Is it wrong for me to listen to Rock music

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WildCatholic

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Is it wrong for me to listen to it. I like a wide variety of music, including some CCM, but I’m a huge rock fan, but is it sinful? I worry sometimes that i’m sinning just listening to the radio to the point i only listen to Catholic radio in my car. So is it wrong to like Rock music?
 
Of course not, you are merely being scrupulous. Obviously, discretion should be advised and advocated against music with lyrics that are objectionable, however, the vast majority of classic rock is great.
 
styrgwillidar said:
No. However, use common sense- songs glorifying depraved/immoral activity should probably be avoided. Whether its pop/rock/country whatever. I know, some times it’s a great tune but the lyrics are awful. Lola is a catchy little tune and it was years before I actually really paid attention to the lyrics. 😊 I can’t enjoy it anymore.

Have you heard of Flyleaf?
youtube.com/watch?v=pVjErqchpc4
youtube.com/watch?v=-dik8qxFvJk
youtube.com/watch?v=cG0Uxxa6aRI
youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2t5kBqsLw
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I have, granted i’m not big into the screaming type of music. I’m more of a classic rock and blues rock kind of guy, so Led Zeppelin, the Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Rolling Stones (in the early days) Stevie Ray Vaughan are what I listen to a lot. I’ll admit I also love 80’s metal (Twisted Sister, Poison, Van Halen, Def Leppard). I know a lot of it is pretty lyrically immoral, but its just so good.
 
WildCatholic said:
Is it wrong for me to listen to it. I like a wide variety of music, including some CCM, but I’m a huge rock fan, but is it sinful? I worry sometimes that i’m sinning just listening to the radio to the point i only listen to Catholic radio in my car. So is it wrong to like Rock music?
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examine the music you listen to and how it effects your daily actions, I suspect most rock music probably isn’t bad to listen to.

An analogy I heard about music and what to listen to goes like this

you have Chicken, Sweets, and poison

there is some music that is chicken it is good for you when you listen to it it benifits you spiritually mentally and maybe other things. No really to much of an issue when you eat to much of this.

there is some music that is like sweets, having them everyonce and a while isn’t bad but to much of it will start to have a negative impact on you, but some every once and a while won’t destroy you and even if you eat it daily not great for your health won’t kill you.

lastly there is poison, some music is so horrible that it will put you at risk of death for even taking a small bite of it or just listening to it for alittle bit. You shoudl avoid this all together.

Now I think the foods used in the analogy when it was first said to me was different but it was something along these lines. The first is almost always good for you, so church music, music about God, secular uplifting music, classical music, and so on and so forth. The second isn’t bad or good for you, but to much of it may not be good, this could include some rock music, jazz maybe (I may put this in the first group), clean rap that isn’t about sexual things, and maybe others. Then you have poison, this would be anything that well will be bad for you and will negatively effect how you act around people. Any music that is sexual in nature, so lots of hip hop, heavy metal especially death metal (some may be good, but talking about death and that kinda stuff no) most music that has cursing in it. I think you get the point.

but I would say no nothing wrong with listening to rock music just listen to it in moderation.
 
catholictiger said:
heavy metal especially death metal (some may be good, but talking about death and that kinda stuff no)QUOTE]

I agree with you on almost every point, but what’s wrong with music about death? Death isn’t evil or sinful or demonic. Some songs that are about death are the above, but it’s their attitude towards death that’s wrong.
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Jade_Tiger said:
catholictiger;10511442:
heavy metal especially death metal (some may be good, but talking about death and that kinda stuff no)QUOTE]

I agree with you on almost every point, but what’s wrong with music about death? Death isn’t evil or sinful or demonic. Some songs that are about death are the above, but it’s their attitude towards death that’s wrong.
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you have a good point, i guess you get over critical of music you don’t like. (talking about myself here)
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:thumbsup:I know. I know. It’s only rock and roll…but I like it.
 
WildCatholic said:
I have, granted i’m not big into the screaming type of music. I’m more of a classic rock and blues rock kind of guy, so Led Zeppelin, the Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Rolling Stones (in the early days) Stevie Ray Vaughan are what I listen to a lot. I’ll admit I also love 80’s metal (Twisted Sister, Poison, Van Halen, Def Leppard). I know a lot of it is pretty lyrically immoral, but its just so good.
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Well I was big into Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Rush, Foghat, Aerosmith, etc. etc. Listening to Zeppelin got me into blues, first Sonny Boy Williamson (Page played guitar on “It’s A Bloody Life”), than into the B.B. King, ALbert King, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and of course, Johnny Lee Hooker. Most of the stuff on ‘Foghat Live’ are covers of old blues tunes.
 
WildCatholic said:
Is it wrong for me to listen to it. I like a wide variety of music, including some CCM, but I’m a huge rock fan, but is it sinful? I worry sometimes that i’m sinning just listening to the radio to the point i only listen to Catholic radio in my car. So is it wrong to like Rock music?
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Why would you think listening to rock music is sinful? You’re being scruplous.
 
WildCatholic said:
Is it wrong for me to listen to it. I like a wide variety of music, including some CCM, but I’m a huge rock fan, but is it sinful? I worry sometimes that i’m sinning just listening to the radio to the point i only listen to Catholic radio in my car. So is it wrong to like Rock music?
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Why don’t you maybe try to listen to some other forms of music?

Medieval, Baroque, and Classical music are great forms of music.

Some of the music is secular, some of it is religious; all of it tends to have a spiritual quality of some sort, though not specifically religious.

Die Katzenpfote (‘The Cat’s Paw’; Glogauer Liederbuch, c.1480):

youtube.com/watch?v=uc0xhmIeld8

Once you listen to Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven, you won’t want to listen to rock and roll so much anymore. 🙂

Various forms of traditional and contemporary folk music (Irish, English, American, etc.) are also interesting music to listen to.
 
Eh, I’m a month late to the party. But oh well. 😛

My advice might be tired and repetitive, but I find it to be the best advice - it definitely is not a sin to listen to rock music in general. However, if a song has questionable lyrics, it’s best to avoid it. If it has a neutral message, it’s fine (I’ll get to that in a moment).

You might find this to be painful, but I’ve been doing this for a month, myself. I am a very, very, very avid rock fan. 😃 For example, I still listen to Led Zeppelin on a regular basis. However, I stopped listening to some of their songs - even some of their biggest hits (such as “Whole Lotta Love” and “Black Dog” :eek:).

You might be thinking to yourself, “Well, there goes half of Led Zeppelin’s catalog”. I was thinking that, when I was first analyzing Led Zeppelin’s lyrics. Surprisingly, that only cuts off a small fraction of their material. You still get to keep “Kashmir”, “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “No Quarter”, “Achille’s Last Stand”, “The Ocean”, “What Is and What Should Never Be”, and most definitely “Stairway to Heaven” and “All My Love”. 👍

When I say “neutral messages,” that means they are not edifying, but also might not lead you to walk away from God. For instance, “The Immigrant Song” is just Viking imagery, and “When the Levee Breaks” is just a nice cover (you might argue that Crying won’t help/praying won’t do you no good is questionable, but I think it’s just an emphasis on the urgency of the breaking levee).

I think most of all, it is between God and you, but I’m sure you can figure most of them out through prayer and such.
 
WildCatholic said:
I have, granted i’m not big into the screaming type of music. I’m more of a classic rock and blues rock kind of guy, so Led Zeppelin, the Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Rolling Stones (in the early days) Stevie Ray Vaughan are what I listen to a lot. I’ll admit I also love 80’s metal (Twisted Sister, Poison, Van Halen, Def Leppard). I know a lot of it is pretty lyrically immoral, but its just so good.
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Great question! Def Leppard, Styx, etc. produce fantastic music, but I have refrained from buying their songs because I am scrupulous.

Here’s what I have found, using Def Leppard’s music as an example:

(1) I have no issue with listening to such music, since I know that it does not affect my own moral disposition. It does not corrupt me, if you will. Instead, I see God in the good music, despite the lyrics. I do not at all think that listening to such music is intrinsically wrong. In no way do I see it as an occasion for sin (and I am scrupulous!).

(2) However, the culture that Def Leppard represents is blatantly wrong. The lyrics proclaim the sexual revolution and drugs, etc. And in many ways such artists are responsible for promoting a sinful culture. Perhaps not so much anymore, but certainly in the '60s, '70s, and '80s (and here, '90s). In other words, if a person does not already have a good disposition towards moral responsibility and is vulnerable to being influenced by the lyrics of these songs, the songs could do real harm to them.

(3) Although (2) does not apply to me, the subsequent issue I face is whether it is morally acceptable to give money to such artists (in exchange for the music). The idea is that I do not want to give financial support to an activity which can still potentially be instrumental in harming others. More precisely, I do not want to incentivize production of music which can potentially damage our culture and turn people away from God.

(4) BUT am I being too scrupulous with (3)? Def Leppard’s band members have a right to earn a living. I don’t know what they do with their money, but presumably some goes towards feeding them and their families, and is used for all kinds of good things, as well as making more music. So, by buying the music, am I directly supporting whatever I see in them that is immoral, or am I far enough removed?

I need guidance, then, not so much about whether listening to the music is wrong, but whether buying the music is wrong.
 
King_Louis_IX said:
Great question! Def Leppard, Styx, etc. produce fantastic music, but I have refrained from buying their songs because I am scrupulous.

Here’s what I have found, using Def Leppard’s music as an example:

(1) I have no issue with listening to such music, since I know that it does not affect my own moral disposition. It does not corrupt me, if you will. Instead, I see God in the good music, despite the lyrics. I do not at all think that listening to such music is intrinsically wrong. In no way do I see it as an occasion for sin (and I am scrupulous!).

(2) However, the culture that Def Leppard represents is blatantly wrong. The lyrics proclaim the sexual revolution and drugs, etc. And in many ways such artists are responsible for promoting a sinful culture. Perhaps not so much anymore, but certainly in the '60s, '70s, and '80s (and here, '90s). In other words, if a person does not already have a good disposition towards moral responsibility and is vulnerable to being influenced by the lyrics of these songs, the songs could do real harm to them.

(3) Although (2) does not apply to me, the subsequent issue I face is whether it is morally acceptable to give money to such artists (in exchange for the music). The idea is that I do not want to give financial support to an activity which can still potentially be instrumental in harming others. More precisely, I do not want to incentivize production of music which can potentially damage our culture and turn people away from God.

(4) BUT am I being too scrupulous with (3)? Def Leppard’s band members have a right to earn a living. I don’t know what they do with their money, but presumably some goes towards feeding them and their families, and is used for all kinds of good things, as well as making more music. So, by buying the music, am I directly supporting whatever I see in them that is immoral, or am I far enough removed?

I need guidance, then, not so much about whether listening to the music is wrong, but whether buying the music is wrong.
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For some reason, we seem to want to hold entertainers to a higher moral standard than those who work at Walmart or Google when it comes to giving them our money. 🤷 I think it is a good impulse to not want to support that which promotes immorality. Personally, I think Def Leppard is a good example of triumph over adversity. Between the death of their guitarist and their drummer losing an arm, they have been through a lot. I don’t really see their lyrics as promoting sex and drugs. Pour Some Sugar On Me notwithstanding. 😛
 
Harking back to my long-lost youth…

…I listened to Iron Maiden, partly because I loved all the ‘layers’ to the actual music; it reminded me a bit of an orchestra. I also liked it because their topics for songs provided a refreshing change from all the ‘pop’ artists who constantly warbled on about wanting to sleep with someone / not wanting to sleep with someone / sharing how much they enjoyed sleeping with someone…When Bruce Dickinson wrote a song, he could write about the plight of Native Americans; the Ancient Mariner; the Phantom of the Opera; the experiences of a tail-gunner in WWI, how Anubis might have felt…

I listened to ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’ before every exam at college. When I studied the war poems of Wilfrid Owen, I also listened a lot to ‘One’ by Metallica which is every bit as moving and poignant.

I think these groups helped me realise that there was more to life and more to be discussed and explored than dwelling on teenage lust and infatuation.
 
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