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| From | "Jason Damas" <jason.damas@gmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: the peace loving people of North korea |
| Date | Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:41:21 -0500 |
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<<Well, there IS a stereotype that white guys over 40 have no rhythm...
Hey, let's face it...some folks get a guitar, make some music, get an
audience
and then start to believe that everything they say could have some kind of
world-changing effect.
Frank Zappa had a saying...and named a couple of albums with it, too...>>
I actually think this is an interesting discussion, though I can obviously
see the powder-keg possibilities that are inherent...
I've often wondered about these things myself. First off, I disagree with
Zappa: music, like all art, is a form of expression, and it's often at its
best when it has social relevance, when it acts as a commentary of the world
around us. This doesn't mean it has to be explicitly political, but I
appreciate music and art that are relevant; I appreciate deriving an
additional understanding of the world around me from the music I listen to.
For example, Blur and Fountains of Wayne are my two favorite bands. Neither
is truly "political," but both wrote a great deal of songs that looked at
small, everyday issues of everyday people and tried to extrapolate details
and assign meaning to these events. While some may accuse either of being
condescending (and it's true at times, especially for the latter), I never
got that: I think the songs of both are genuine, heart-felt, and almost
poignant portraits of the almost-real-life of someone you could know, in the
world we currently live.
Personally, I enjoy when the music that I listen to has some sort of meaning
or purpose, whether that be social or political or emotional or whatever
other reason... I don't really disqualify any one category. However, I also
have the benefit of having a good many musicians ascribe to a similar set of
ideologies of my own, at least in the realm of music that I tend to listen
to. Granted, I do listen to some people who are often thought of as
conservatives--Graham Parker, The Kinks, and to bring this to Audities-land,
The Elms--and while it generally doesn't bother me because I enjoy the music
itself, sometimes I do wonder: Am I being preached against? Am I endorsing a
message that is not only in opposition to my own beliefs, but often is
dismissive at best or hateful at worst to me as a person (I don't mean to be
hyperbolic about it; this could very well be the case). For the same reason,
an awful lot of mainstream hip-hop is completely off the radar for me,
though truth be told I wouldn't listen to a majority of it anyway. (There's
PLENTY of good hip-hop, but 50 Cent ain't it).
So anyway, I guess my point is that it's a tricky thing to pin down on all
sides. At the least, however, I think that music has the ability to make us
understand things we wouldn't normally understand, and that's why I haven't
shut out the (admittedly limited) number of conservative musicians that I
have in my collection. I suspect from her initial email that Sarah and I
probably sit at far sides of the political spectrum, but I can also
understand how she might feel alienated by a greater share of our form of
indie-power-pop than I would, too.
--J
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