Many different types of music influences people whether they realize it or not. Listening to certain types of music can form and change our opinions on certain aspects of society. Sometimes the music that someone listen to helps them question societal norms, and influence their thoughts on how things are supposed to be regarding the surrounding power structures. There are many artists like Kendrick Lamar that are political and help to influence peoples thought on politics and shine light on political issues that some people would of never speak about because they never would have been exposed to these problems. As citizens in America we are supposed to follow certain laws set by the government and society even if we don not agree with them. In the article, A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift states that “it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands”. Jonathan Swifts proposal is that we feed one year old babies of the poor to the rich providing food to the rich and money to the children’s families. Swift is using satire to point to the fact that many people struggle for the benefit of the few rich people. Of course he doesn’t actually believe we eat children but he is using his writing to bring attention to the problem. His piece reaches many people and gets them thinking of the unfair division of wealth in Ireland at that time. This is very similar to how artist of today influence their audience and get people thinking about certain issues in society. Writings like the A Modest proposal or music of today gets people thinking of major issues that impact their everyday lives. It’s a way for people to express their true beliefs about society and point to problems that affect them. How someone listens to music can greatly effect them.
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The author Aaron Copland, in his article How We Listen To Music states that “My own belief is that all music has an expressive power, some more and some less, but that all music has a certain meaning behind the notes and that meaning behind the notes constitutes, after all, what the piece is saying, what the piece is about”. What Aaron Copland is stating is that he believes that music has meaning. Music can be a medium for the artist to express what they want. This supports the fact that music can influence people’s beliefs because it allows for artist to get their message out to a limitless amount of people, potentially altering these people opinions. The author Katina R. Stapleton supports the fact that music influences people when she states in her article From the Margins to the Mainstream: The Political Power of Hip-Hop that “When Hip-Hop emerged in New York City in the 1970s, its primary sphere of influence was the youth in the neighborhoods where it evolved”. She is stating the music was greatly impacting the youth of New York at that time supporting the fact that music does influence people and can help them to form their opinions. Music
The author Aaron Copland, in his article How We Listen To Music states that “My own belief is that all music has an expressive power, some more and some less, but that all music has a certain meaning behind the notes and that meaning behind the notes constitutes, after all, what the piece is saying, what the piece is about”. What Aaron Copland is stating is that he believes that music has meaning. Music can be a medium for the artist to express what they want. This supports the fact that music can influence people’s beliefs because it allows for artist to get their message out to a limitless amount of people, potentially altering these people opinions. The author Katina R. Stapleton supports the fact that music influences people when she states in her article From the Margins to the Mainstream: The Political Power of Hip-Hop that “When Hip-Hop emerged in New York City in the 1970s, its primary sphere of influence was the youth in the neighborhoods where it evolved”. She is stating the music was greatly impacting the youth of New York at that time supporting the fact that music does influence people and can help them to form their opinions. Music