People of every race, age, culture, and sex have been listening to music for ages on end, enjoying the many different sounds, types, and genres we have available for our listening pleasure. As the years have rolled forward, perspectives have changed, and society has been manipulated by means of the lyrics our music artists provide us with. Many of us spend hours on end enjoying some of our favorite songs, and discovering new bands that we enjoy the lyrical company of, but how often do we think of the impact these lyrics have on our daily lives, the people we have become, the hopes and dreams that we have? More often than not, we underestimate the influence our favorite music artists have over us. In the past 10-15 years, the quality of the most popular genres has changed and been down graded significantly.Let?s take rock, for example. While at one point we were influenced by the intelligence of such artists as Tool, with Maynard?s lyrics of God?s giving of free will for humans being used to beat their brother down, surviving misguided and fighting for everything not worth fighting for, while never opening the eyes to the beauty we?ve got in front of us, we now are influenced by Nickelback?s idea that the girl shaking it in the pretty pink thong look?s so much cuter with something in her mouth. Think back to the days of Alice in Chain?s Layne Stayley conveying a lifetime of hurt and pain with such