Killing Us (Not) Softly With a Song

We’re all pleased at my house that Manuel Noriega is in U.S. custody awaiting trial. But his capture raises a basic question about American life and culture.

Supposedly, the U.S. Army’s psychological-warfare experts drove the Panamanian dictator to desperation and surrender, as well as driving the Papal Nuncio and hundreds of the nunciature’s neighbors insane and angry, by using a boom box to belt out rock ‘n’ roll for three days. My own favorite was Bobby Fuller’s “I Fought the Law and the Law Won,” which was repeatedly played.

But my question:

If loud rock music is a form of psychological warfare intended to make adversaries give up, to break their will, why do we allow it day and night on our air waves?

If it has now been proved that tough, hardened generalissimos like Noriega can be driven to face a lifetime in prison rather than hear any more of it, why do we allow our children to listen to it nonstop? Why is it played in restaurants while we are eating? Why it is piped into airplanes before takeoff? Why is it a staple of daily life on every street corner?

Why do we lionize and enrich beyond counting its practitioners? If it’s psychological warfare, why don’t we arrest Bruce Springsteen and George Michael and Guns N’ Roses instead of giving them houses in Malibu Colony and Bentleys to drive? Why are TV award shows created for them if they’re waging psychological war against us?

If Mick Jagger is the equivalent of Che Guevara, should he be allowed to run loose?

When I was 12 years old, rock ‘n’ roll burst on the scene. Some smart people, including my parents, said it was an attack on the human brain and on all that was dear to Western culture. Could they have been right? Is rock what has caused the decay of American life, from schools to homes to freeways?

I once read about a test showing that rock music interfered with brain functioning, made the listener feel slightly “high” but prevented sustained thought and contemplation. Is this what’s been screwing up decision-making at every level of society?

Rock ‘n’ roll as war against ourselves. Billy Idol as anarchist. A nation killing itself through its ears.

I’m scared.