Posting for Heidi Zambetti Rh 109/Naddaff 9 May 2016 Original Post: Papa Roach -

Last Resort lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhJ6bE4z5vsvideo on www.youtube.com, or 

My original intent was to write about my most recent post on A Perfect Circle song titled, "Judith." However, after a personal experience this week, I decided to post this song as an alternative. "Last Resort" by Papa Roach came on Pandora Radio and I found myself to be incredibly influenced subconsciously by the lyrics and heavy metal—it even altered my thinking momentarily. This being a unique experience I felt inclined to write about it. In my essay, I speak about music's ability to become a power dynamic that shows its force in the historical (through soldiers in Plato's era) and modern era (U.S. Military today). This being most eminent in recent no-touch or music torture cases in the present era. I made comparisons to historical and present day militia in music's ability to imitate and express behavior as well as emotions.

 New post: How does the listener refrain from consuming music? How does the listener refrain from becoming influenced? The personal experience (referenced above) was an instance I wrote about in the first writing assignment. Making quite a significant impact on me, the song, in that moment, took over my body and mind—resulting in the swaying of my subconscious. A similar situation occurred recently. I was driving home from school and Pandora Radio was playing in the “background” of my thinking. I looked down at my speedometer and noticed I had started to accelerate and my speed increased significantly. This change in behavior seemed to correlate to the change in song. The unique component is the song I was listening to was also a faster beat. While speeding on the freeway, my behavior imitated the words and music—matching the beat of the song succinctly. In this instance, I believe this is a perfect example of what both Plato and Adorno speak of. It seemed as if I became the music—mirroring an automaton becoming one with it. The fast beat and repetition of the song put me in this same upbeat mode, making my body an automatic consumer of the song. Looking back on this moment, it wasn’t until after this behavior change that I even noticed the influence. How did I automatically succumb to this influence—did I become the machine? In that moment with that song, I was consuming the music allowing it to flow through my mind and body. It took its toll on me and I became a vessel through which it flowed. Plato would state this to be a modern instantiation of the imitative power music encapsulates. In Adorno’s case, he would agree that I was consuming it—even further, emulating the song like a machine.