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The Ethics of Singing Along: the Case of Mind of a Lunatic

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The Ethics of Singing Along: the Case of Mind of a Lunatic AARON SMUTS The Ethics of Singing Along: The Case of “Mind of a Lunatic” i. introduction ical bravado of the genre amplified by slasher- gore. What could be tougher, more dangerous, and In 1990, a Houston-based rap group called Geto all-around bad than a lunatic-serial-killer-rapist- Boys released their third album, The Geto Boys, maniac! I will take a closer look at “Mind of a bearing one of the recently introduced parental Lunatic,” but my concern is not so much with the advisory stickers along with a disclaimer from the morality of the song as with the morality of listen- record label: “Def American Recordings is op- ing to it. posed to censorship. Our manufacturer and dis- I am not entirely sure what the prescribed mode tributor, however, do not condone or endorse of listening might be, but I am sure that a common the content of this recording, which they find mode is problematic. Often audiences do not sim- violent, sexist, racist and indecent.” The album ply listen to popular songs; they sing along. This was clearly designed to arouse controversy; crit- encourages a curious mode of engagement that ics took the bait. The album went gold. Within is far different from the way people typically ap- a year, it was blamed for at least one death.1 proach other kinds of narrative artworks, such as Two songs on the album, “Mind of a Lunatic” film, theater, and literature. Most important, this and “Assassins,” feature narratives of hideously mode of engagement is sometimes morally prob- immoral action—rape, necrophilia, murder, and lematic. It is problematic when it involves the en- kidnapping—as well as exaggerated, comically joyment of evil, more particularly, the enjoyment overblown nastiness—stealing from the poor, of imaginatively doing evil.3 This is morally prob- beating of the blind, and the killing of an inno- lematic because it is bad to take pleasure in imag- cent grandmother. ined suffering. And it is even worse to take plea- Throughout the album, the members of the sure in thoughts of doing evil.4 group—Bushwick Bill, Scarface, and Willie D— tell stories of their evil misadventures. The vio- lence in “Mind of a Lunatic” approaches that of ii. listening to “mind of a lunatic” a slasher movie. In the first verse, Bushwick Bill makes explicit reference to the genre. Later in the “Mind of a Lunatic” is designed to shock. It fea- song, Willie D says that he will leave the listeners tures extreme violence, including a brutal rape with worse nightmares than Freddie Kruger. Mid- narrative in the first segment. The song opens way through, Scarface describes himself as sitting with these words: “The sight of blood excites me; in a candlelit room “Dreaming of the people I’ve shoot you in the head sit down, and watch you dismantled.”2 What are we to make of this? bleed to death.”5 The speaker is Bushwick Bill. Although I think there are reasons to worry He is clearly not a very nice guy. Things get much about the Geto Boys, on a plausible interpreta- worse. In the second verse, he describes watching tion their music is not nearly as morally bad as it a woman through a window. He decides to bru- first appears. Their songs are filled with the typ- tally rape and kill her. As the song progresses, we C 2013 The American Society for Aesthetics 122 Song, Songs, and Singing learn that not only is Bushwick a murdering rapist, Accordingly, one might think that the song is a po- he is something straight out of a horror movie. He litically motivated parody. Although it would be has sex with the corpse of his victim and writes his nice if we could see it as an extended parody, this name on the wall in blood. On the charts of evil, is unlikely. The Geto Boys appear to have simply this is hard to top. taken certain elements of the genre to their logical The remainder of the song describes several extension. The songs are seldom funny. And there other violent episodes. Each is recounted in the is little overt irony. This is not pure parody. first person by the various members of the group. Parody or not, the song clearly uses a horror They maintain their personas throughout. But narrative to develop the personas of the band when Scarface tells us how he killed the grand- members. As is common in the genre, the mem- mother of his strung-out girlfriend, we learn that bers attempt to play up their putative authentic- “she was screamin’ out, ‘Brad!’”— Scarface’s first ity. But the fact that Scarface uses his given name name, not his stage name.6 The song does not does not mean that he has left his persona behind. merely attribute the violence to the stage-name Scarface (Brad Jordan) is a persona. The song is persona, but to the actual person—Brad Jordan. reputation building, big talk, of an unprecedented Similarly, after giving his actual birth date, Willie sort. Properly considered, the song does not con- D closes the song, saying that the events are not done, at least not in any obvious way, rape and fictional. We are dealing with a strange form of murder. Hence, it is not nearly as bad as it first slasher fiction. The characters in Halloween (John appears. Carpenter, 1978) do not refer to Michael Myers as But my purpose here is not interpretation. In- Tony Moran, the actor playing the adult killer. stead, I am principally interested in how people Nor do we learn that Myers was born on the listen to the song. The morality of the song and same day as the actor. The Geto Boys are dif- the morality of listening might diverge. Regard- ferent. Apparently, they want to be thought of as less of how we should interpret a song, not ev- monsters. eryone will respond in the intended way. This is It would be easy to denounce the song as the not a phenomenon unique to music. Just think product of a group of, well, lunatics. Who else of the cult of gangster worship around Scar- would tell stories like this about themselves? On face (Brian De Palma, 1983). My Italian cobbler first blush, the music looks like immoral garbage. in Park Slope, Brooklyn, had a small shrine to Maybe the distributor was right. Perhaps they the movie in 2010! Nearly three decades after should not have sold the album. But this is too the movie was released, gangster-worshiping kids quick, too simple. Although it is plausible that the across the country could be seen wearing T-shirts song might be morally problematic, it depends on covered with dollar signs featuring Pacino in the how it should be interpreted. And this is not so final scene holding his “little friend.” The lessons clear. have been incorporated into numerous hip-hop “Mind of a Lunatic” is more complex than it songs. Apparently, the most important lesson is might at first appear. I doubt that the Geto Boys the first: “Lesson 1. Don’t get high off your own intend to endorse, much less encourage, rape, mass supply.”8 Although the film tells a Cinderella murder, and all manner of exaggerated violence. It story, it does not idolize the gangsters. Rather, is inconceivable that they would adopt this as their it is a movie about an incestuously jealous drug goal. They are not monsters. Nihilists of this sort smuggler who shows a few Greek virtues (and could never have produced three albums together! even more vices). This gangster worship is morally They are not here to promote evil. No, their goals problematic. It is equally unexpected. Surely it was appear to be more innocuous: “Mind of a Lunatic” not De Palma’s intention to develop a subcultural is part slasher fiction, part persona boasting, part icon. shock the bourgeoisie, and part comment on how Regardless, with “Mind of a Lunatic” we do white America sees young black men. It implicitly not need to look for aberrant modes of reception. says: so you think we are bad; you could not even Instead, a common form of listening to the song imagine just how bad we are. is morally problematic. Although film and the- At times, the song borders on a parody of ater audiences may occasionally recite the lines how white America sees black men. A distinctly of campy midnight productions, it is common for white-sounding voice repeats: “that guy is crazy.”7 people to sing along with songs. In the case of Smuts The Ethics of Singing Along 123 “Mind of a Lunatic,” the song gives the listener the about (i.e. emotionally respond to), and treat (in words to be as bad as the persona, to eloquently action) other people.”12 If we think that emotional express anger and pronounce on their own fierce- responses to fiction are not directed at actual peo- ness with style. The problem is that, unlike merely ple, then we should conclude that such reactions acting out a part on the stage, this kind of listening are outside the scope of morality. encourages a mode of engagement where audi- Tomeet the challenge, Hazlett tries to show that ences visualize the content they describe from the our reactions to fiction are in fact directed at real- first person. ity. But I see no need to proceed in this fashion. His My claim might sound implausible, but it has fails to establish the need.
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