April's Music Page
"The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more." - William Wordsworth
Music rocks.
When I was a child, I loved listening to any kind of music that made me happy. It didn't
matter where it was on the charts - it didn't matter who the singer was. As long as I
could shake my booty, I loved it. Being that my parents were the center of my universe
at that time, I pretty much listened to what they did. My parents were big fans of
singers like Barry Manilow. I had no idea what a dork rep he had. I didn't care. My mom
and I danced around the kitchen with wild abandon singing "At the Copa, Copa-ca-bana." My parents
also loved Neil Diamond. When my parents took my brother and I with them to see Neil in
concert, I went beserk along with the rest of the audience as they unfurled the
gigantic American flag behind the singer during "America." When my dad left for week
long business trips, my mom, brother and I sat around the record player and sang "I'm
leaving, on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again..." along with John Denver
as a personal send off.
As I got older, I became a product of the MTV Age and with that, lost a lot of my
open-mindedness towards music. If it wasn't recommended by Downtown Julie Brown, or
Casey Kasem, I wasn't interested. Later on, after taking years of band, music theory and
other music classes, I think I started realizing the hidden genius and musicality in
otherwise overlooked music. I stopped caring so much what others were listening to and
listened to what I liked. Further along at NCSU, I was exposed to all those
underground sounds that float around college stations years before making it to the top
10 on MTV. I also became a huge U2 fan and was introduced or reintroduced to many other
artists they collaborated with or were personal fans of such as B. B. King, Bob Dylan,
The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Billie Holliday, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Willie Nelson, Frank
Sinatra, etc. I began to realize how much quality music I had been ignoring and it was
at this point that I truly became a sponge to all kinds of music, regardless of popularity.
[Click here to see an abridged
version of some of the hundreds of CD's and tapes I own. It shows some of the randomness
of my musical interests.]
In a recent sitcom episode, a filmmaker explained his views on storytelling: "There are
only three stories in this world - guy wants girl, guy gets girl, guy loses girl. The
trick to making a good movie is to tell these universal stories in a new way than has
already been told." I see all art in much the same way. Life has a limited number of
universal truths and they've all already been told. (Or as the Barenaked Ladies would say "It's all been done before"). The purpose of art, as I see it, is to stimulate an emotion through
representing one of these universal truths/emotions in a novel way. The difference between music and others forms of art is that often, music teaches these truths with the benefit of an abridged and easy listening format. In other words, being able to shake your booty whilst learning makes the hard lessons go down a little easier.
Because I realize the universality to music, I think I am very open-minded in what I consider
good music. Just because Axel Rose, Faith Hill and Dave Matthews have very different
music styles, doesn't mean they can't all try to express such a topic as lost love
in a song. Elton John and Eminem may get in a fight if you stuck them in the same room
together, but that doesn't mean they both can't earnestly and sincerely sing about identity issues they are feeling. Bono was quoted as saying "I don't know who I am. That's the reason I signed on for this...Isn't all art an attempt to identify yourself, really? At some level, I've made a career out of personality crisis." While I agree that art is an attempt to identify yourself, I also think those who appreciate art, appreciate finding THEMSELVES in the art, seeing aspects of THEIR lives in it, knowing they aren't alone dealing with these universal issues. Some of my favorite songs are those with lyrics or emotions I can completely identify with.
Songs have many layers to them. I usually listen rather superficially
the first time I play a song. Later on I delve deeper, to see what hidden gem may be
lying inside. Sometimes there is nothing there. Othertimes, if I dissect the lyrics or melody
of a song, I am surprised at the intellectual genius I may find, regardless of whether it
is pleasing to my ear at first listen. Moby recently commented to Rolling Stone that he
thinks the melody of the Backstreet Boys song "Show Me the Meaning" is genius, although he hates boy bands in general.
[Click here to see a list of
some of random yet well written and/or interestingly provocative song lyrics...]
I am glad that I have the ability to enjoy most kinds of music. I can like a piece of
music for so many different reasons:
- I can like it because it makes me want to get up and dance, like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will
Survive", or DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat."
- I can like it because it not only makes me want to dance, but to DANCE, like Live's "I Alone," Nine Inch Nail's "Closer" or Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."
- I can like it because the lyrics seem to be talking to me, or they perfectly express a moment in my life, such as Hanson's (yes, Hanson!) "Weird." It puts "Um, bop" to shame - (As does any song in the entire world.)
- I can like it because the music loses me and takes me away from reality for a few
minutes, like the heart thumping, spirit soaring "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2.
Hearing that song performed live was one of the most surreal moments of my lifetime.
Talk about your natural highs - and as U2 says in in their song Gone, "I'm not comin' down..."
- I can like a piece of music because it flashes me back to my childhood or a specific
past memory, like any 80's song, or Tschiacowski's 1812 Overture which makes me return
to my childhood days of watching fireworks on the river banks of St. Louis, where they
always used that as the finale piece.
- I can like it because of the connotations it brings with it. Like the song "Dip Baby
Dip." Inside jokes a' plenty.
- I can like it because it is so horrible, it's funny. If you have ever seen the movie
Swingers, there is this club in the movie where there are two performers who play cover
music extremely badly. I actually got to see them live in LA. Everytime I heard Ricky
Martin's "Living La Vida Loca", it brings me back to their horribly hysterical off beat
and off key rendition.
- I can like it cause it's simplicity. Some Sheryl Crow songs are like this such as "All I Want to Do," or some Suzanne Vega songs.
- I can like it because the accompanying music video rocks, like Madonna's "Ray of Light."
- I can like it cause it's raging headbanging sound lets me release stress, like Limp Bizkit's version of "Faith" or Puff Daddy's/Led Zepplin "Come With Me."
- I can like it because it's chill helps me chill out, like the laid back haze of anything by Dave Matthews or slow classical music.
- I can like it because it is an anthem of the times, like Prince's "1999" or Vitamin C's "Graduation Song".
- I can like it because it has the power to make me cry, like Bonnie Raitt's version of "Feels Like Home."
- I can like music because it gives me closure, like Sarah McLaughlin's "Angel" and
"I Will Remember You" and Garth Brooks "The River" that were played at funerals I've
attended.
- I can like it because the singers voice is awesome, like Christina Aguillera (yes, her) or Kirk Franklin's gospel choir and the amazing soloists that just bust it down.
- I can like it because one or all of the musicians or music is incredible, returning again to the muscians of Dave Matthews Band and the wonderful music of a certain Winn Dixie jingle (No, seriously! It's awesome and I'm not the only one who's said it!)
- I can like it because it tells a good story, like Kenny Roger's "Coward of the County."
- I can like it because it was in a movie and makes me feel the emotion I was feeling when I heard it there, like Braveheart's celtic music, Rocky's victory song or anything on the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack.
- I can like it cause it has a cool rhythm, like Monica's "Street Symphony" or anything by Fiona Apple or Lauryn Hill.
- I can like it because even if it sucks at first listen, behind it lies great genius of some aspect. I felt this way about many hardcore rap songs or acid rock.
- I can like it because even if it IS pleasing to my ear, it may have also have a second layer of hidden genius, like the Barenaked Ladies. So many of their "superficial"
sounding lyrics are lyrically genius the further you dive in.
- I can like it because it has a good beat, like N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye," although I am
cringing at admitting this one.
- I can like it because the artist is a true performer, like the way I fell in love with Wyclef Jean's music from watching him perform at Netaid benefit concert.
- I can like it because it is different and unique, like Ani DiFranco.
- I can LOVE it because it has all of these, like "All Along the Watchtower" whether covered by Hendrix, Dylan, U2, Dave Matthews, Neil Young or whomever. (Ooh, I love that song!)
My ability to do this is the reason why I can love alternative, rock, blues, rap, classical, country, folk, jazz, or nearly any other music genre placed before me - or at least respect it - and is why my CD collection is so enormous and varied. That being said, my current favorite groups/performers are U2, Dave Matthews Band, Fiona Apple, Lauryn Hill and Barenaked Ladies.
Click here to see what concerts
I've been to.
**Finally, as a last word on music, click on the title to read my theories of
the state of music today, entitled "Here a Band, There a Band, Everywhere a Boy Band"**
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