From “Under My Skin” by Doris Lessing

"...We were immersed in dreams. But since then music has changed. Its rhythms no longer swoon or sway or linger, they beat and pound and drive and the sound is so loud you have to hear it with your nerves...So my question is, when some person goes out to kill or torture or maim, can one reason be that he or she has been set for the crime by music that has driven them mad? Shamans have used music for thousands of years to create special moods, young men are prepared for killing by stirring marches, churches use inspirational music to hold the flocks together, and it is known that real spiritual teachers use music, but this is so delicate a thing that it is used carefully, by specialists, in special circumstances. But we deluge ourselves with music of every kind, soak ourselves in it, often feed it direct into the brain with machines designed for this purpose – and we never even ask what effect it may be having. Well, I, for one – and I know there are others – think it is time we do ask."