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Why do some people associate music with drugs, alcohol, and sex?


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Well in my opinion it is because of two reasons:

Firstly the stereotypical rock band people usually añways live lives of drug abuse (to support their crazy and very stressful lifestyle ad well as to match their radical image and ideologiws as rockers) and also a lot of sex ( to firstly match their rocker image and lifestyle, also as they are famous and so other have much more willingness, sadly to have intercourse with them and lastly maybe due to their lack of affection during their childhood which was focussed on just music.

Secondly, a lor of popular music and most of hip hip use both lyrics and videos which ilustrate the acts of drug use and sex. The reason to this is simply because thats what sells! Sadly the majority of people, including sometimes myself, like that stuff and see that sort of lifestyle as ideal and desirable.

Hope this gives you an interesting perspective :)

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Your question kinda reminds me of this:

 

 

(p-p-p-party every day...... :P )

Anyway, it's true that many songs nowadays seem to have a common theme of being "young, wild, and free". But that's quite understandable because music often reflects the society that we are living in; and our society has become much more open to alcohol, partying, sex, and even drugs.

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I mean not all music is like that, I bet not even the majority. Yet a lot of people think that's what music is all about when it really isn't. Someone said music increases sexual lust, and I was really astonished. 

Well, 

a)  A lot of hip hop is about sex, drugs alcohol etc. 

b) A lot of celebrities are heavy drinkers, for example, Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, AC/DC, Green Day, Megadeth. The list goes on and on.

c) Media only publicises this stuff.

 

So, the thing is, a lot of people are the top 40 listeners. Most of the stuff there is about sex. Thats the fact. So naturally they will associate music with the stuff you mentioned. Now, since I listen to metal, I can tell you a lot of people think metal is simply screams, pounded drums, and random guitaring. Lyrics are all about Satan. It is quite surprising for them to understand that metal screams are difficult because they need to be done right otherwise you hurt your throat. The guitarists require immense skill. But still, they stereotype remains right?

 

So I think the major reason is that people make judgements on Media, and their personal preferences. For example: I listened to pop as  a kid, and now I think it's awful. So I tend to club all pop as boring. (Though I am proven wrong by a few songs such as Shake it off- Taylor Swift, Uptown Funk- Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars etc.)

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The artists whose music sells best are seen in celebrity gossip in love, using drugs and/or for sex scandals. They create music with lyrics that can have multiple meanings but media focuses so damn much on love, sex and drugs that that's the meaning most people see in songs. And the celebrity gossip about the artists or people associated with said song(s) doesn't help. Then there are the artists whose songs are literally all about love, sex and drugs and are played on the radio a ridiculous number of times on repeat for every hour for 3-ish months (sometimes more if it's a HUGE hit) and thus people associate all music (as the general music they listen to is on the radio or other forms of media) with sex, drugs and love.

Edited by IbTrojan
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Today's popular music industry is a ruthless money-making machine which bases on market research much more than artistic values. Most of the market (i.e. listeners) are people who aren't passionate about music, only need simple entertainment with no need to use brain to understand what they hear. And lyrics about crazy parties, sex and everything in between, sung to a tune which could be composed by an average 5-year-old is precisely what fits the scheme. If we add videos with super-rich men and half-naked women, it follows the same format - looks nice, lets you live your dreams for 3-4 minutes, and loads of money was pushed into making it, so it will have millions of viewers, most of whom are comfortably numb about this situation. And those who coplain is a minority - they see what's going on with the industry but they aren't interested in music enough to see what's outside the wall.

Another thing is that artists of all kinds have never been too far from substances and experiences which would be a push for their creativity. Although they know it means skating on thin ice, they still experiment, and this is what makes the hottest news - what can ever sell better than a celebrity photographed sh*t-faced in a bar or getting into trouble because of drugs? We want to see that those rich and famous are really no better than us - even if they are, and this is what we are sold. They become (in)famous, their managers have increasing income - the show must go on.

And again, for a person casually listening to any commercial radio during their daily commute, all they will hear is high-budget music interrupted by high-budget gossip, so their conclusions will be quite obvious: "young lust, scandals and mild brainwashing, that's what music is about."

Of course this cynical picture is not always the case. But way too often it tends to be.... and has been for decades. I don't think it's possible to fight the big industry players but it is possible to make people aware that what they are bombarded with is only a small part of what music is. That there are loads of other music types, empty spaces in the world of sounds, just waiting to be discovered with just a little effort.

References to a certain album are intentional. Treat them as recommendations (if you find them ;) ).

Edited by Slovakov
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I think it greatly depends on the type of music. If we are talking about Mozart, then I'd have some trouble connecting that with drugs, alcohol, and sex. However, if we are speaking of Woodstock or modern day pop music, then I definitely understand why people would associated those music with drugs, alcohol and sex.

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