Nature or nurture? Present from birth or learned behavior? When it comes to the impulse to move to a groove, it’s pretty clear that human beings are hard-wired to do it. The following video is further evidence of that.
But the following video is evidence of other things, too: that if exposed to metal at an early age, before their psyches are corrupted by pop music, children will get it immediately; that in addition to the impulse to move to a groove, the impulse to headbang is also hard-wired; and that Vildhjarta’s master plan to take over the world within the space of a single generation is proceeding successfully.
We’ve all seen other examples of this kind of “metal kids” video before, but this is the best one I’ve seen, because this young dude has definitely got some moves . . . and because of the headbang thing.
According to the description below the video clip, the guy who made it had some friends over to his place and decided to play some of his tunes for one of their kids. Watch what happens.
Best YouTube comments on this clip:
“There is hope for the future of our youth.”
“Give that boy a 9 string.”
“Too bad that when they grow up they get fed radio shit and start despising this kind of music.”
“or they grow up and learn to appreciate all music…..”
“This kid will get pussy.”
P.S. The song is “Shadow” from the Måsstaden album. You get one guess about which of our writers sent me the link to this clip.
P.P.S. I’m so fuckin proud of myself for not using That Word even one time in this post.
T . . . .
H . . . .
A . . . .
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
35 Responses to “DAT GRUVE”
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I wonder, though, if the kid wasn`t just emulating his father/mother. Like a Pavlovian dog. Obviously, he is encouraged when he acts a certain way, and he has associated that action with certain aural cues. So the behavior may be less a pure enjoyment of the music and more just good training.
Or maybe he just likes rocking out.
Either way, it kind of freaks me out when I see kids being exposed to overly loud music (like at clubs/shows), because I can only assume that it`s doing massive damage to their hearing. With adults, whatever, we decided to be there. But with little kids, I feel like it`s kind of inappropriate.
On the other hand, children a gross. Especially their tiny, grubby hands. Ick.
Also, was the word you`re proud of not using va-jay-jay or vagoo? Or perhaps “finger-licking”? I just ruined “finger-licking good” for you, because you`ll never be able to disassociate it from vagoo now.
There is a different…appearance, I guess…between instinctive and learned behaviour at that age. My oldest (affectionately dubbed Elder Spawn) mimicks headbanging, but it’s conscious and focused, where this kid looks like he’s just moving instinctively (which Elder Spawn also does… it’s the same “move” too).
Children exposed to excessively loud noise = bad. Children exposed to metal = good. I always listen to music in the car; if the Spawn are with me, I turn it down. I’d rather have quiet metal than no metal.
(The Bride was laughing at me the other day for rocking Immortal and reading passages from the Kalevala to the boys as they ate their cereal).
Anyway, Thall.
I think you need to publish “Trollfiend’s Guide To Parenting.” Clearly best-seller potential there.
I don’t know if it’s awesome or sad to admit that I have actually been contemplating that very thing, spurred on in part by attempting to build a working siege engine and the game we invented called “Swordball”.
Reading Finnish folklore to your “Elder Spawn” = fucking thall pancake!
Look out, somebody took a *PSY 101* course and now they’ve mastered the art of behaviorism! 😉 Actually, you raise some valid points and I would tend to agree with you to an extent. However, with that said, I can attest that a co-worker/fellow musician and metal head friend of mine, that also played in a professional Christian rock/metal band that most of you would absolutely hate (These Five Down), has very young children that genuinely seem to love metal music. For example, his son really seems to dig Despised Icon, but would pass on Iron Maiden, even though his Dad loves both and often plays both when the kiddies are around. The the kid seems to show favoritism to one and not the other, in spite of his dad’s approval to both lends some credence to the possibility that even youngins love the metal. So, although some of the reaction from this video could be learned behavior by positive reinforcement from the parents, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that this kid just has fuck;n brutality in his blood. If none of this makes sense, disregard. I just woke up after only 3 hours of sleep followed by a 16 hour work shift.
I obviously can’t verify the truthfulness of the description of this YouTube clip, but if it’s true, it wasn’t this kid’s parents who were playing the music. It was a friend of the family who had invited all of them over. So it would have been the kid’s first time to hear this song, or maybe to hear metal at all. At least I like to think that’s true. 🙂
I’ve noticed a certain musical favouitism in the Elder Spawn as well; he seems to prefer black metal.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that his daddy calls him Elder Spawn and plays Immortal at breakfast. 🙂
I only refer to him as Elder Spawn on the interhole and I’d say that 80-85% of my musical consumption is folk metal so CLEARLY it’s instinctual. So thall.
Thall.
Oh fuck, I said That Word.
Power of suggestion = fucking metal.
I definitely don’t think it’s impossible for kids to like metal, and I’m sure any of them do. My point was just that I wonder how much is emulation. Lots of great responses, though, so I’ll assume that anyone not playing metal for their children should be convicted of child abuse. It’s essential growing stuffs!
I told my much better half that if we have kids, I’ll play nothing but grindcore and brutal death metal for them. At appropriate volume, of course. She seemed skeptical about the whole thing, but we our babies master the secret arts of grindkilling and take over see eggheads world, she’ll understand.
Fucking autocorrect.
Take over the world.
Where did egghead come from?
“we our babies master the secret arts of grindkilling and take over see eggheads world”
This was like applying Google Translate to Finnish. You have become a human Google Translate. Congratulations! I will begin sending you foreign language texts right away.
Send me some Chinese stuff, and see if I can guess it at all correctly. Then Ray can check it. Lulz!
A week ago I went to the show in Seattle headlined by Korpiklaani (which also included Arkona), and not once, but twice, two little boys in the audience (a different one each time) were invited up on stage — once during Polkadot Cadaver’s set and once during Korpiklaani’s set. The kids looked to be about 6 or 7 years old. Both times, the vocalists sat with them on the drumkit riser while singing a song. Polkadot Cadaver was doing a surprisingly cool cover of “Billie Jean”, and during the Korpiklaani set, Jonne Järvelä got the little dude during his set to sing along with him (it was a relatively quiet, a cappella song).
On the one hand, it was pretty amazing and heart-warming — everyone in the house loved it both times. On the other hand, it couldn’t have been good for the kids’ hearing to be in that loud-as-fuck club for hours.
Also, please don’t say vagoo again. Or va-jay-jay.
Also, I will not lick your fingers.
I think at that age (6-7) they have passed the point where their hearing is in the developing process. I could be wrong about that and I definitely don’t advocate bringing your kid into that situation without maybe some ear protection but I think it’s less dangerous to their long term hearing healthh than if they were say 3-4.
Maybe they did have ear protection. I wasn’t close enough to see if the kids were using ear plugs.
Interesting… I assumed the loudness would be a problem no matter the age.
Also, finger lick my vagooey yaj yaj.
THALL
I mean…
Wow. That’s only the second kid I’ve seen headbanging. The first was my niece headbanging to the Deththeme. 😛
These kind of videos are awesome. I wouldn’t let my kid headbang though, it’s not good for you even when your brain is fully developed.
Psh, I’ve been headbanging for 20+ years and there’s nothing wrong with my sandwich.
I mean brain.
Mmmmmm, brain.
I mean sandwich.
I’m all for letting kids hear different kinds of music, so long as you’re reponsible about it and aren’t blasting it in their direction at full volume. I would hope that those kids Islander mentioned did have ear protection at the show. However, keep in mind that kids get exposed to a lot of noise and while a concert is probably one of the louder things for a kid to encounter, it’s hardly the end of the world to see a child at a show. As long as they weren’t in/near the pit and were being looked after – and aren’t at shows every night – then I see no reason to be alarmed.
Now, as for getting kids into metal, I think there are some bands that kids shouldn’t be exposed to at a young age, particularly if they’re of the sort where you can make out the lyrics. Some of that stuff is not for kids to hear, or to see (thinking of the visuals some bands use). With a little common sense, there’s no reason why parents can’t share some of the music they like with their kids, but I’d also like to see other genres given a chance for the sake of the child making his/her own choices in music. Forcing them to listen to only what you want to listen to isn’t going to do any good; playing Fleshgod Apocalypse non-stop for them may only serve to turn them against metal. Moderation and tolerance – even for some of the stuff you consider absolute shit – is going to be a lot more effective.
Mind you, I don’t have any kids. Just a cat who doesn’t seem to mind metal. But I do know people with kids and they try to approach their childrens’ musical tastes with an open mind.
About the lyrics and imagery, I’m a bit conflicted.
I realize that children are not functioning on the same level as adults (myself excluded, poop, hehehehe), but I also don’t like the idea that they should never be exposed to “adult” things.
Profanity, for example. I don’t have a problem with it, and I think it’s absurd that some people do. Not saying that disliking the word “fuck” makes one an asshole, but I find it a silly position. So why would I object my kids using it?
I imagine my perspective will change when I’m older and have moneysuckers. But for now, as long as the kids aren’t terrified of something, I don’t see what’s wrong with them being exposed to adult things.
I wish I could be there on the day when the little Phro-its respond to your efforts to correct or discipline them by saying, “finger lick my vagooey yaj yaj, you giant douchebag!”
I will make sure they are disciplined appropriately.
That’s actually my point–I don’t care if they use profanity, as long as their ideas are sound. I don’t think disrespecting your parents is a sound idea, though. Within reason, of course.
So, if my brood are displeased with my decisions, it’s cool if they say it’s bullshit. But they can’t call their mother a bitch. I am a bitch, so they can call me one.
I sort of agree with you on this one. Hearing a few choice words here and there isn’t so much the issue, it’s the bigger picture that I’m talking about. If/when I have a son or daughter, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with them hearing shit or fuck in a song, but I don’t want my five year old child to be listening to a song about skullfucking a nun (I’m sure there’s a song somewhere about that).
Mind you, I’d rather them not hear swearing in every song; these fine fucking words lose some of their fucking meaning if you fucking use them every other fucking word, get my drift. But it’s not that big a deal if one’s in a song. Move on and don’t get pissed at the band and/or store for not putting a sticker on front of the CD for one utterance of a “bad word” on an album.
It comes down to parentling; music should be no different than knowing what kinds of stuff you kid watches on TV or when they go to the movies, what sites they visit online or what video games they play. Some stuff is fine for kids, some stuff isn’t.
Ask and ye shall receive: Visceral Pain from Mexico with a brutal death metal song called “Skullfucking the Nun of Purity”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy29pkKQzLY
You’re welcome.
I’m shocked it wasn’t Cannibal Corpse…
Leave it to the Mexican bands to have all the bases covered.
But let’s go to Cannibal Corpse for a moment.
Imagine little Timmy playing with his classmates during recess (he’s at one of those schools that isn’t a fascist regime that has banned it, by the way) and is teaching them this cool new song he learned. Later on, the students decide to serenade their teacher with the soothing sounds of “I Cum Blood” before finger painting. Or would you rather a song like “Fucked With A Knife” instead right before the spelling test?
Won’t that be a great day at school?
Well, okay…. it would be oddly interesting to have a classroom of first graders singing Cannibal Corpse, but it’d be wrong on so many levels.
I agree with you one the basic idea completely. The difference is probably where the line is drawn.
As you can imagine, I don’t have a problem with language or such. I would probably be more lenient about the type of things my kids hear than most parents. On the hand, I don’t want them to watch TV until they’re at least ten.
For me, the main concern is the ability to formulate clear ideas and think critically. And I think passive entertainment like TV and video games hamper that ability. I still like them both, but I don’t want kids becoming too dependant on them for fun.
But I’m getting waaaaaaay off track.
I agree it’s all about judgment. I also assume everyone will have different judgements on each issue.
This comment is kinda off the rails. Urg….