If you've lived in the Philippines long enough, you may have heard about Frank Sinatra’s song “May Way” to be a killer song. Some people foolishly believe that if you sing that song in a videoke bar, bad luck awaits you when you get out from that bar, or worse… you could get killed as you get home.
Let’s delve into this case that could help us understand why that song is believed to be as such. I also wrote my analysis with it. Ladies and gentlemen… let’s allow ourselves to be detectives right at this moment.
The Case of Pedring and Lito
Pedring is in shock, he just witnessed the killing of his bestfriend Lito. Just an hour ago, they were in a videoke bar singing their hearts out while trying to get drunk. Just minutes after they left, they were assaulted by a group of fellow customers in the bar where they hang out.
There were only two of them and five of the guys. Outnumbered, Pedring was beaten up pretty bad which was better than what Lito got – the latter was stabbed, and was dead just a few minutes later.
Pedring recalled that one of the songs they rendered in that videoke bar was “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. He is now convinced, among other believers everywhere, that the famous tune, one of the greatest songs in the world is really “a killer song”, as what was claimed by the press people and mass-media in general.
My analysis:
In order to understand how a song could, or could not possibly lead to a killing, let us first answer some questions:
Q1: What kind of people usually go to bars?
A1: drunkards – the occasional or habitual types
Q2: For what reason are they going there?
A2: to get drunk, obviously; to be intoxicated; to have a good time; to have a temporary cure for depression or loneliness.
Q3: What are the common mental manifestations of an alcohol-littered brain?
A3: disorientation – uncontrolled laughter, grief, joy, dancing, physical movement, etc.
Now, what happens if we put people in a state of mind mentioned above altogether in a single room? Although no single specific event can be directly pinpointed, these outcomes would seem very possible: irritation, arguments, and most probably, violence.
The frontal lobe of the human brain is responsible for mental functions such as planning, motivation, and judgment. When a person consumes an alcoholic drink, parts of it are absorbed through the bloodstream which flows into vital organs including the brain. And since the frontal lobe is a major component of a human's mental mechanism, it is an easy target for the alcohol that is taken.
So how does irritation come into play? You may not have noticed it before, but the ones who sing a lot in videoke bars are rarely the best singers. Why? Because good singers who eventually become professionals at it are already getting all the glory they need in their gigs and singing engagements, they don't crave the attention that most videoke patrons crave for.
To test this theory, try visiting any videoke bar near you and stay there for many hours. Count how many good and bad singers you can observe. I can give you the fullest assurance that the number of misplaced and misdirected singers will greatly outnumber the qualified ones.
Given this fact, there is a great likelihood that they would sing in a manner that is off-key or off-beat... or simply “off.” This would be enough for anyone to get irritated, especially if the brain of that person is littered with alcohol while hearing his favorite song being tarnished. Having understood above that alcohol can impair judgment and spark motivation, it is clear that an irritated person could become violent.
Now, about the song.
Artist : Frank Sinatra – a world-renowned singer, actor, director, and producer
Album : My Way – the carrier single of the album with the same name having achieved a 'still unmatched record' in the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening Charts in the US and the UK
Presence in videoke bar playlists : very prominent, due to the album's and the artist's popularity
Knowing these, many videoke bar owners would have included 'My Way' in their machines since people would want to sing it. And since it can be observed that bad singers are plentiful compared to the good ones, then irritation easily comes into play. And since some of the people there would have impaired judgments due to alcohol intoxication, mocking, punching, stabbing, and shooting someone would be very possible.
We were not present during the stabbing of Pedring's bestfriend. We can never tell how bad singers they really were and we can't possibly quantify the delinquency level of those men who brutalized them. But we can certainly picture in our minds that their brawl which resulted in someone's death was caused by a mental surge gone wrong.
Whether by a badly rendered song, by a villainous stare, or by some misinterpreted body language, we don't really know. What is certain is that violence and physical harm is always plausible in places where Pedring and Lito went.
Open your eyes, the song itself has definitely nothing to do with the 'My Way Killings' which according to surveys are only 6 incidents so far, that's a relatively small number compared to the general totality of killings and violence in videoke bars happening all over the country regardless of what song or music is heard.
Let me emphasize: open your eyes... or consciousness.
We will be having more articles like this in the next days… they’re gonna be epic!
Woooo. More articles huh 😆