Dear Jacob:

I am glad to hear that you are avoiding any music with satanic lyrics. It is also important to avoid lyrics that promote any ungodly behavior or ideas. It is not just rock music that has problems with this. Many Country songs glorify sinful behavior and should also be avoided.

There are many songs in rock music, Country, and other forms of music that are morally neutral. Such songs are not a problem. It is those songs in any form of music that promote, glorify, or celebrate ungodly and sinful behavior and ideas that are surely to be avoided.

But, there is more to it that the lyrics. The vary nature of the music itself can be a problem, that is, the musical melodies.

An Italian psychologist by the name of Roberto Assagioli, way back in the first part of the 20th Century, did a scientific study of the effects of music. The music he analyzed was Classical. He found that some Classical pieces facilitated health and other facilitated illness.

All music effects emotion. For example, when I was about 13 and in a depressed state, I nearly killed myself while listening to the just released 20 minute version of "The Pusher" by Steppenwolf. I was already depressed, but the music enhanced that depression. It was the more the music than the lyrics. But, the lyrics plus the music was a dangerous combination.

Music can boost or enhance an emotion already present, or it can cause emotions. We experience that every time we watch a movie.

Thus, we must be careful not only about the lyrics, but also about the musical melodies as well.

When my daughters were 12 and 13 that wanted to listen to heavy metal (very popular at the time). I did not want that music in my house. This was a bone of contention with them so I bought them a album of "Christian" heavy metal as a compromise.

My girls agreed that the usual heavy medal had horrible lyrics and they agreed that the Christian heavy metal had great lyrics. Nevertheless, they would not listen to the Christian heavy metal.

I did not understand why since the melodies were the same, only the lyrics were different, which they agreed were better with the Christian heavy metal.

So, I asked my daughter why she and her sister would not listen to the Christian heavy medal. My daughter said, "Because it has no power."

This was very insightful of her.

In the Bible there is an implication that Satan was the "choir director" in heaven before he was kicked out (Ezk 28:11-15). In any event, Satan indeed knows music and exploits music to his purposes. He knows that the very nature of music speaks to the soul, thus music gives him the ability to affect the soul in ways he does not have normally.

My girls and their friends would often tell me that they did not listen to the lyrics, but only to the instrumental part. I told them that was even worse.

If one listens to the music and not the lyrics then, by the very nature of the music which speaks directly to the soul, the music acts like a hypodermic needle that injects the message of the lyrics into the soul bypassing the critical faculties of the mind. This is very dangerous and has a "brainwashing" effect. We need to critically evaluate the lyrics.

But, we also need to evaluate the melodies as well. Certain musical compositions are designed to effect the emotions and the psychology of the person in a certain way. We see this is New Age music that is designed to facilitate an altered state of consciousness.

In my opinion, heavy metal music, by its very nature, regardless of lyrics, is not healthy.

As for rock in general, including some of the work of bands in my generation (e.g., Led Zepplin, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, etc.), the musicality of the music itself is not always harmful, while the lyrics might be sometimes.

Thus, there are some pieces by those rock bands that may be okay. There are some songs of Country that are okay. There are a lot of songs and music that are not okay amongst the Country and Rock genre.

As Dr. Assagioli found out, there are even Classical pieces that are not healthy.

Thus, the bottomline, I would propose, is that one must be careful. It is best to choose to listen to songs that are either morally uplifting, or at least morally neutral.

As for the music behind any lyrics, it too should be uplifting or at least neutral. That which is truly dark is probably dark for our souls and we just do not need that.

I hope that helps you to evaluate the music you listen to. I applaud you for caring about this and thinking about it. That is to your credit.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary