The notion that the lyrics of a song can influence your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. If you’ve ever felt pumped up or been moved to tears by music, then you easily understand the power of music to impact moods and even inspire emotion.
It was even suggested that your taste in music can provide insight into different aspects of your personality. Therefore, I think it’s paramount that for us to be inspired positively, we must listen to the right lyrics.
Music affects our behaviour, psychology and reality perception. In his book ‘change your brain, change your life,’ Dr. Daniel Amen explains that regular listening of some types of music can be a door to a person’s mind and his feelings. According to Dr. Daniel Amen, teenagers, who listen to music with negative content, very often end up in rehab centres.
Remember how lullabies lured us to sleep; effectively shows music affects our behaviour. Music is a powerful tool to affect peoples behaviour so it must be carefully used to produce a positive effect.
Music can be inspiring. Music can be soothing and calming. But music can destruct us in a way we cant even imagine. Every piece of music has it own identity and personality. Lyrics of songs that advocate substance use, usually also refer to violence and sex themes, generate negative ideas and may have respective consequences.
A vivid example is this song sang by Lil Kesh and Olamide;
‘I dey pray to jesuu (jesuu) ko wo wole (kowo wole o)
If money no enter I go do blood money o….
I dey pray to Allah (Allah)
Kowo wole o… (kowo wole o)
If money no enter I go do blood money o.’
Dear readers, what's the theme of this song? Especially to our Nigerian youths and teenagers?
In response to your question, It's either they make money legally or kill to have it.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why ritual killings is on the rise
Delete"If music be the food of love,play on" by Shakespeare in his book twelfth night. At the height of gang violence, murder and drug in USA in the 90's, rap music was attributed to be a catalyst to its rising tide that period. The likes of Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG where victims of their rap music which were characterised by lyrics epitomising violence.
ReplyDeleteI believe at the end of the day our minds and behaviours get channeled to what we regularly listen to. It's unaviodable.
DeleteNigerian music has formed a catalyst for the degrading of the youth. The more irrelevant the song is, the more attractive the media makes the musician..in a real world, musicians like Olamide, Lil kesh, slim case etc should not be aired on our Tv or even on the radio but we have them headlining kid's shows. These kind of music has so far destroyed the moral fabrics of the community and we have bo body serving as a check for music. In the years of Fela, music was a tool for emancipation and freedom, music was used to awaken the spirit of revolution against tyrrany and oppression, such music was bad for the governemt because it was against the government so they chase Fela and jailed him for it. But now that we have sunken deeper into depression the government invite such musicians like Small Doctor on stage. Big companies as well endorse this noise makers rewarding them for d rubbish they fill our ears with. If we dont have music that inspire change, we will not have a revolution and if we dont have a revolution we will continue to eat the same shit that prophets like Fela prophecied about.
ReplyDeleteAnd your response is GOLD. Olajide.
DeleteMusic is great and has big influence. Poverty spurs a lot, blood money inclusive. Blood money has been there for ages, the poor youth just got involved. The old folk who enjoyed it in their day should fix Nigeria
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DeleteThe songs streamed out from this so called role model musicians isnt helping
DeleteThe Song has no useful theme...
ReplyDeleteAvoid songs like this, because....
"Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies."
I totally agree. Happened to me. . - music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit and never dies."
DeleteI don’t know about that particular song. But I know it has said that songs with bad words and thoughts seem to catch the ear of younger people or even older people with poor values in life. Why I don’t know. But as parents we are responsible for making sure they know what’s wrong and what’s right. Just because a song says something doesn’t mean it’s right for you as a listener to do it. Most of the time It still comes down to a good upbringing. Children from these homes always have a 95% better chance of staying out of trouble and passing the same on to their own families. I don’t think we can just point at the songs. I don’t like them and my kids know that. But they know just because a song says something doesn’t mean you can go do it. Can’t really totally blame these lyrics, it’s just part of the problem as I see it.
ReplyDeleteFunny issue is our kids learn the songs from outside. You can police them at home but what happens when they get out?
DeleteWell,Nigerian music has lost the contents its known for and i only wish that the regulatory agencies can come up with framework to put outright ban on music that does not promote values,norms and cultural values of our society
ReplyDeleteI stand behind you on this school of thought.
DeleteI hope it happens soon, because it what our governments wants.
DeleteDo our government really want it ?
DeleteYeah, to make it acceptable worldwide for the increment of the Nation's GDP
DeleteIf you say so
DeleteMusic influence lies on the lyrics it has. These lyrics are not usually composed by these guys who sang them but they only sing them out just to make the world knows that they really exists as a musicians.
ReplyDeleteTruly, they sings these lyrics but they don't practice what they says as lifestyles. Lil Kesh sang a song that "sho ti ja e si pe emi mo nda igboro ru" (I've you know that I disorganized the peace of the town), but have you ever heard or watch a news that he disorganized an event. We just to follow our hearts and takes the right path and we should make sure that even if we listen to these lyrics we shouldn't take it as a lifestyle.
And how do we preach that to our teenagers ?
DeleteBy giving them enlightment of Analogies
DeleteLet's keep our fingers crossed
DeleteWhen I start a discu on Music I found out that I never get to finish those discussions, why you ask? It's because there's so much about Mudic that we know and have taken for granted these days. Music is so powerful that it affects many aspects of the human body. It affects our reasoning, psychology, behaviour, communication patterns, personal resolution towards others and ourselves. The list is endless. We will really do well to take here to the fact that Music has within itself kinectic energy that is waiting to be unleashed on the mind that is soft or strong. A lot goes into it's production, and that alone is labourous and the energy generated from it can't be quantified. No wonder the youth or younger generations are always and mostly it's target.
ReplyDeleteMusic is truly powerful. If people knew the weight of it, they would be more cautious of what they listened to
DeleteIt's because music is majorly made up of words and "life and death are in the power of the tongue". So it's a tool for either good or bad outcome in a persons life. Choose one. I was appalled yesterday when two people were walking with a child and they sang " iPhone one.." And then waited for the tiny girl to finish. She said "legbegbe
ReplyDeleteThe seeds are already been sown. Hope the parents are cautious .
DeleteI was so angry at the way they were happy to see thaf as a major achievement in the child's life! So sad!
ReplyDeleteAnd later they wonder why!!! We just have to make sures wewe channel the right lyrics to our children
DeleteHmmmmmm... It is so amazing that songs like this are loved by millions of youth.
ReplyDeleteAnd people wonder where the decay comes from
Delete