Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil. |
And I’m Rob. |
Rob, do you like metal? |
Er, that’s an odd question. |
I’ve never really thought about it. |
I mean, I use metal things every day – my toaster, my bike, the underground… |
No, no - not that kind of metal, this kind of metal. |
Oh, that kind of metal. The musical genre, the type of music... |
Yes, and in particular, death metal. |
That fast, loud, aggressive sounding, guitar-based music style? |
Yep, that’s the one. |
Nope. Not my cup of tea at all. |
What kind of person do you think I am? |
Well, that’s the point. |
The type of person who likes death metal may not be the kind of person you think they are. |
More on that shortly, but first, a quiz. |
The electric guitar is an essential element to death metal music. |
In which decade were the first electric guitars produced? |
Was it: a) the 1920s b) the 1930s, or c) the 1940s? |
I think quite early, so I’m going to say the 1920s. |
Well, we’ll see if you’re right later in the programme. |
Does violent music give people violent thoughts? |
Recent research claims to have found the answer. |
This is how the topic was introduced on BBC News. |
What was the conclusion? |
A psychological study of fans of death metal suggests that they are not desensitised to violence despite the genre’s association with growling, often graphically violent lyrics including depictions of cannibalism. |
Researchers found that the main response of fans to the music they love was joy, not violence. |
Adding that most are very nice people who wouldn’t dream of hurting anyone, let alone eating them. |
So what conclusion did the researchers come to? |
Well, they found that the response to the music was joy, not anger or violence. It made people happy. |
There was a fear that listening to music with violent lyrics, which means violent words, would make people desensitised to violence. |
If you are desensitised to something, you don’t see it as unusual or unacceptable, it doesn’t bother you. |
The newsreader also said that the lyrics of death metal include topics such as cannibalism, which is the practice of eating human flesh. |
Listening to someone singing about eating people apparently didn’t make them feel like snacking on their neighbours. |
Let’s hear the introduction again. |
A psychological study of fans of death metal suggests that they are not desensitised to violence despite the genre’s association with growling, often graphically violent lyrics including depictions of cannibalism. |
Researchers found that the main response of fans to the music they love was joy, not violence. |
Adding that most are very nice people who wouldn’t dream of hurting anyone, let alone eating them. |
Professor Bill Thompson from Macquarie University in Sydney conducted this research. |
What does he say people don’t feel when listening to this kind of music? |
Most fans are not angry. |
Most are actually musically trained people who really get a lot of empowerment and aesthetic interest out of the music. |
They feel joyful. They feel transcendent, they feel empowered. |
But what they don’t feel is angry. |
What don’t people feel? |
They don’t feel angry! |
What they do feel is joyful, the adjective from joy. |
They feel happy. |
Something else they feel is empowered. |
This is a feeling of being in control of your life, that you can make and follow your own decisions. |
Music is certainly a powerful art form. |
Professor Thompson also said that fans have an aesthetic interest in it. |
This means that they appreciate it as an art form. |
Let’s hear Professor Thompson again. |
Most fans are not angry. |
Most are actually musically trained people who really get a lot of empowerment and aesthetic interest out of the music. |
They feel joyful. They feel transcendent, they feel empowered. |
But what they don’t feel is angry. |
Time to review our vocabulary, but first, let’s have the answer to the quiz question. |
In which decade were the first electric guitars produced? |
Was it: a) the 1920s b) the 1930s c) the 1940s? |
What did you think, Rob? |
I took a guess at the 1920s. |
Well electric guitars were early, but not quite that early, I’m afraid. |
The first ones were produced in the 1930s. |
So well done if, unlike Rob, you got that correct. |
Now, onto the vocabulary. |
Yes, we had a few words connected with music. |
We had genre for a style of music and also lyrics for the words of a song. |
Some of the lyrics of death metal songs are about eating people, which is called cannibalism. |
Cannibalism is a form of extreme violence and there was some concern that people exposed to such violent lyrics in songs might become desensitised to actual violence. |
This means that they would accept violence as normal and not be worried by it. |
However, the research showed that this doesn’t happen and fans actually feel joy, which is another way of saying happiness. |
The research also suggested that fans have an artistic appreciation of death metal, described as an aesthetic interest. |
The final word was for a feeling that fans might get after listening to the music, empowered. |
Someone who is empowered is in control of their own life and decisions. |
And I feel empowered to bring this edition of 6 Minute English to a close. |
We look forward to your company next time. |
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Bye for now. |
Goodbye! |