The Societal Power of Music
Bono, the lead singer of Dublin-based rock
band U2, asserts that ‘music can change the world because it can change people
(Morreale 295),’ and indeed it does – both positively and negatively.
Commanding the potential to transcend all boundaries of communication, music is
one of the world’s most influential cultural forces. As Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow
states, it is the ‘universal language of mankind (Morreale 294).’ Those, then,
that can successfully harness its power can influence the beliefs of
individuals significantly, and there is one group of individuals that is often
affected in particular: adolescents. Helping them to ‘create a personal
identity’ as they provide ‘information about society, social and gender roles,
and expected behaviour’ (Martino Exposure)
in their work, musicians can become a young person’s role model. On the website LAyouth, for instance, 18 year-old Nancy Berabe
writes that Bob Marley’s reggae music is what she looks for ‘every
time I need some uplifting,’ motivating her ‘to overcome the tough times I
encounter each day (Music).’ Indeed,
after being reprimanded for not attending school once when she was 13, Nancy says
that it was Marley’s lyrics: ‘There you are crying again / But your loveliness
won’t cover your shame’ from ‘Stand Alone’ that
made her ‘reflect’ (Music) on her
actions and thus ‘encouraged’ (Music)
her to attend classes each day. The changeable impact musicians can have
over adolescents subsequently brings about a degree of responsibility in regard
to what message(s) they communicate through their lyrics and music videos – a
prominent issue in British society today. However, before examining the UK’s
contemporary music culture (which shall be done later on in this article) it is
important to understand in what ways music has previously affected adolescents
of the modern world as it will
provide a further insight into the subject of this article: the power of
contemporary music over the UK’s youth.
The
societal power of music worldwide: 1945 – 1989
The origin of modern music arguably began with a man
born in Tupelo on the 8th
of January, 1935, who grew to become ‘the best-selling solo artist in the
history of popular music’ (Victor 598): Elvis Presley. When he sparked the
inception of the Rock ‘n’ Roll revolution
with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ in January 1956, the first of his 18 US
number one singles, Elvis Presley could never have envisioned the profound
impact his music would have on the rest of the world. Influenced by
African-American blues musicians such as B. B. King and Ivory Joe Hunter, his
distinct sound (along with his knee-swinging, leather-jacketed image) signified
a step away from the more mainstream swing musicians of the time, altering both
the music industry and American society irrevocably. ‘He bought together American music,’ Rolling Stone magazine states, ‘from both sides
of the color line and performed it with a natural sexuality that made him a
teen idol and role model for generations of cool rebels (Kemp
Elvis).’ Consequently, he attracted younger, more zealous fans
than any other preceding male artist in the 20th century – even
Frank Sinatra, and his societal impact gave the American youth ‘a
belief in themselves as a distinct and somehow unified generation—the first in
America ever to feel the power of an integrated youth culture (Jezer 281).’
Elvis Presley’s music, then, is perhaps the first major instance in recent
history of music empowering adolescents on a widespread scale. Forging a future
away from the country’s wretched experiences in the 1940s, a decade that
included World War II and the Great
Depression, he became the slick-haired symbol of
America’s youth, and his overwhelming popularity among them foreshadowed
similar fan phenomena later on in the century – Beatlemania,
for instance.
During the early 1960s in
the UK, The Beatles broke into
the UK’s music scene with their first commercially successful single: ‘Please Please
Me,’ and by the end of 1963, just six years after
John Lennon first formed the skiffle group that would eventually become the
most successful music act in history (Costello 100),
they had gathered an unprecedented number of dedicated young fans – mostly
screaming teenage girls. Like Elvis Presley’s rock ‘n’ roll revolution, one of
the genres in which The Beatles’ music style was initially rooted, The Beatles had
a remarkable impact on its younger listeners – they even made basin haircuts
seem stylish for some time. In the UK, they represented part of the younger
population’s dismissal of the ‘prejudices and uptight attitudes’ (Hecl 8) of
the country’s patriarchal generation, a Victorian-age generation that had
previously oppressed any major outbreak of youthful spirit, and the band’s
lyrics sometimes reflected the social revolution of the Swinging
Sixties. In ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ for
instance, a narrative song from the album ‘Revolver’ (1966), Paul McCartney sings about a spinster who has a ‘face that
she keeps in a jar by the door,’ and he challenges Eleanor Rigby’s conceit, a
characteristic stereotypical of the prudish Victorian period,
pointedly asking: ‘Who is it for?’ B
By 1964, when
the Beatles were enrapturing American teenagers into fits of euphoria as they
embarked on the US, the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, then 22 years-old, also
broke into the country’s music industry, an artist who successfully used the
influence of his folk-inspired music as a vehicle for societal change, notably
the US Civil Rights Movement. His many
protest songs, such as ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’
became some of the movement’s most famous anthems, successfully capturing the
growing frustrations of the United States’ repressed African-American
population. With Dylan publicly requesting that senators and
politicians ‘please heed the call (for racial equality)' in another celebrated
Civil Rights anthem, ‘The Times They
Are a-Changing,’ the movement instigated the passing
of several crucial, society-changing laws (such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965). These laws paved the way for
African-Americans' improved social freedom, granting them a new opportunity for
self-expression without fear of punishment for doing so. Inevitably, perhaps
due to the fact it was so influential during their determined fight against
racial prejudice, one of the primary means through which they expressed
themselves following the Civil Rights movement was music – particularly
adolescents. During the 1970s, originating from African-American communities
within New York such as the Bronx and Brooklyn, rap music emerged as an important
part of the hip hop sub-culture that empowered young members of its community with
‘a mode of alternative cultural style’ and thus ‘a potent form
of cultural identity’ (Best & Kellner Enculturation).
However, with the arrival of Run-D.M.C, De La Soul and MC Hammer – some of the
most critically and commercially successful hip-hop acts of the 20th
century (who were all young men when they emerged onto the hip hop scene), the
late 1980s was the period in which rap music’s popularity truly began to
prosper. De La Soul’s debut album, ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ (1989), was
described by some critics as a ‘hip hop masterpiece’ (Serilla 3); then it was voted ‘Album of the
Year’ (De La Soul) by NME magazine –
an award that arguably marked the breakthrough of young African-Americans’
music into the popular music industry just decades after the Civil Rights Act
was passed.
The power
of contemporary music in the UK:
Whether
it is rock and roll, folk, pop or hip-hop, therefore, music has consistently
been a changeable force for young people in the modern world. Elvis Presley,
The Beatles and Bob Dylan demonstrate how music can inspire change among
adolescents. As 17 year-old Mark Riviera says: ‘popular opinion
controlled my ideas until I heard Bob Dylan sing, “Gonna change my way of
thinking/ Make myself a different set of rules” (Music That Inspired Us). However, most evident in how
young African-Americans channeled their societal freedom into the hip-hop
movement, adolescents can equally inspire change in music. With reason, then,
one can assume that the same reciprocal relationship between music and society
still exists today, subsequently influencing adolescents in a similar fashion
to how they have been in the past. Rather than embracing their influence over them, though, some musicians
(such as Tulisa Contostavlos and Flo Rida) in the UK’s popular music industry
abuse the power their music has granted, advocating feckless behaviour to their
adolescent fans through their music. Regardless of whether they do so
intentionally or not, Tulisa and Flo Rida both promote binge drinking in their
respective singles: ‘Live It Up’ and ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ – one of the UK’s most dangerous (and
common)
nightlife activities. In the short term, for instance, it can substantially
increases the risk of some heart conditions, damage to the oesophagus and brain
damage – with evidence suggesting that adolescents are particularly vulnerable
to its effects (Medical
4); and in the long
term, a UK study found that binge drinking in adolescence
was associated with increased risk of health, social, educational and economic
adversity continuing into later adult life. (Medical 4) How, then, do Tulisa and Flo Rida manage to advocate
such hazardous behaviour to their listeners, particularly with most of them
likely to be adolescents?
By definition of the
Oxford English Dictionary, binge drinking is ‘the consumption of an excessive
amount of alcohol in a short period of time.’ Consequently, there is an
unequivocal correlation between the definition of binge drinking and some of
the lyrics and video content of Tulisa’s ‘Live It Up,’ the second single taken
from her debut album. Throughout the song, Tulisa, a 24 year-old singer-songwriter who
originally found fame with the Camden-based hip-hop group N-Dubz, sings on three
occasions: ‘put something in your cup/ Too much is not enough,’ a lyric that,
along with the song’s opening line: ‘We should pop more champagne this year,’
firmly suggests alcohol is something that can be consumed excessively. The image of a
young woman being held upside down as she drinks from the spear of a beer keg
then provides evidence
of alcohol being consumed in a short period of time. The Urban Dictionary
defines this stunt as a Keg Stand: ‘the
act of guzzling alcohol in an inverted position in massive quantities, with
onlookers cheering.’ It also explains why the young girl, who does indeed
appear to be surrounded by cheering onlookers, is upturned in the video: ‘there
is a common myth that by being positioned upside-down during the consumption of
beer, the alcohol will reach the brain more quickly (though this is anatomically
imimpossible given that the beer must reach the stomach first).’ In
September 2012, Tulisa described herself as ‘an inspiration for broken Britain
(Glennie and Thomas Tulisa pays tribute)’
– yet how can she be an inspiration whilst she advocates such an irresponsible
attitude towards alcohol? Her portrayal of binge drinking as a socially
acceptable behaviour could have a changeable impact on how adolescents regard
alcohol consumption. It might even encourage them to binge drink themselves, a
serious issue that already exists: young people in the UK have ‘some of the
highest levels of teenage binge drinking, drunkenness and alcohol related problems
in Europe (Smithers UK Teenagers).’
By singing ‘put something in your cup/ Too much (alcohol) is not enough,’ Tulisa
is promoting a serious societal issue among adolescents, therefore. As one mother of a teenage boy says: ‘Tulisa
has the enviable power to promote the message that you don’t have to drink to
have a good time – yet she doesn’t, sadly. Her lyrics and music video (in ‘Live
It Up’) are simply not appropriate; nor are they helpful for a parent, like me,
who is trying to teach a young adult to drink responsibly.’
Like Tulisa, rap musician Tramar Dillard is one of the most commercially
successful artists in the UK’s music industry today, recently outselling even
the likes of Eminem, Jay-Z and Kanye West
– three giants of the hip-hop industry. More commonly known by his stage name, Flo
Rida, he is perhaps the most notable male artist in popular music to advocate
binge drinking to adolescents in the UK today. His lyrics and music videos
frequently romanticize alcohol in a similar fashion to how gangster rap
sometimes romanticizes violence,
portraying it as a relatively harmless substance that only instigates more
enjoyment. In one of his most successful songs, ‘Club Can’t Handle Me,’ the shot of young men and women raising over ten
champagne bottles in the air can be seen; then he raps about how he ‘can’t stop
now, more shots, let’s go.’ When asked about the video by MTV, Flo Rida responded:
‘if you've ever dreamed about having the biggest party of your life, “Club
Can't Handle Me” definitely represents that. (A) lotta energy. (A) lot of
diamonds, (and) ice sculptures (Bhansali Flo Rida).’ However, whilst
the ice sculptures can be seen for just one fleeting moment at the video’s very
beginning, alcohol features on nearly twenty occasions – most of which are
shots of young individuals ‘outta control’ dancing with opened bottles of
champagne in their hands in a launderette they have invaded – and there is no
sign of what is usually considered to be the appropriate vessel out of which to
drink champagne, or any other alcohol for that matter: a glass. Like the shot
of a young girl performing a Keg Stand in ‘Live It Up,’ then, this scene
suggests to its audience that alcohol can be consumed excessively, a substance
that has been described by one former government drugs adviser (cite) as the
‘most dangerous drug in the UK by a considerable margin’ – even ‘more harmful
than heroin or crack’ (Boseley Alcohol). Ofcom, the UK’s regulatory authority, states it has an
official duty ‘with regard to all programmes, including music videos (whatever
the genre), to: ensure that under-eighteens are protected; and enforce
generally accepted standards…to provide adequate protection for members of the
public from the inclusion of offensive and/or harmful material (Broadcast 7)’. Surely, then, ‘Club Can’t
Handle Me’ and ‘Live It Up,’ both easily accessible and uncensored music videos
that suggest binge drinking does not cause violence,
unprotected sex and vomiting, are
harmful material to children and young members of the public?
In April 2011, Ofcom deemed Flo Rida’s lyric: ‘You want some more baby? I love the way you
do it cos you do it so crazy’ in ‘Turn around
(5,4,3,2,1) (Broadcast 5)’ as ‘unsuitable’ due to its breaching of rule 1.3
– even though ‘it does
not contain an explicit sexual reference, it ‘is ambiguous in its meaning, and
is unlikely to be understood by children as specifically referring to sex’ (Protecting 11). In Tulisa’s ‘Live It Up’
and Flo Rida’s ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’, though, there is nothing ambiguous about
the implied meaning of the contentious issue they promote. In the lyrics: ‘Put
something in your cup/ Too much is not enough’ and ‘Can’t stop now, more shots,
let’s go’ they are specifically referring to drinking alcohol – excessively. Ofcom
only considered ‘Turn around (5,4,3,2,1)’ as inappropriate because the
quoted lyric is ‘combined with clear, sexualised images (for example, women in
sexual positions) (Protecting 11)’. In
‘Live It Up’ and ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’, there are two specific instances of
clear images that advocate binge drinking: the shot of a young girl performing
a Keg Stand, and the scene of young people dancing with opened bottles of
champagne in their hands. Both songs’ lyrics and music video content, therefore,
surpass what Ofcom regards as inappropriate in other contentious aspects of
music videos. There seems, however, to be no significant concern surrounding
the issue of inappropriate portrayals of alcohol in most of Ofcom’s recent
studies. In August 2011, for example, they researched into parents’ concerns on
pre-watershed programming, including music videos. Staggeringly, whilst terms
relating to sexually explicit content feature over seventy times, binge
drinking is not mentioned once in the 26-page study.
The
concern of parents about sexual content in music videos should not be
criticized, however. Ofcom should be deservedly applauded for the effort they
have made to purge such content from mainstream music videos, too. In this
instance, the issue is that parents simply do not seem to be aware of the fact
their children are still being exposed to equally disconcerting matters.
Excessive amounts of alcohol often appear alongside images of scantily clad
individuals in music videos. Parents watching them may not take note of the
alcohol, focusing instead on the more noticeable sexual content (which might
explain the surprising lack of concern from parents about alcohol abuse in Ofcom’s
research). For a child or adolescent who watches the video on several
occasions, though, the images of alcohol being consumed excessively may well be
inadvertently noted. With a recent survey of secondary school head
teachers finding that ‘nearly 70% believed that drinking by pupils
increased over the previous 5 years, predominantly in the under 16 age group (Adolescents 4),’ this should be
a perturbing notion to parents indeed. However, perhaps a more perturbing
notion to consider is: what motivates Tulisa and Flo Rida to advocate binge
drinking to adolescents? Though they may not advocate it with the specific
intention of causing harm indirectly to adolescents, Tulisa and Flo Rida both
sing about binge drinking deliberately; they know the subjects of alcohol and
clubbing will appeal to adolescents. Indeed, according to one university
student in the UK, 18-21 year olds go out clubbing ‘several times a week,‘
which has also become increasingly popular among party-going under-18s with the
introduction of ‘kids’ events at nightclubs across the country.
Tulisa and Flo Rida use their advocacy of binge drinking as part of a quasi-marketing
strategy, therefore, aiming to maximize the chance of their records being
purchased by exploiting popular subjects among young people – their target
audience. Of course, neither Tulisa nor Flo Rida are the first musicians to publicise
subjects in their songs that will appeal to their listeners – think of how many
pop songs that have explored the theme of love
throughout the
last few decades, for instance. They are some of the first musicians to
advocate such dangerous activities as binge drinking to a young audience,
though.
Presumably, then, neither Tulisa nor Flo Rida
realise the socio-political impact they can have over their young listeners;
otherwise they would not promote such feckless behaviour, one that can induce
paralysis and comas – even death. Outside of the music industry, though, both Tulisa
and Flo Rida use their influence over young people commendably. In April 2012,
for example, Tulisa publicly supported the NSPCC’s campaign to raise awareness
for self-harm in the younger generation (Children’s
Charity), and, after he invested his own time and money into Miami’s National
Football League, Flo Rida was described as ‘a real role model’ (Rose Flo Rida Give Back) in August 2012. Clearly,
both musicians are indeed aware of their socio-political power
over adolescents, making their promotion of binge drinking shamefully
inexcusable. The UK’s Institute of Alcohol Studies has singled out young people
to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol advertising. It also
states that young people ‘live in
environments characterized by aggressive and ubiquitous efforts encouraging
them to initiate drinking and to drink heavily.’ These statements are unsettlingly similar to ‘Live It
Up’ and ‘Club Can’t Handle Me.’ How are their lyrics and music video content
not aggressive efforts to encourage young people – vulnerable young people – to initiate heavy drinking? By portraying
alcohol as a cool and harmless substance that is fun to consume excessively, they
effectively adhere to the same issues that the Institute of Alcohol Studies addresses
in alcohol advertisements. Why are they not subsequently subjected to the same
rigorous restrictions?
Conclusion: use societal power for positive societal change
Whilst the integrity
of Tulisa and Flo Rida should be rightfully questioned after reading this article,
neither of them should be vilified by the media for their advocacy of binge
drinking to the UK’s adolescents. They have been employed as two specific
examples of a serious issue for which several other artists in the UK’s music
industry can also be held accountable. In March 2010, for instance, British rapper
Tinie Tempah had a UK number one single with ‘Pass Out,’ a
song that contained the lyrics: ‘Let’s have a toast, a celebration, get a glass
out/ And we can do this until we pass out.’ In October 2011, also, Taio Cruz released
a song named ‘Hangover’ (featuring
Flo Rida, ironically) in which the British singer-songwriter boasted: ‘I got
a hangover…I've been drinking too much for sure…I got an empty cup…Pour me some
more…And I can drink until I throw up.’ The problem of popular musicians
promoting binge drinking to the UK’s young generation extends further than Tulisa
and Flo Rida, therefore, and the issue of binge drinking itself extends further
than the music industry. ‘Family history of substance abuse,’ ‘Impulsive
personality traits’ and ‘Depression or anxiety’ (Nature 13) are some of the individual factors that the Institute of
Alcohol Studies believes to cause young people to binge drink. Caused by broken
homes and broken communities across all social classes, these factors are
governmental matters in which music is of little importance. However, music is
one significant aspect of the institute’s final factor: ‘Positive
expectancies about the effects of alcohol’ (Nature
14). Each musician that portrays alcohol to be a harmless substance contributes
towards this factor, helping to strengthen the ‘culture of intoxication’ (Nature 7) that has emerged among
adolescents in the UK over recent years. Today’s musicians in the UK music
industry need to realize how much influence their lyrics and music videos have
over young people – they should not use it to promote hedonistic and harmful behaviour.
Like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the African-American hip-hop
movement, they each have the power to invigorate the younger generation.
Musicians, therefore, should use their societal power in the same way we are
encouraged to drink alcohol: responsibly.
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©2012BenStupples
‘Blowin’ In
The Wind’ asks two rhetorical questions that
arguably refer specifically to the Civil Rights movement: ‘How many years can some people exist/ before they're allowed to be
free?/ And how many times can a man turn his head/ and pretend that he just
doesn't see?’
In April
2010, the Institute of Alcohol Studies published: ‘Binge Drinking – Nature,
prevalence and causes,’ stating: ‘recent UK research on the subject
concludes that binge drinking is now so routine that young people find it
difficult to explain why they do it. Typical statements by young binge drinkers
included: You don’t have to know the
reason for it. You just do it anyway. Everybody does it, it is the way the
world is (Male, 18-20);’ and ‘We are a culture that goes out and gets drunk, and we don’t go out to
drink, we go out to get drunk. (Female, 21-24) (Nature 12-13).’
American
hip hop group N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), declare in ‘Fuck tha Police,’ a
protest song against the police’s alleged racial discrimination in South
Central Los Angeles: ‘a young nigga on
the warpath/ And when I'm finished, it's gonna be a bloodbath/ Of cops, dyin in
L.A.’ Unsurprisingly, the song’s inflammatory lyrics sparked debate among some
broadcasting corporations – even the FBI are supposed to have sent the group’s
record label a letter of warning (AllMusic).
The NHS published an article on its website in December
2007, describing how ‘a rise in unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted
infections has been linked to binge drinking in women.’ The story, it says, ‘is based on research that showed almost nine in 10 women who attended a
busy sexual health clinic admitted binge drinking, at levels that equate to an
average of two and a half bottles of wine in one sitting. Women who were then
diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection drank 40% more alcohol than
those who were not infected (Consequence)’. For men, according to the Institute of Alcohol Studies: ‘one in
seven 16 – 24 year olds have had unprotected sex, one in five have had sex they
later regretted and one in ten have been unable to remember if they had sex the night
before (Posters).’
Rule 1.3: ‘Children must…be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that
is unsuitable for them (Broadcast Bulletin).
The Luminar
Group, owner of some of the UK’s main chain of clubs holds one of the country’s
most popular under-18 event: ‘Love Social’. Described on its website as the
‘biggest provider of Under-18’s clubbing in the UK’, ‘Love Social’ boasts ‘over
40 venues’ across the UK, apparently providing ‘the freshest entertainment on
the streets…in a safe and secure environment for 13 – 17 year olds.’ Due to its location(s), one in which alcohol is typically available,
the event has received some stern criticism since its inception. Judge David Ticehurst, for instance, stated that its organisers in
Bristol were ‘naive to
assume youngsters would not drink at the alcohol-free events and claimed they
would be more tempted to try drugs and behave
dangerously (Edwards Judge’s
Fury).’ His damning remarks were made following the ‘sexual assault
allegations’ of 13-year-old girl (who had indeed consumed alcohol that night)
against ‘a man who gave her a lift’ (Edwards Judge’s Fury) following the event
at Oceana night club.
