Can music be good and evil?

are you offended?

 

I'm so offended that i just might be affended.

 

Only if that kind of music will turn them into dangerous individuals to themselves and other people..

Having freedom doesn't mean stepping on the freedom and rights of others.

 

Yes, people, there is Evil in this world! You can debate it all you want but understand that serial rapists, serial killers and genocide these things are not life style choices. They are truly evil things and no, if these things were done away with I would not enjoy the world any less. I do not need them to help me enjoy the world. Truth be told, I personally would enjoy the world a whole lot more with out them.

Back to music, I’m sure we’re not saying that we should decide for others what music they should listen to but what about us, should we make decisions about what music to listen to or should we listen to anything we want feeling safe and secure knowing that the same music that “hath charms to soothe a savage breast” has no effect on us?

 

to an extent, yeah. it really can be good or evil. it strongly depends on the person though.. how they take the music to mean, how literal, if they take it to heart or just like the beat, can determine how good or bad it is for each individual. its not just good or just bad, though. dark music isnt going to make someone turn bad over night, but it could a leading factor over an extended period of time. again, it just depends on the circumstance. its mostly just parents being afraid for their children becuz i think as parents, they want the best for them.
thats what i think on this subject matter, at least.
peace

 

you could definatly say there is darker music, but evil i dont see where your coming from

 

Well, if you believe in Ying & Yang, for music, like all things, good and evil are "2 sides of the same medal" as the ancient civilizations used to say.....one cannot thrive without the other!!

 

The conception of what is good or evil is relative,in my opinion.
Talking about music, people can feel different feelings when they're listening it. For example,theres some kind of music that is more romantic and calm, i know some people that likes to listen it and at the same time i know people who feels depressive when hear it and prefer faster beats. So in this case, the song would be "evil" for one of the persons,because it would make her feel bad,but it wouldnt affect the other.
Sometimes the music is not evil in the beggining but it can turn in a bad way,depending of what will happen to you. Maybe a girl loves a song because its her song with her boyfriend that she loves a lot. But then this girl break up with him because he hurt her,so this song will bring bad thoughts in her head because she will remember him,and in the end the song will be evil for her.
Anyway,what i mean is: what you feel with a song is a result of your mind state, everybody has a different head,with different emotions,and each one will have your own way of get the message.
The problem is not the music,but the person. The same thing with videogames, in the beggining people wanted to say that it was making young boys develop tendences to be violent,kill people,etc; but the problem was not the games,it was just not the right thing for people who are predisposed to be agressive,but at the same time there was lots of normal boys who could play it the whole day and keep living a "good life".

 

I think it depends on the spirit behind the music.

 

I reckon what I was getting at with this thread was do ya think that certain chords put together in a certain pattern could conjure up evil spirits or forces because of the actual sequence of the chords. I think I once saw a movie about this sort of think where when a guy played certain chords on a organ it invoked evil upon himself. I also read a story at some point that spoke of same type of thing. In my experience music has always made me feel good or helped cheer me up when I was feeling bad. In my experience when I used to write horror stories way back when it seemed things would happen in my life that I did not like such as nightmares and such. Once I even felt like evil was trying to overpower me. At this point I stopped such practices. I was just wondering if the same happened with music. Kind of like Kiwi had written about the spirit behind the music.

 

I don't believe in 'devil chords' or anything that suddenly make you go evil the moment you hear it. Music can change your mood easily, of course, but 'evil' is a character trait and a person's character can not be changed so suddenly and so thoroughly just by playing him a chord.

 

I'm beginning to enjoy this discussion about music.

So here’s another 2 cents worth;

I don’t think that one chord or even one song can turn a person into a raving madman but what if that same chord, song or genre of music was listened to repeatedly? Could it have the same effect as water on a stone? No matter how hard or soft the stone, one drop would have no effect but how about many drops over a long period of time? Should we also be concerned about the long term effects on our personalities and use music to guide us to be who we want to be or just let music take us where ever and hope for the best?

 

I do the latter. I'll listen to anything if I like it, no matter how good or evil it sounds. Luckily I listen to a wide range of music, both very bright and happy music and darker sounding stuff. I guess If you keep listening to only music that has the same mood it may slowly change your personality accordingly.

However, the original poster was talking about a sudden change, not a gradual one. If there were chords like that it would be known. I mean, music is everywhere, but people don't regularly just turn evil. Wouldn't people at some concerts suddenly all go on a killing spree?

 

Hi hailtothekingbaby,
After reading your post I went back and reread the original post to see if it was talking about a slow or sudden change. It seemed to leave it open. Especially after reading the quote by Olderwaterbrother, which talked about the decline of a kingdom which generally doesn’t happen over night.

But for discussions’ sake let’s take your question; “Wouldn't people at some concerts suddenly all go on a killing spree?” I would ask what about “The Altamont Speedway Free Festival” which is sometimes said to mark the end of the innocence embodied by Woodstock? I’m sure that you know that this is not the only concert that has been marred by violence. Where as I can’t seem to think of a single symphony concert marred by violence in recent history.

Just wondering what you think.

 

You're right, I guess. I interpreted this...

...as a sudden change but after rereading it I'm not sure why I thought so, either.

I think the fact that violence occurs at rock shows and not at classical concerts is because of the format of the show and the people it attracts. Symphony concerts are usually visited by people who come only for the music. And they tend to have fixed seats, so it's never too crowded, and no one's walking around looking for trouble. When you're sitting in rows there's much less reason or opportunity to start a fight. With rock shows, people are standing up and can walk, dance or jump around, bumping into each other... and it's often very crowded, so reason enough for irritations, especially with a lot of people getting drunk and using drugs (as far as I know that's not so common with classical music).

And at big free festivals especially, you'll see a lot of people who only come to make trouble. Plus, there's often a lot of police involved, and if trouble starts and the police intervenes, huge riots may develop.

I'm sure you'll agree that the trouble at Altemount wasn't caused because Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones play such evil music.

 

Rock-n-roll should be 'good bad, but not evil' just like the Shangri Las said.

 

I don’t know the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones have been troubling me for years and the Rolling Stones play that evil song “Sympathy for the Devil”!

Just kidding, I kinda like that song myself. I like the idea that maybe it’s time to stop blaming the Devil for what we do and take responsibility for our own actions.

That’s an interesting thought about the differing formats also perhaps the age difference as well, older people generally don’t like to fight as much. That still begs the question why are violent people drawn to rock but not classical music?

 

I don't know if you have seen or read A Clockwork Orange, but the main person of that story is VERY violent, and a VERY big fan of Beethoven.

On the whole, you're right. I don't know why this is. Maybe (most) rock is more instant gratification than classical. And most young people think classical music is boring by default and never listen to it if they can avoid it.

Of course being violent and being 'evil' are not the same...

 

well put

 

fuck yeah listen to jimi hendrix, marc bolan or Johnny thunders. (Evil)