An outrageous claim? Two of them?

[SkinnyWhiteGuy]

I dare say that this page is the greatest medium for progressive and interactive thought EVER in the WORLD!!

I also dare say that if some of the rock stars in this country who have "so much angst and pain it's so whack," to quote 311, were dropped in the middle of Rwanda for 2 months and saw how much worse their lives could be (not being rock stars, for example) they would come back unable to write the music that has made them famous without regretting it due to their newfound understanding of how writing negative music can make the cylce of negative thoughts of their listeners spin faster and stronger, and lead to only more and more alienation from the people who could easily snap them out of their despair.

[glasz77]

Well as far as writing Negative music goes, it is sometimes necessary to write negative music in my opinion and its sometimes nice to hear it. I used to listen to some dark stuff when I was younger and to be honest with you it helped me to not feel like such a freak, Ya know? But for the most part I agree with you.

[SkinnyWhiteGuy]

I get what you're saying. I hope I didn't piss you or anyone else off. I hadn't considered before what you wrote about identifying with the music in a healthy way, that is interesting. I listen to songs like LB's Counterfeit or some Metallica and I like it because it's so intense and climactic, which appeals to one's frustration and impulse to throw shit around.
But I guess when I read/hear stuff like some slipnot or ICP songs - things that refer to violence a lot - I feel like too many kids will get that impulse and at the same time hear things like 'I wanna slit your throat and fuck the wound.' And if that were to happen, then they relate letting their feelings out, which is healthy, to letting them out on someone, which is not.

I guess I should better define what I view as negative music. Prison Sex could easily be seen as a very negative song, but I think it's a healthy expression of a lot of passion and someone who has had the experience described in it might be helped beyond words by hearing it.

I guess what I see as negative is something that drums up or points out anger or loneliness or frustration and doesn't then suggest a good way to deal with them. Or something like that, I guess.