However, they do. To thousands and thousands of kids the lyrics mean everything, sometimes too much.

Only too often, you open up a newspaper to read how someone has massacred a class of school children. You read on and find out they were killed by one of their class mates. You continue reading and discover that the killer was a rock fan, and that his favourite artists music is being blamed for this seemingly unprovoked attack.
Only last week Slipknot were being blamed for one of their fans shooting dead 13 of his teachers, two teenagers, and a policeman at his old school in Germany. The press said the lyrics "shoot your naughty teachers with a pump gun", from Slipknots ‘School Wars’, were the main reason for this killing spree. Just as Ozzy Osbourne’s lyrics from the song ‘Suicide Solution’ were blamed for an American teenager killing himself, and Marilyn Mansun was blamed for the high school massacre in Denver. They are not the first to be blamed for such events, and will most certainly not be the last - not until people realise that until Ozzy is himself standing there with a gun against someone head telling them to hang themselves he is not to blame, just as no other controversial band or artist is.

Its not just Rock music that is getting a raw deal of it, Rap and Hip-Hop is the new trend to have come under the spotlight. Eminem’s reputation has been suffering at the hands of his fans for quite a few years now. Last year, a 15 year old boy tortured and killed his mother and sister whilst Eminem’s music was reportedly playing loudly in the background. Consequently, Eminem and his controversial lyrics were instantly held responsible. Never mind the fact that millions of kids are listening to him everyday and dont go out and kill anyone. The press just like to focus on the ONE person who did. So Solid Crew have also come under attack for glorifying guns and promoting unnecessary violence.

Society finds it much easier to blame someone else than to actually admit that a teenager has the ability to kill. Its all too easy for the parents to pass the blame onto someone they perceive as a bad influence than to actually face the possibility that their little cherub has done this of their own accord. What they fail to realise is that there must have been something pretty wrong with these kids if they were so easily influenced by the lyrics of some song. I like King Adora but as with the most of their fans I would never develop an eating disorder or stop eating just because of their lyrics happen to be "skinny is sexy, big isn’t beautiful".

These kids are so-called "bad", before they listen to Slipknot, Eminem et al. It’s the artists' reputation and image as bad boys which attracts the other "bad boys" - it doesn’t make seemingly "normal" kids bad. Its like when your 10 years old and playing in your school playground, if you want to cause trouble your attracted to the bunch of trouble makers who are steeling girls skipping ropes, not the group of goody goodies quietly playing conkers and keeping out of trouble in the corner. And why? Because you can identify with the bad boys. They are the same as you, and so you are attracted to them. Children who are capable of killing members of their family will like Eminem cos he too is a bad boy.
These kids who kill are different from everyone else and are proud of it. What better way of showing your not the same as everyone else than by listening to music which is seen as a break from the norm and very wrong. It tells people your naughty and aren’t afraid to be different. Its more of a statement of who you are than what you’re capable of. If your going to kill somebody your going to do it regardless of what a few stupid lyrics are. If you don’t have the desire to kill you're going to suddenly develop it just because some words in a song tell you to.

Maybe society wouldn’t have such a problem with these artists if their image was more respected. Maybe if Marilyn Manson toned down the lippy and grew his eyebrows back, or if Slipknot didn’t look quite so scary they would come across better. However, what people don’t seem to accept is that their image is just for show. Its not as if Eminem walks around his house in full get up holding a chainsaw, (unless he’s doing a spot of DIY). Putting on their make-up and masks is no different to an actor putting on their costumes and getting into a role. Because that’s all it is, a role they play whilst their on stage, (and I for one would much rather they put on their costumes so they remember when they’re at work, than they didn’t and ended up eating a dead crow whilst walking around the shops on a Saturday afternoon just in case they were supposed to be in character). When they’re not in character these guys are as normal as the nice old man who works down the local corner shop. These artists dont take their work home with them, just as a soap actor doesn’t go home and have an affair with his brother-in-laws sister, (who is coincidently his neighbour and is also infact somehow related to him). Ozzy is a happily married lovable father of three. Alice Cooper, (very controversial in his day), enjoys a round of golf every now and then. Shaun Crahan, (the clown from Slipknot for all you anti-metalists), is also married with children and Keith Flint from the Prodigy, (also seen as a bad influence when Firestarter was a hit), enjoys gardening and drinking tea – hardly the Satan worshiping monsters they are all too often portrayed as.

So maybe when the press or parents are next accusing Rock, Rap or Hip-Hop for children going on high-school killing sprees and they talk of banning this kind of controversial music, they should consider if it really is to blame, or if they’re just looking for an excuse not to believe that children in this day and age are capable of doing such things uninfluenced.

I’ll finish as I started, with a few wise words from Paul Draper:
"..the lyrics mean nothing, just gobbledy-gook...."

Remember it kids, and leave your guns at home and your poor parents alone.