[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4313-S4316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MUSIC IN OUR CULTURE

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I have some comments I will make today 
following what has happened in Colorado, the Columbine tragedy that 
occurred this last week which has caused all of us really to reflect on 
the causes and the cures. As we mourn the loss of so many precious 
young lives, we really have to ask ourselves, how did we get to this 
place? Why do so many young people with so much going for them in their 
lives have such despair and so much hate?
  Obviously, there are no easy answers and certainly no silver bullets. 
There are many factors which led those two young men to don trench 
coats and kill, just as there were many factors that resulted in the 
shootings in Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, and Springfield, communities 
the names of which have become all too familiar to us via school 
tragedies where a child has killed other children.
  But there are enough common factors that I believe we can start to 
pull together some ideas as to what is causing this and some solutions. 
One of the most obvious conclusions is this: The immersion of troubled 
kids in a violence-glorifying culture is a recipe for disaster.
  Monday, I addressed this body on the need for a commission on 
cultural renewal. Today, I would like to address the importance of one 
of the most important elements that makes up our culture, and that is 
our music. In many ways the music industry is more influential than 
anything that happens here in Washington. Most people spend far more 
time listening to music than watching C-SPAN or reading the newspaper. 
They are more likely to recognize musicians than Senators--I guess 
maybe unless the Senators sing. And they spend more time thinking about 
music than about government.

  All of those can seem to be some fairly trite statements, but when 
you look at what we are putting out in the music and then ask that 
question, it takes on a different color.
  Of course, no one spends more time listening to music than the young 
people. In fact, one recent study conducted by the Carnegie Foundation 
concluded that the average teenager listens to music around 4 hours a 
day--about 4 hours a day. In contrast, they spend less than an hour a 
day on homework or reading, less than 20 minutes a day talking with 
mom, and less than 5 minutes a day talking with dad.
  If this study is true, there are thousands, perhaps even tens or 
hundreds of thousands, of teens who spend more time listening to the 
music of such artists as Marilyn Manson or Master P than mom or dad.
  In fact, Marilyn Manson himself said this:

       Music is such a powerful medium now. The kids don't even 
     know who the President is,

[[Page S4314]]

     but they know what's on TV. I think if anyone like Hitler or 
     Mussolini were alive now, they'd have to be rock stars.

  Over the past few years, I have grown increasingly concerned with the 
popularity of some lyrics, lyrics which glorify violence and devalue 
life. Some recent best selling albums have included graphic 
descriptions of murder, torture, and rape. Women are objectified, often 
in the most degrading ways. Songs such as Prodigy's ``Smack My B. . . 
Up'' or ``Don't Trust a B. . .'' by the group Mo' Thugs actively 
encourage animosity or even violence towards women. A few years ago, 
the alternative group ``Nine Inch Nails'' enjoyed critical and 
commercial success with their song ``Big Man With a Gun,'' which 
described forcing a woman into oral sex and shooting her in the head at 
point-blank range.
  I brought along a few examples of the kind of music I am talking 
about. Each of the Marilyn Manson songs shown here are from his 1996 
album ``Anti-Christ Superstar,'' an album which debuted at No. 3 on the 
Billboard charts. These are some of the song lyrics that you can look 
at. I want to point it out because it is about the culture of violence 
and the culture of death, and they may be unpleasant words for us to 
look at, but when these debut at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, when 
that song wraps itself around one's inside, when it wraps around a 
person's soul, it has an impact just as significant as when we might 
listen to John Philip Sousa's music and it makes us feel patriotic and 
uplifted or a love song makes us loving. Violent, hateful, misogynistic 
music encourages that in us as will violence come from hate music.
  Look at this:

 Marilyn Manson, ``Irresponsible Hate Anthem'' (Anti-Christ Superstar) 
                     on Nothing/Interscope Records

     I'm so all-American, I'd sell you suicide
     I am totalitarian, I've got abortions in my eyes
     I hate the hater, I'd rape the raper
     I am the animal who will not be himself
     F*** it

     Hey victim, should I black your eyes again?
     Hey victim, you were the one who put the stick in my hand
     I am the ism, my hate's a prism
     Let's just kill everyone and let your god sort them out
     F*** it

     Everybody's someone else's n**ger/I know you are so am I
     I wasn't born with enough middle fingers/I don't need to 
           choose a side.
                                  ____


 DMX, ``Get At Me Dog'' (It's Dark and Hell is Hot) on Def Jam Records/
                                Polygram

     Well in the back with ya fag*** a** face down
     Lucky that you breathin but you dead from the waist down
     The f*** is on your mind? Talking that s**t you be talkin
     And I bet you wish you never got hit cause you be walkin
     But s***t happens and f*** it, you gon' did ya dirt
     Because we wondering how the f*** you hid your skirt
     Right under their eye, master surprise to the guys
     And one of their mans was b**ch in disguise
     F*** home we capture with more hits and slaughter more kids. 
           . .
     You know for real the n**ga came f**in sucked my d**k
     And it's gonna take all these n**gaz in the rap game
     To barely move me, cause when I blow s**t up
     I have n**gaz falling like white b**ches in a scary movie
     Ah, you know I don't know how to act
     Get too close to n**gaz, it's like:
     ``Protected by viper, stand back''
     What's this, I thought n**gaz you was killas demented
     F*** y'all n**gaz callin' me coward finish him and send it.
                                  ____


Master P, ``Come and Get Some'' (Ghetto D) on No Limit/Priority Records

     I got friends running out the f***in' crack house
     I'm not P but I dumpin n**gas like Stackhouse
     They call me C-murder, I'm a member of the TRU clique
     You run up the wrong boy, you might get your wig split
     I'm known in the ghetto for slangin' narcotics
     Them feds be watchin but dem `hoes can't stop me s**t
     My game so tight ain't got no time fo slip-ups
     I come up short I'ma bust yo' f***in' lip up
     Cuz money and murder is the code that I live by
     Come to ya set and do a muthaf***in' walk-by
     Deep in the game, preparing for the worse
     (What about dem po po's)
     I wanna put them in a hearse
     They took me to jail wit 2 keys in the back trunk
     Fresh out of the county still smellin like about a buck
     If you want something, come and get somethin . . .
                                  ____


        Dove Shack, ``Slap a `Ho'' (The Dove Shack) on Polygram

     Hello all you pimps and playas that got hoes out there that 
           get outta line.
     You know the ones that's talking heads, but not giving head.
     They wanna be spoon-fed.
     You know the ones I'm talking about with no money, wanna be 
           calling you honey? . . .
     Hey, if your gal is giving you problems (and I know she is) 
           what I want you to do is . . .
     Run out and get the amazing Slap-a-Hoe device.
     This stupendous device will put any hard-headed, loud-mouth 
           talking in public b**ch in check in less than 20 
           minutes. . . .
     Post up against that b**ch's tilt for a little bit, smack her 
           around with the Slap-a-Hoe and I guarantee in less than 
           20 minutes that b**ch will be back in line . . .
     Hey, how do you keep hoes in check?
     Well god * * * *, I had more problems than O.J.
     But now, I reach back with 9.6 velocity and slap the snot out 
           of the b**ch . . .
     I used to have all the problems in the world with dem hoes.
     Spending my last penny and not gettin' no p***y.
     But now, thanks to that amazing device, I invoke that touch 
           and get twice as much . . .
     Brought to you by the makers of Slam-a-Ho and Drag-a-Ho.
                                  ____


   Fiend, ``On a Mission'' (There's One in Every Family) on No Limit/
                            Piority Records

     N**ga you really f***ed up.
     We on a muthaf***in' mission . . .
     Retaliation is a must
     Dumpin rounds on my muthaf**in adversaries.
     N**ga, n**ga ridin dirty for revenge
     With my friends, I'm on a caper
     Ready to kill `em, if I see `em
     F*** alarm, hold my paper
     I'm a rider, so I leave `em where I left `em
     When I creep, n**gas sleep
     And they ain't restin til they deep up in concrete. . . .

     Loco this is the deal, let's put the gun
     To the small of his neck, we got caught up and blast
     Until there's nothing left . . .

     Pulled the trigga on my n**ga
     As the forty caliber shell, blew up in the neck
     Twice in the head, he was dead `fore his body hit the ground.
     Pull up next to the bodies, I was runnin'
     My dog's head was blew off . . .
     Hit the driver's side window, as they crash into a pole
     With a few left in the clip
     Some for the driver, the passenger, and the rest of the 
           trigger men.

  If these were some off-beat records that were out in a few isolated 
places, you would probably say, well, you know, that is the price you 
pay for freedom, for a free culture. But these are not. These are top-
of-the-chart hits that are out there playing endlessly in too many 
cases and even being marketed to a very troubled youth's mind.
  Are we really surprised, then, when some things happen that are 
pretty strange? That there seems to be so much violence and so much 
hatred out in this culture? Are we really that surprised? Should we be 
really that surprised?
  I hope people are listening and I hope they are looking.
  These are not obscure songs. They are immensely popular, and hugely 
profitable. They are backed by some of the largest, most prestigious 
corporations in our country and the world--Time-Warner, Seagrams/
Universal, Sony, Polygram, Viacom, BMG, and Thorne-EMI.
  I ask if any of the executives of these companies would allow their 
children to listen to this music? Would they? I hope not. Yet they are 
selling it and making millions.
  Many of my colleagues may not be familiar with these lyrics. Until 
the past couple of years, I wasn't, either. But most kids are very 
familiar with them. They make up a vital part of the cultural ocean in 
which they swim. The messages of these songs are heard over and over, 
until they are, at the least, familiar, and at worst, internalized.
  A little over a year ago, I chaired a hearing on the impact of 
violent music on young people. During this hearing, we heard a variety 
of witnesses testify on the effects of music lyrics that glorified 
violence, sexual torture, and suicide. We heard from the nation's 
experts on the subject. Their conclusion was unanimous: music helps 
shape our attitudes.

[[Page S4315]]

  This is important. Studies indicate that the average teenager listens 
to music around four hours a day. It simply stands to reason that what 
we hear, and see, and experience cannot help but affect our attitudes 
and assumptions, and thus, our decisions and behavior. If it didn't, 
commercials wouldn't exist, and anyone who spent a dollar on 
advertising would be a fool. But advertising is a multi-billion dollar 
business. Why? Because it works. It creates an appetite for things we 
don't need, it affects the way we think, the things we want, and the 
things we buy. What we see and what we hear changes how we act.
  Thousands of years ago, the philosopher Plato noted ``Musical 
training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and 
harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which 
they mightily fasten.'' Can anybody listening to this today not readily 
pull up a song in their mind and listen to it right now? Because it 
wraps around their inner being.
  Unfortunately, perhaps the last sector of society to acknowledge the 
importance and effects of music is the music industry.
  In this hearing, I asked Hilary Rosen, the president of the Recording 
Industry Association of America, the trade organization of the music 
industry, the following questions. I asked, ``Who purchases Marilyn 
Manson albums? Do you know anything about the demographics of those who 
purchase these albums?'' She answered ``No.''
  I asked, ``Have you looked at the demographic profile of those who 
purchase shock rock or gangsta rap records? She answered ``No.'' Later 
in her testimony, she asserted that ``the purchasers of this [Marilyn 
Manson's ``Anti-Christ Superstar'' album] album in retail stores are 
over the age of 17.''

  I thought--I would be happy to be wrong about this, but somehow, I 
doubt that the majority of Marilyn Manson fans are out of their teens. 
The appeal of this music appears to be the greatest to teenagers--the 
very group of people who are supposed to be protected from it. But 
they're not.
  Let me be clear: I am opposed to censorship of music. I believe the 
first amendment ensures the widest possible latitude in allowing 
various forms of speech--including offensive, obnoxious speech. But the 
fact that lyrics which celebrate should be allowed does not mean that 
they should be given respectability. There are some forms of speech 
which should be thoroughly criticized and roundly stigmatized, even 
though they are allowed. Freedom of expression is not immunity from 
criticism.
  What we honor says as much about our national character as what we 
allow. There is an old saying ``Tell me what you love, and I'll tell 
you what you are.'' A love of violence, murder, mayhem, destruction, 
debasement and pain, as reflected in the popularity of gory movies, 
violent music, a burgeoning porn industry, grotesque video games, and 
sleazy television is a cause for national concern. What we honor and 
esteem as a people both reflects and affects our culture. We grow to 
resemble what we honor, and we become less like what we disparage.
  Glorifying violence in music is dangerous--Because a society that 
glorifies violence will grow more violent. When we refuse to criticize 
the gangsta rap songs that debase women, we send the message that 
treating women like chattel is not something to be upset about. Record 
companies that promote violent music implicitly push the idea that more 
people should listen to, purchase, and enjoy the sounds of slaughter. 
When MTV named Marilyn Manson the ``Best New Artist of the Year'' last 
year, they help him up as an example to be aspired to. Promoting 
violence as entertainment corrodes our nation from within.
  This is not a new idea. Virtually all of the Founding Fathers 
believed--even assumed--that nations rise and fall based on what they 
honor and what they discourage. Samuel Adams stated ``A general 
dissolution of principles and manner will more surely overthrow the 
liberties of America than the whole force of a common enemy.''
  Next week, we will have a hearing to explore whether violence is 
actually marketed to children. We have invited the presidents and CEOs 
of the big entertainment conglomerates--Time-Warner, Viacom, BMG Sony, 
Sega, Nintendo, Hasbro. We hope they will come and help us begin a 
fruitful discussion on what can be done to protect our children from 
entertainment which glorifies and glamorizes violence.
  Mr. President, I have gone on for some time, but I think this is 
critically important, particularly in light of what we experienced this 
past week that has shocked us as a nation and really caused us to ask 
why and what do we do to change.
  I think it perhaps was best summarized in a speech given by the Most 
Rev. Charles Chaput who is the Archbishop of Denver.
  Mr. President, he said this:

       As time passes, we need to make sense of the Columbine 
     killings. The media are already filled with ``sound bites'' 
     of shock and disbelief; psychologists, sociologists, grief 
     counselors and law enforcement officers--all with their 
     theories and plans. God bless them for it. We certainly need 
     help. Violence is now pervasive in American society--in our 
     homes, our schools, on our streets, in our cars as we drive 
     home from work, in the news media, in the rhythms and lyrics 
     of our music, in our novels, films and video games. It is so 
     prevalent that we have become largely unconscious of it. But, 
     as we discover in places like the hallways of Columbine High, 
     it is bitterly, urgently real.
       The causes of this violence are many and complicated: 
     racism, fears, selfishness. But in another, deeper sense, the 
     cause is very simple: We're losing God, and in losing Him, 
     we're losing ourselves. The complete contempt for human life 
     shown by the young killers at Columbine is not an accident, 
     or an anomaly, or a freak flaw in our social fabric. It's 
     what we create when we live a contradiction . . . we can't 
     market avarice and greed . . . and then hope that somehow our 
     children will help build a culture of life.

  He concludes by saying--and the title of his speech is, ``Ending the 
violence begins with our own conversion'':

       In this Easter season and throughout the coming months, I 
     ask you to join me in praying in a special way for the 
     families who have been affected by the Columbine tragedy. But 
     I also ask you to pray that each of us--including myself--
     will experience a deep conversion of heart toward love and 
     non-violence in all of our relationships with others.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the speech of the Most 
Rev. Charles Chaput be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           [From the Denver Catholic Register, Apr. 21, 1999]

           Ending the Violence Begins With Our Own Conversion

           (By Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.)

       He descended into hell.
       Over a lifetime of faith, each of us, as believers, recites 
     those words from the Creed thousands of times. We may not 
     understand them, but they're familiar. They're routine. And 
     then something happens to show us what they really mean.
       Watching a disaster unfold for your community in the glare 
     of the international mass media is terrible and unreal at the 
     same time. Terrible in its bloody cost; unreal in its brutal 
     disconnection from daily life. The impact of what happened 
     this past week in Littleton, however, didn't fully strike 
     home in my heart until the morning after the murders, when I 
     visited a large prayer gathering of students from Columbine 
     High School, and spent time with the families of two of the 
     students who died.
       They taught me something.
       The students who gathered to pray and comfort each other 
     showed me again the importance of sharing not just our 
     sorrow, but our hope. God created us to witness His love to 
     each other, and we draw our life from the friendship, the 
     mercy and the kindness we offer to others in pain. The young 
     Columbine students I listened to, spoke individually--one by 
     one--of the need to be strong, to keep alive hope in the 
     future, and to turn away from violence. Despite all their 
     confusion and all their hurt, they would not despair. I think 
     I understand why. We're creatures of life. This is the way 
     God made us: to assert life in the face of death.
       Even more moving was my time with the families of two 
     students who had been murdered. In the midst of their great 
     suffering--a loss I can't imagine--the parents radiated a 
     dignity which I will always remember, and a confidence that 
     God would somehow care for them and the children they had 
     lost, no matter how fierce their pain. This is where words 
     break down. This is where you see, up close, that faith--
     real, living faith--is rooted finally not in how smart, or 
     affluent, or successful, or sensitive persons are, but in how 
     well they love. Scripture says that ``love is as strong as 
     death.'' I know it is stronger. I saw it.
       As time passes, we need to make sense of the Columbine 
     killings. The media are already filled with ``sound bites'' 
     of shock and disbelief; psychologists, sociologists, grief 
     counselors and law enforcement officers--all with their 
     theories and plans. God bless

[[Page S4316]]

     them for it. We certainly need help. Violence is now 
     pervasive in American society--in our homes, our schools, on 
     our streets, in our cars as we drive home from work, in the 
     news media, in the rhythms and lyrics of our music, in our 
     novels, films and video games. It is so prevalent that we 
     have become largely unconscious of it. But, as we discover in 
     places like the hallways of Columbine High, it is bitterly, 
     urgently real.
       The causes of this violence are many and complicated: 
     racism, fear, selfishness. But in another, deeper sense, the 
     cause is very simple: We're losing God, and in losing Him, 
     we're losing ourselves. The complete contempt for human life 
     shown by the young killers at Columbine is not an accident, 
     or an anomaly, or a freak flaw in our social fabric. It's 
     what we create when we live a contradiction. We can't 
     systematically kill the unborn, the infirm and the condemned 
     prisoners among us; we can't glorify brutality in our 
     entertainment; we can't market avarice and greed . . . and 
     then hope that somehow our children will help build a culture 
     of life.
       We need to change. But societies only change when families 
     change, and families only change when individuals change. 
     Without a conversion to humility, non-violence and 
     selflessness in our own hearts, all our talk about ``ending 
     the violence'' may end as pious generalities. It is not 
     enough to speak about reforming our society and community. We 
     need to reform ourselves.
       Two questions linger in the aftermath of the Littleton 
     tragedy. How could a good God allow such savagery? And why 
     did this happen to us?
       In regard to the first: God gave us the gift of freedom, 
     and if we are free, we are free to do terrible, as well as 
     marvelous things . . . And we must also live with the results 
     of others' freedom. But God does not abandon us in our 
     freedom, or in our suffering. This is the meaning of the 
     cross, the meaning of Jesus' life and death, the meaning of 
     He descended into hell. God spared His only Son no suffering 
     and no sorrow--so that He would know and understand and share 
     everything about the human heart. This is how fiercely He 
     loves us.
       In regard to the second: Why not us? Why should evil be at 
     home in faraway places like Kosovo and Sudan and not find its 
     way to Colorado? The human heart is the same everywhere--and 
     so is the One for whom we yearn.
       He descended into hell. The Son of God descended into hell 
     . . . and so have we all, over the past few days. But that 
     isn't the end of the story. On the third day, He rose again 
     from the dead. Jesus Christ is Lord, ``the resurrection and 
     the life,'' and we--His brothers and sisters--are children of 
     life. When we claim that inheritance, seed it in our hearts, 
     and conform our lives to it, then and only then will the 
     violence in our culture begin to be healed.
       In this Easter season and throughout the coming months, I 
     ask you to join me in praying in a special way for the 
     families who have been affected by the Columbine tragedy. But 
     I also ask you to pray that each of us--including myself--
     will experience a deep conversion of heart toward love and 
     non-violence in all our relationships with others.

  Mr. BROWNBACK. It is time we address this. It is time we address it 
strongly. It is time we address it clearly and ask two questions: How 
did we get here, and how do we get out? This is not the culture we were 
raised in and this is not the culture we want our kids to be in, as one 
of our colleagues, Senator Lieberman, put it. I hope we can start the 
change and renew our culture and start to do that by renewing 
ourselves.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BAUCUS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from Montana is 
recognized.

                          ____________________