Band should not evoke Jonestown Massacre in name
When I was reading through the Emerald I came across Conner Jay’s article, (“Jonestown boys make heroine passé while the Dandys make music cliché,” ODE, Mar. 1) and my heart began pounding. I momentarily lost my breath. “Jonestown Massacre… why would anyone choose to include the title of a horrific tragedy in our nation’s history in their band name?” I thought to myself, seething with anger. According to its Web site, The Brian Jonestown Massacre “keeps music evil.” This group, in its “evil keeping,” is paralleling the second half of its namesake. Band members’ experimentation with drugs and battles with mental illness that Jay describes also match with characteristics of the band’s namesake.
Jim Jones, the leader of the Jonestown cult, was a drug user and became increasingly mental ill. He was an evil man who mislead over 900 people during the late 1970s. Among these people was my aunt who perished in Jonestown, Guyana (where the cult moved to from San Francisco in the late 1970s) with other innocent and brainwashed followers in a mass suicide demanded by Jones. The band name, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, offends and saddens me. I understand that Brian Jones is a legitimate namesake for the band. The Jonestown “Massacre” (I’ve never heard it referred to as this) is not. I don’t care how keen of an interest band member Anton Newcombe has in cults or how good the band’s music is. This title brings up negative connotations of a devastating event for my family and numerous others whose hearts were seared by the cruel and fatal actions perpetrated by Jones. Jonestown is an ugly moment in our nation’s history that should be remembered, but it should not be included as a part of a band’s name. This wipes the pain of tragedy in the faces of those whom Jonestown affected. And the band’s name certainly does not make me want to listen to its music.
Lisa Anderson is a student at the University
Using Jonestown Massacre in name of band is insensitive, hurtful to memories of the dead
Daily Emerald
March 4, 2007
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