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| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Favorite All-Time Videos |
| Date | Thu, 15 May 2003 23:03:42 -0500 |
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A couple days late...the point Greg makes made me think of the opening piece
in Nick Hornby's SONGBOOK. In the first 'chapter' (for those not familar,
in the book, Hornby writes about his favorite songs, which is really just an
excuse to make myriad observations about music in general), Hornby discusses
a Teenage Fanclub song that the band performed at a launch for literary
anthology Hornby edited. For Hornby, the song stuck with him, because the
event was such a raging success.
Hornby then states that the book would not be an endless recitation of songs
and how they relate to specific memories. He posits that merely associating
with songs with personal experiences in some way diminishes the impact of
the songs, which should stand on their own. To put it another way, the song
should create its own personal experience for the listener, the resonance
coming from the words, tune and performance -- these are what make a song
truly special, not the fact it was playing at some specific time.
In saying that, I don't think he means that it is inappropriate to associate
songs with experiences (which I don't think is the same as associating music
with era -- not entirely so). What he means is that great music is truly
appreciated for what it is. This is why I find complaints that videos take
away from imgination to be fairly unavailing -- if the song resonates with
me, it will hit me as a purely aural experience that punches whatever
emotions or feelings that make me want to hear again and keep it in my head.
Again, I can't completely divorce a powerful video image from a song --
for example, it's hard for me not see David Bowie and the cardboard
bulldozer when I hear "Ashes to Ashes" -- but I think that's because that
particular visual representation capture something about the song and the
artist (other examples -- Devo or Madness, artists whose videos were
effective because they so thoroughly reflected their respective artistic
sensibilities). On the other hand, while Ashanti may look really hot in a
video, I never remember the song.
Most recent example, and then I'll climb off the dais -- the last record I
bought because of a video was the last Basement Jaxx album. The video for
"Where's Your Head At?" is spooky and hilarious (DJ goes to lab where
monkeys play instruments, with Basement Jaxx members faces on the monkeys --
monkeys then attack the DJ). The images float in my head when I hear the
song -- but what really nails me to the song is it's massive hooks (partly
sampled from two Gary Numan tracks) and big beats -- the song hits me at
that level, no images necessary.
Mike Bennett
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
>From: "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com>
> One of the reasons why music is such a powerful art form is because
>it evokes such personal and idiosyncratic responses in listeners,
>particularly in the way that music is tied to memory. Witness the recent
>Audities thread about "rainy day music." While a song may evoke thoughts of
>an old flame in one listener, that same song may remind another listener of
>his or her grandparents' farm -- and a third listener might recall a
>long-forgotten grade school acquaintance if the acquaintance's first name
>is
>mentioned in the song. Having such identifications drowned out by the
>mentally-homogenizing images of a video for that song simply demonstrates
>the fragility of memory and the capacity of the human mind to prioritize
>what it sees above what it creates on its own --- especially if what it
>sees
>itself becomes a shared memory among many people (i.e., a music video
>played
>ad nauseam on MTV or VH1).
Having outward reality shape one's perceptions more strongly than
>does one's inner life isn't a sign of having "absolutely no imagination."
>It's a sign of mental health.
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