# Is rock music bad for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705 "2011-09-18T09:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/21 "2011-09-20T11:16:31Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > Thanks all. I feel silly for posting this question now. Nah. Silly would be if you’d spent three pages defending this Diamond guy, with lots of **bolded text** and Random Capitalization. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/22 "2011-09-20T12:01:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > At the same time, the waltz is anapestic. It once struck me that many well known arias are waltzes. Does that mean that opera is bad too? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/23 "2011-09-20T12:48:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Very little rock music uses an anapestic beat. “Piano Man” by Billy Joel is the most obvious example. But at least 85% of rock uses a standard 4/4 beat, which is usually iambic. > > At the same time, the waltz is anapestic. Are you sure? I think “Piano Man”, classical waltzes, and most other 3/4 pieces of music are dactylic, not anapestic. The difference is which of the three beats is stressed: in anapestic it’s the last, and in dactylic, the first. Consider the syllable stresses in the Billy Joel song; each line of text here is a bar of music, with dashes representing notes sustained to the first beat or two of the following bar: > [@](#): > > **Son** , can you > **play** me a > **mem** ory— > —? I’m > **not** really > **sure** how it > **goes** — > — but it’s > **sad** and it’s > **sweet** and I > **knew** it com- > **plete** — when > **I** wore a > **young** er man’s > **shoes** — ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/24 "2011-09-20T12:57:54Z")
Of course, rock music is bad for you! It’ll lead you straight down the “Highway to Hell”! :rolleyes: \ Profuse apologies to AC/DC, but I just _couldn’t_ resist! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/25 "2011-09-20T14:16:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And the idea that the anapestic beat is found more often in rock is silly. In fact, I have trouble coming up with rock that is anapestic, unless you count Queens “We will Rock You,” which is has a very atypical beat. Seriously. The only other example I can think of is a couple of bars in “Stairway to Heaven,” the brief fanfare at [5:38 and 5:49](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10bB39-nJ3A) just before the hard rock guitar solo. And it’s in 4/4, and it comes as a sharp interruption in the regular rock beat. Which means it’s anomalous. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/26 "2011-09-20T14:26:49Z")
[slight hijack] This is the second thread I’ve read in the past few months that has dealt with the topic of certain Christians being opposed to rock music, for various reasons. Honestly, I had thought this whole thing had played out by the mid 1980’s; seriously, at 91.1 on my FM dial, and channel 63 on my Sirius receiver, I can hear music that is pretty obviously “rock” by artists who are overtly Christian. Is this whole “Rock Music is Teh Evil” thing making a comeback? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/27 "2011-09-20T16:32:47Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think I’ll start a new band. We’ll call ourselves _The Anapests._ > > We’re _bad for the brain._ Yeah! I can hear The Anapests’ anthem now: “B-b-b-b-b-bad B-b-b-b-b-brain” ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/28 "2011-09-20T17:11:34Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > Nit pick or side bar I am not sure which. But Rock music can hurt the ears and cause hearing loss. **Pre** formers have proven it. But anything loud can do the same. Machinery or long hair music that is loud. I am not going to give a link because I really do not think I need to. So now I am going to put in my hearing aids now. PREformer: Someone who forms something before it is actually formed, or “pre” formed. PERformer: The word you are actually looking for. Lots of things can damage hearing. Loud sounds, however, do not cause muscle weakness. Loss of IQ maybe… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to have my preformance reviewed. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/29 "2011-09-25T22:45:23Z")
What about afropop? The new red hot chili peppers album has afropop elements ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/30 "2011-09-25T23:00:33Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Rock music definitely causes muscular weakness. Just ask Henry Rollins. I think Joe Cocker ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/31 "2011-09-26T00:01:15Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > What about afropop? The new red hot chili peppers album has afropop elements Are you seriously asking if afropop is bad for you? No. The only way music can be bad for you is if you play it too loud, or get distracted by it so you crash your car, or play the wrong music and get beaten up for it. No beats or rhythm or lyrics are inherently bad for you. That concept is simply stupid. > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I think Joe Cocker screwed up his face and fell down? I think that was an SNL sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/32 "2011-09-26T01:28:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention put it very plainly, “Rock music is sex. The big beat matches the body’s rhythms.” Isn’t this exactly what Jerry Falwell would have said? These debates are always funny. Rock musicians and critics go on about how deep, meaningful and influential the genre is, how it has changed lives and societies. Then when someone suggests that death metal or gangsta rap might possibly not be setting the best example, they say, “Aah, it’s just entertainment - the kids don’t take it seriously.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/33 "2011-09-26T02:09:13Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Isn’t this exactly what Jerry Falwell would have said? > > These debates are always funny. Rock musicians and critics go on about how deep, meaningful and influential the genre is, how it has changed lives and societies. Then when someone suggests that death metal or gangsta rap might possibly not be setting the best example, they say, “Aah, it’s just entertainment - the kids don’t take it seriously.” Right, and we should apply those moral standards across the board. Therefore, any work which mentions [drunkenness](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1875/whats-up-with-the-biblical-story-of-drunken-noah-part-1), [killing](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/stoning.html), [sadistic acts](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/torture.html), [wantonness](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/nudism.html), [incest](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/incest.html), and [other deviant acts](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/cannibalism.html) should be banned. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/34 "2011-09-26T12:44:51Z")
So I can dismiss this as outdated gibberish. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705/35 "2011-09-26T14:22:56Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > So I can dismiss this as outdated gibberish. Thanks. Hey, I don’t blame you for asking. Ignorance fighting is what we are about. And how can we fight ignorance if you don’t ask? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-rock-music-bad-for-you/596705.md?page=1)