To conclude, music can be soothing, inspiring, soothing and calming to listeners, but it can destruct and influence listeners in so many different ways and also improves listeners with benefits. Each piece of music or lyrics has its meaning. Therefore, listeners have to know which type of music is most beneficial for them as it is based on personal preferences and also, the kind of music a person chooses to listen should be taken into consideration as well. Also, most teenagers imitate their favorite artist by wearing same clothes as them, copying their lifestyle and everything they do in their everyday life.
To explain, teenagers who mimic their favorite artist do not show proper behaviors in their life. For example, a teenager may start smoking or drinking alcohol and start doing drugs since their favorite artist is doing same. Furthermore, most music videos contain explicit content like strong language, the depiction of sex, violence and the use of substance abuse which can reflect significant changes in the behaviors of viewers.
Teenagers who watch much hip-hop or rap music videos that contain violent acts, sex, drugs and much more are more likely to behave hostile towards parents and even friends, threat women more aggressively and influences their attitude more negatively. released by Marilyn Manson “ The Reflecting God.” : “ Who said date rape is not kind the housewife I will beat I slit my teenage wrist each thing I show you is a piece of my death/shoot motherfucker no salvation no forgiveness this is beyond your experience/forgiveness”.
Looking at these lyrics, it contains strong language and does not carry useful messages to listeners. However, some music lyrics relates to sex, drugs, and violence, particularly in rap music. Rap music has shown to be the most genre showing many violent contents. Most rap music does not carry the useful message to listeners and has effects on children`s and adolescent`s behavior and emotions as well.
Considering the first two lyrical lines of the recent best-selling album Moreover, music can serve as a motivation to listeners and also helps children in learning. Some music artists talk about what they have been through when they were going through mysterious affliction and thought all hope was lost help suddenly came out of the blue. Motivational music gives hope to depressed and vulnerable teenagers or listeners in the society and can also save such people from committing suicide since the lyrics carry the excellent and inspiring message to help build up their self-confidence. Again, some student listens to music to reduce distraction when studying since studies show that listening to good music helps to create a comfortable atmosphere and also improves concentration. “Music helps children more effectively through rhythm and rhymes” (Lucas). For example, in nursery school, children are thought how to say ABC`s by singing it which allows them to learn more efficiently. An article by Tobias Breitmeyer in “The Guardian” studied groups of students and how listening to different types of music affected them.
In the study, one group listened to pro-social music and acted kinder and more empathetic than those who listened to songs with neutral lyrics or those that did not have any message in their words. In other words, music can allow people to be kind to each other. “Music can help people to take their mind off of physical pain and can also help them cope with some ailments” (Dr. Mary Williams). Some hospitals use music to help with depression, pain management, calm patients and ease muscle pain. Music can be used as a therapy or medical treatment to help people who suffer from stroke, cancer and other mental illness like depression, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). To explain, music therapists find myriad advantages in using music to help people with mental disorders, children who have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and other conditions to help them improve physically and mentally regarding their health issues. According to an article.
The University of Hampshire by Mark Kastner, Henry Holt and company 1996( par11), music could also be helpful in releasing memories or negative feelings that may have repressed which can help to change behaviors and affect behavioral issues. For instance, if a person who is suffering from PSTD has flashbacks of an incident that occurred when they were shot, listening to music can help them to be distracted or release their pain. Music is an inseparable part of everyone’s lives and has countless ways which can affect listeners. There are so many ways in which different types of music or lyrics can influence listeners, or people of any age be it young or old. Some of how music can affect listeners are, music can be used as a therapy to help people, good music motivates listeners, helps children to learn, and the effects of rap music on young people and listeners. How Music/Lyrics Might Reflect or Influence the Behaviors of Listeners February 28, 2018