The purpose of this study was to discover whether or not the accompaniment of a lyric sheet while listening to rock music would aid a student's correct identification of the message conveyed by that song. Participants included one 7th and one 8th grade class of "gifted" students (N = 62). Other elements examined involved students' judgment of the messages as negative or positive, as well as the tonality of each song as pleasant or unpleasant and how these judgments related to correct or incorrect identification of the messages. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference regarding correct or incorrect identification of the message depending on whether or not students did or did not have a lyric sheet to read while listening to the U2 song, while there was a statistically significant difference concerning the Black Sabbath song. Additional results of this study are discussed, and implications for future research are suggested.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The aim of this study is to examine the rise of Afrikaans rock music and the literary status of Afrikaans rock lyrics, with Fokofpolisiekar as example. An investigation is done into how the specific sociopolitical context within which Afrikaans rock music developed manifests in lyrics and musical style. The implications of Afrikaans rock with regards to the identity of Afrikaner youth in the new millennium are also explored. A case study of the Afrikaans punk rock group Fokofpolisiekar is done by way of demonstration of this interdisciplinary and contextual investigation. Not only the formation and impact of the group are examined, but a considerable section of the thesis is dedicated to the analysis and interpretation of this group’s lyrics, which are viewed and explored from a literary point of view. In this process certain questions regarding the position of lyrics in the Afrikaans literary system comes under scrutiny. The analysis and interpretation of the lyrics of Fokofpolisiekar are therefore aimed towards examining the literary status of this group’s lyrics. It will be proved that the sociopolitical context within which Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics came to be formulated, impacted on the character and themes thereof. The thematic struggle with issues like liberation (redemption) and identity in the lyrics are shown to bear relation to the sociopolitical context of the Afrikaner youth after the Afrikaner’s loss of power in 1994 and the postmodern condition at the turn of the millennium. This postmodern condition is characterized by the continuing fragmentation of identity. The conclusion is made that Afrikaans popular music sets up a space within which new ideas with regards to ‘truths’ of identity can be formulated. In other words, the punk rock music of Fokofpolisiekar offers an opportunity for the re-articulation of Afrikaner identity. By incorporating the polysistem theory (and other relevant theories) in investigating the creation and reception of Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics, it is shown that the Afrikaans literary system holds a place for Afrikaans lyrics. Although similar, lyrics should not be regarded as synonymous to poetry. Seeing that the creation and reception thereof differs from that of other literary forms, I argue that lyrics are lyrics and should be regarded as such in order for it to come to its full right in literary study.