Read Between The Frets: The Philosophy of Rock Music

Rock propagates bigotry. Have a favorite band? Someone else does as well and it is probably not the same. Love a specific genre? Bet someone hates that particular kind of music. That’s bigotry right? Bigotry according to dictionary.com¹ is a stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own. Humans are not perfect, even the author of this piece is biased. There is bigotry from people and then there is bigotry from the music.  “Immigrants and faggots/ They make no sense to me/ They come to our country/ And think they’ll do as they please/ Like start some mini Iran/ Or spread some fuckin’ disease”², bigoted no? Admittedly not many bands are like this, but the ones that do can have a great impact. Rock and Roll spreads intolerance inadvertently through the people who utilize it to spread messages of hate, but is not itself necessarily bigoted.

One in a Million Rant

Bias among People

Rock contains myriads of options from which to choose. People will pick genres usually by the time they are teenagers and these tend to crystallize; Growth continues latter on, but it is slower. Once they choose their favorites people become disinclined to keep diversifying, and then stubbornly adhere to their views.  This is illustrated by distinctions caused by accolades such as the American Music Award’s or the Grammy’s awards that further deepen the divide.  These awards while probably representative of the plurality opinion are not always indicative of the views of many others. Websites have been created to argue, discuss and propound personal views about what the author thinks should have happened⁴. This bias that people have about certain genres, artists and music, in the rock scene, leads to the spread of prejudice.

It would be impossible to argue that people are not biased, but those who are disinclined to believe rock is bigoted can argue that being biased is not necessarily being bigoted. Bias is “a particular tendency or inclination, especially (author’s italics) one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.”⁵ According to this definition though, the similarities are quite striking. It seems that it is only a matter of degree. Even this “bias” still engenders bigotry in the listeners. Bias inevitably leads to prejudice against other genres of music.

Bands and their Music

In Rock Music there are always the themes of love, peace and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Supporters of these themes can argue that Rock totally supports tolerance of others, cultivates world peace and brings people together. They can point to certain artists who encourage cooperation and are totally committed to making the world a better place. Proponents can argue that only some bands have a deleterious effect since many songs speak of cooperation and helping each other such as

We are the World

“We’ll send’em you your heart/ So they know that someone cares/ And their lives will be stronger and free/ As God has shown us/ By turning stone to bread/ And so we all must lend a helping hand”³.

As seen from the excerpt of this song, rock promotes peace and love. The help with famine relief in Ethiopia, rock concerts in disaster areas by famous artists, contributions to charitable causes and all other manner of sundry attempts to help improve the world.  It would seem that Rock ‘n’ Roll is a force of good in the world.

All music is not the same as the aforementioned however; there are some bands (actually quite a few) that are spreading messages of hate, violence and bigotry. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), there are over 541 bands that spread this kind of hateful music⁷. For the full list go to: http://www.adl.org/extremism/bands/bands_country.asp.  The list clearly displays that this hatred is an international malaise. These Groups such as Skrewdriver (British) and Resistance Records (American), both of which are hate groups advocate white power, racial purity and intolerance generally and of course all through rock⁷. Despite this though, the argument can be made that these groups merely use rock music as a means to an end. However they still use rock music, with its powerful, emotional beats to recruit young people and thereby promote hatred. The groups’ personal opinions are infused into the music and then they turn around and use the music to influence others. These two groups mentioned are the extreme, but this does not mean that they can be ignored. The ADL published this list in an attempt to combat the growing use of hate music as a way to recruit young people to these extremist causes. These groups are clearly promoting bigotry, and they are reaching some audience otherwise they would not exist.

The previous paragraphs show that rock as a way to promote bigotry is not a one-sided argument. On one side there is the rock music promoting peace, love and Rock ‘n’ roll. Yet on the other side there are the hate bands. When taken as a whole, Rock Music promotes bigotry.  This is because even though there is an opposing side to the themes of hatred and intolerance the bands that advocate these themes also exist in Rock.

Conclusion

Rock Music is contradictory in the messages it sends out. It promotes peace and love and yet at the same time promotes hate and bigotry. However the result is that rock still promotes prejudice. The music itself is only part of the equation. The themes conveyed through the music, depending on the artist can lead to tolerance or bigotry. Rock causes bigotry just by existing because themes conflict within the music. People disagree with one another through music and some sides refuse to negotiate and settle their differences. The main culprits of this disease in rock music are the people who refuse to acknowledge and accept the differences of others. This dissent within rock music is caused by people. People will disagree about anything and people can get stubborn once someone opposes their views. Rock spreads intolerance not because it is itself inherently biased, but because people hold strong beliefs and because some of those people misuse rock as a medium which they use to disseminate hatred.

Works Cited

1. bigotry.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 24 Sep. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigotry>.
2. Album, G N’ R Lies, “One in a million”
3. Album, We are the World, “We are the World”
4. Gaza, Monica, “Post-Grammy Controversy”,http://news.softpedia.com/news/Post-Grammy-Controversy-78530.shtml
5. “bias.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Sep. 24. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bias>.
6. Glen C. Altschuler, All shook Up:How Rock ‘n’ roll changed America
7. ADL,Bigots Who Rock: an ADL List of Hate Music Groups, <http://www.adl.org/extremism/bands/default.asp>.
8. Album, Rhythm of Love, “Rhythm of Love”