MUSIC can profoundly change a society, more rapidly and deeply than any other form of human expression. Music amplified, mass produced and mass promoted has a power that the ancients who wrote of music’s influence on the formation of character could never have imagined.

In 1972, author Bob Larson in his book, The Day Music Died (Creation House, 1972) predicted rock and roll would have overwhelming effects. Rock, he said, disarms the powers of reason, sanity and tranquility. As Janis Joplin wrote before her death from a drug overdose at the age of 27, “I couldn’t believe it, all that rhythm and power. I got stoned just feeling it, like it was the best dope in the world. It was so sensual.”

Larson spoke of teenagers as the main audience for rock, but today that is no longer the case. Adults and even the elderly willingly listen to rock music and everyone is compelled to listen to it in stores, restaurants, offices and practically every kind of public venue.

An excerpt from the book:

As other parts of this book will show, there is a definite ethical and moral connotation to music. The spoken word must pass through the master brain to be interpreted, translated, and screened for moral content. Not so with music—especially with rock music. Such pounding fury can bypass this protective screen and cause a person to make no value judgment whatever on what he’s hearing. Many a teenager says to me, “But I listen to rock all the time and it doesn’t bother me.” My answer is simply that they are in no position to judge whether or not it is affecting them. The effect may be on a subconscious, psychological level. The teenager may be totally unaware of it. Proper discretion in musical tastes should be a serious consideration of everyone.

All music affects the listener psychologically. Why, then, am I indicting rock music specifically? Does it achieve its effect differently? The answer is yes. There is a definite distinction between rock and every other type of music ever written or performed in civilized nations. Some will attempt to equate rock music with jazz, but any such comparison breaks down at one vital point. The key ingredient in jazz is the improvisation of the melody within an established rhythmic framework. A jazz instrumentalist starts his solo at a point where either the group or other soloists have left off. Then he builds his own performance by weaving into it improvised melodies. This requires abundant talent. Unless the performance gets too “far out” the attention of the listener is sharpened by the melodic intrigue.

This is not the case with hard rock. It’s written to be felt rather than heard. It is performed to dull the attention of the listener. It is not the melodic inventiveness or the chromatic arrangement of the chords that interests the average teenager. Rock performers try to produce a “sound” with the dull, steady, heavy, throbbing, mind-deadening beat. And it is this beat that is captivating so many young people making them easy prey for the lyrics. Other types of music could be found guilty or wrong also, but at present rock music is the most damaging to the young contingent of Americans who are preparing to take the leadership of the country in the years ahead.

This subordination of the melody line in rock music to a pulsated rhythm has further psychological consequences. The steady pounding can cause the mind to go into a state of daydreaming in which it loses touch with reality. This in turn causes the dancer or listener to lose touch with the value systems related to reality. Any monotonous, lengthy, rhythmic sound induces various stages of trances. It is quite obvious to any qualified, objective observer that teenagers dancing to rock often enter hypnotic trances. When control of the mind is weakened or lost, evil influences can often take possession. Loss of self-control is dangerous and sinful. In a state of hypnosis the mind of the listener can respond to almost any suggestion given it. Such compulsive behavior is indicated by the rising tide of promiscuity and by the increasing rebelliousness of modern youth.

(pp. 110-11)

— Comments —

Kathy writes:

If I recall correctly, Dave McGowan wrote of his belief that Rock n roll was a strategic hijacking of the organic anti-war folk music movement of the late ’50’s, early ’60’s. And we have seen the hijacking of Country music, so it’s credible. Rock music appears to have run its course, except in situations targeting Boomers, like advertising, or Oldies stations in areas where there  is a large older population.

It also seems to be recycled into movie soundtracks now, like in the Matt Damon movie “The Martian”, perhaps to attempt to repopularize old music for royalty purposes, and to saturate the culture, preventing new, uncontrolled music? We have been progressively advanced from disco, to rap and hip hop, which is nothing but beat, and hypnotic chanting. I have a female relative in her ’70’s who truly loves rap and hip hop, and those performers.

Laura writes:

Thanks.

I should have been clearer. When I speak of “rock,” I include all of what I consider simply variations of it, such as hip hop and rap.

Kathy writes:

Ahh. I can see that. But, to me, rap, especially, is not even music. Most is nearly devoid of anything but rhythm and beat, like primitive native cultures create. I thought the explanation of jazz vs rock was very good, by the way.

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