Teneisha Johnson
Formula: Music brings the people together - The message is in the Music!
What has happened to the youth in our communities today?
It is a question I ask myself and it seems to be paramount in other people’s thoughts as well or at least it should be!
I personally believe one of the many ways young people are influenced today is by the music they listen to.
Unfortunately, some people do not have the extravagant privilege of owning their own devices (Radios, TV’s, Smart phones, Computers, etc.), so they are frequent listeners to what is played on the local airwaves and in the public domain.
I believe that is why it is increasingly more important that Cayman’s local music stations are sensitive to the types of music that they play as it has a major impact on our teenagers today and greatly influences their lifestyles.
Between the middle of the 15th century to about the end of the 16th century, Renaissance music was produced.
It was a period which saw the rise of Martin Lither, the Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
The music of this time shared the aesthetic of the period’s art and literature.
Renaissance artists, writers, and musicians saw themselves as pulling the world out of the dark, clerical, mystical world of the Middle Ages.
They emphasized a return to the ideals of classical Greece and Rome: love, pleasure, intellect, and the beauty of the human body and emotion.
Leonidas (GERARD BUTLER) bids farewell to his son Pleistarchos (GIOVANI ANTONIO CIMMINO) and wife Gorgo (LENA HEADEY) as the 300 begin their march north in Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios action drama 300, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION
The idea of a church hymn began in the Renaissance, and many of them were composed by Martin Luther.
Speaking of church, did you know that Lucifer (Satan) was originally an angel of worship?
In the book of Ezekiel 28:13 it states,
“You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings (timbrels) and sockets (flutes), was in you.
On the day that you were created they were prepared”.
I also learnt that in Hebrew, the word for “settings” is toph which means timbrel, which is a musical instrument.
Likewise, the Hebrew word for “sockets” is neqeb and means “pipes, grove, hole.”
This is why we believe that Lucifer (name means ‘light bearer’) was involved with music and therefore worship before God.
But as you’ve read in the Bible, because of Lucifer’s exceeding beauty and greatness, he became prideful and rebelled against God.
The book of Isaiah 14:12-14 states,
12 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High”.
But how many of you know that when God has blessed you with a talent it is not for you alone?
It is also not for others to exploit for their own selfish gains either.
How many of you know that the gift is to be used to give glory and honor unto the Lord Jesus Christ?
Now I’m not trying to be a prune or an "old maid" here, but if we’re not careful and we continuously use our talents in any other way, it quickly becomes a form of idol worship.
We may quickly start worshipping the creation and begin to forget the creator. The one, “Our Lord Jesus Christ” who saw fit to bestow upon us such a blessing.
Many students of creativity agree that it takes approximately 10 years for someone to master a domain.
Mastery requires thousands of domain-specific work hours.
For example-solving mathematical problems, practicing difficult passages on the violin, keeping journals, working in a biological or chemistry laboratory or even writing and creating the music we hear today.
However, I strongly believe that today’s artists should be mindful of the messages that they are sending.
Our youth are greatly affected by the lyrics in many of our songs, and sometimes inappropriate emotions and behaviors are aroused.
The music they associate with strongly influences their identity and who they believe themselves to be.
I pray we will give them positive and uplifting messages.
Remember the formula!
The message is in the music!
Lyrics by definition are the written words or messages which accompany music in a song.
They send out certain messages to the listener.
These messages can either be positive or negative.
Teenagers are the most susceptible to negative influences because they have not fully developed the abilities or experiences to base comparisons against certain messages.
Sometimes a person may be actively listening.
However, even when a person may appear not to be listening, they are hearing, and the mind absorbs all sorts of different information to different parts of the brain.
In either case, words are very powerful because words become thoughts.
Thoughts are the seeds to belief, and with belief a person is empowered and motivated.
Research has shown that sexual lyrics tend to prompt more sexual activity amongst teenagers and violent music lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings.
The public, and parents, should be aware of sexually explicit, drug oriented, or violent lyrics which have become common place in our society.
Local Stations need to promote healthy messages in their music. Remember the formula.
The message is in the music!
While the lyrics from certain songs played on local stations are questionable, we must also look at the types of emotions and behaviors these songs are evoking.
Teenagers spend between four and five hours a day listening to music, their preferred non-school activity.
Local stations play music to entertain but are they contributing to the rise in violence amongst our youth with their selection of music?
This still remains under scrutiny.
For example, certain rap music tends to focus on wealth and that wealth is attained by being a thug and participating in such activities as gangs, drug dealing, and larceny.
The message all too often is that crime pays and pays in a very BIG way.
The problem lies in the fact that the ‘get rich quick and easy’ lifestyle is far too alluring to young people and promotes individualism and looking out for number one.
When you multiply the effect by hearing that crime pays, a dangerous pattern begins to emerge.
Music has become a large part of our lives.
Young people more than any other demographic affiliate the music they listen to with their identity.
Their identity is a great part of distinguishing their character or personality as an individual.
Many times, I have heard someone say, “That’s my type of music” or “that’s my song” when referring to a certain radio station or a certain song.
I did a research online which investigated the function of musical preferences.
It explained that it was being used as an identifying ‘badge’ by which adolescents express their own self-concepts and made judgments of others.
Results showed that teenagers generally associated with other teens who shared the same musical preferences.
The study also supported the notion that musical preferences predicted our youth’s lifestyle and attitude.
I personally have no favorite radio station and try to tune into them all.
Although Cayman has a small selection of radio stations to choose from, the influences of these programs have a great impact on our teenagers and our community today and we must be vigilant of what is being played on our local airwaves.
Remember the formula. The message is in the music!
