professor killing her faculty members,noone was reporting "professor bla bla bla who was a fan of classical music (or whatever) and just sang "happy birthday" to her son the other day (not really,but could have)...I'm just saying only when it's a certain type of music it gets blown up by the media and that's what upsets me..

maunsapt wrote:

ziggy wrote:I was fortunate to be invited to the Elton John / Billy Joel concert in Oakland this weekend with amazing seats in the 10th row.

It is hard to communicate the incredible power that music has. I forgot how instantaneously the sound could put me in a time machine and zap me back to the Truax's Drug Store where I bought my first album ever at about age 13 - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player. Or, hearing Tindy Dancer and zooming back to a basement in the summer with a pool table and falling in love for the first time.

The memories were vivid; complete with emotion..stirring,intense and confusing even.

I could not help but think that if this power were something other than "Crocodile Rock" or "Uptown Girl" (LOL) what could it inspire in a person's mood; in their emotions and in their actions.

I know that there is no legal culpability for musicians - it's not Billy Joel's fault that some of his music makes me cry - but that doesn't diminish the power it may have in any individual and if the content is dark and it leads to... I think you know what I'm saying.

Now, I've just equated what SKR does to actual music. For the listener, I guess it has the same intense meaning that Tiny Dancer does for me.

I think what the kid was listening to matters; not legally, but it cannot be ignored.

i bolded the text, and i believe this is very true. i love most music myself, and sometimes one can really absorb into it and do something with its inspiration. unfortunately, should they find that the music sam absorbed himself into had a big influence into his actions, that would be sad to follow thru with what he listend to as his reality. it is ironic that what he sang about became his reality.

There is a big difference between being driven to tears and being driven to murder four people. There's no real scientfic evidence that music or any sort of sound can drive a person to commit such acts.

It is also less than clear whether the music is the cause or the effect here. Correlation does not always imply causation. Finally, I note Sam also watched horror movies and read novels about serial killers in addition to listening to horrorcore. It seems hard to single the music out as a proximate cause IMO.

I previously wrote some more about this here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4320266&postcount=522

precisely what i've come to the conclusion myself. i believe there are a number of factors that have played into his crime. whatever fed into his psyche really is probably what happened. i do believe delving into the occult like what you have posted many times in the websleuth site can be a huge influence if you are not sure what you are getting into. could be his upbringing as well.
music can inspire someone, but, there is not a scientific proof that it can send you to a world of crime.
although, my son did a science experiment, in which we had a few plants of the same kind, one group exposed to rock, one to rap, one to easy listening, one to classical. the rock group did not flourish at all. it was a rather interesting science experiment. the rap didn't help either. the classical was beethoven, and the plants loved it.

Beethoven rocks !

claudicici wrote:Beethoven rocks !

Oh hell yeah! And so does Malmsteem! I haven't played him in forever. You've inspired me to put some on. Specifically:

Oh the power of music!
Horrorcore still has a long way to go to catch up with what was going on 40 years ago. A lot of kids have survived listening to this stuff.

Arthur Brown from 1971.



or 50 years ago

Screaming Jay Hawkins

I've never heard of arthur brown,didn't know Kiss stole their make up ideas...anyways all music comes from classical so that "scientific" experiment mel's kid did was a hoax I think,that teacher probably let the rock and rap plant die on purpose just my guess to prove a point...

Indeed lots of people listen to lots of weird strange music and grow up reasonably normal.

I used to listen to a lot of stuff like this (Caution: some of you may HATE this!):

ericclimbs wrote:
I used to listen to a lot of stuff like this

Edited to add that I still listen to stuff like this. . .

claudicici wrote:I've never heard of arthur brown,didn't know Kiss stole their make up ideas...anyways all music comes from classical so that "scientific" experiment mel's kid did was a hoax I think,that teacher probably let the rock and rap plant die on purpose just my guess to prove a point...

or a coincidence or mistake or whatever. I'd like to do some reserch on this idea. A lot of classical music, when played on an electric guitar, is essentially heavy metal.

if I was a plant I'd be thriving...butthole surfers is beautiful music

Copied from:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1126916/does_music_affect_plant_growth.html?cat=32

"While the effects may be relatively limited, music can indeed affect plant growth to a certain extent if played loudly enough and for a long enough duration. The effects stem not from the music, in and of itself, but from the vibrations which the sound of the music creates. Plants do not "hear" the music or react to it in the way that humans do, but instead their basic biology is simply affected by the vibrations of the sound waves.

What Type of Music Affects Plant Growth Most?

The fact is that it cannot be accurately predicted whether a certain type of music will affect plant growth positively or negatively, because it isn't the music itself that is affecting the plant, only the vibrations. For this reason any type of noise could potentially affect a plant, from spoken words to music--even traffic noise. There is no way of accurately predicting whether any form of noise will help or harm a plant.

Should I Play Music For My Plants to Help Them Grow?

It isn't necessarily a good idea to play music for plants or to speak to them loudly. Doing so could potentially help the plants to grow, but it could also potentially harm them. If you find that speaking to or playing music for your plants is something that is psychologically beneficial to you, it is fine to do so because the process is just as apt to help as it is to harm. If playing music to help your plants grow is a hassle, however, it simply isn't worth it because the end results cannot be anticipated or predicted in any way."

...thanks,eric...just like they say you should play classical music to the baby in your womb...I don't think the kind of music matters I think the baby (or the plant for that matter) knows when someone cares about it ....that's what matters
...just wanted to share one of my idols since I was a little girl nina hagen ,she's almost 60 years old here and still amazing with Apocalyptica

claudicici wrote:...thanks,eric...just like they say you should play classical music to the baby in your womb...I don't think the kind of music matters I think the baby (or the plant for that matter) knows when someone cares about it ....that's what matters
...just wanted to share one of my idols since I was a little girl nina hagen ,she's almost 60 years old here and still amazing with Apocalyptica

I like -- been listening to Nina Hagen song samples on Amazon. Interesting. This is what I hope keeps happening here. I want to be turned on to some new music (new to me, that is, even if it is almost 30 yeras old)

I just fell down the rabbit hole!

Butthole Surfers?Yngwie? now your talkin'! I will have to post a link to one of my bands tunes here someday.
oh yeah and...
I met a guy once who played acdc to his fighting cocks to "make em' mean".

Anyone know how to get back to a readable background? I'd love to have it as simple as possible. It's practically impossible to read anything right now.

heroine is experimenting with the format. Send her a PM. Its been changing for the past 15 minutes

Nigel Tufnel: It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.

Smell The Glove