Hey thanks for leading us into a topic that provides the opportunity for some interesting and peaceful discourse. As well as a chance for some self-reflection.
I would agree that people do make their musical preferences part of their identity. Music is a powerful and universal language. It speaks to us in an emotional and direct way that moves our souls as well as our feet. There's a pun there I think. Oh well. It comes in many flavors, colours, and textures because as human beings so do we. It can carry us through tough times and make the good times seem more vibrant. It is a language of the soul. We can use it to define ourselves and to define others. It moves with the constantly shifting landscape of our lives and attaches itself to particular moments in time in such a way that it illuminates them in our memory. It has the mystical quality of bringing us a sense of enlightenment about these moments and about ourselves. So it is a very personal and intimate language indeed.
The artists who create the music we love are in a way just ciphers. It is not really important who they are or why they created the music just that they bothered to do it in the first place. Celebrity has become a powerful myth of our times. One that along with science and technology has replaced deeper and more important myths that were at one time more central to the development of mankind. Now we have the myth of information too. Our myths these days have a tendency to be cold, shallow, and empty. But they are also served up in a rapid disposable fashion that suits the western lifestyle. Easy to obtain and digest. Less complex and easy to pack in your suitcase.
What does this have to do with music? Well, as society follows these myths into oblivion so do the people creating music. That's probably why so many of us find so much of what's out there unsatisfying. It's cold, shallow, empty, and designed to be easily digestible. It'll score a quick buck for a big conglomerate and make a teenybopper scream with glee but it's a vacant enterprise otherwise. The fact is though no matter what kind of music it is or what our opinion of it might be it's a language that is helping someone somewhere continue their dialogue with life. That's the beauty in any or all of it. The arguments over who's better, best, over, or underrated are pointless expressions of personal opinion and nothing more. It really comes down to what we individually choose to absorb and incorporate into our own sense of self.
For me and I know for most of you music is a constant companion. I seem to go through phases and shed layers like a snake leaving it's skin. I play guitar and write my own songs for my own personal use. I've found that old records that I used to play quite a bit are like old lovers. I don't go back and revisit them in most cases but I remember them fondly. I don't listen to the "Boomtown" album much anymore not because I don't like the songs but because they are all tricked out in 80's studio gadgetry that I don't care for. "Stranger" from Bedtime Stories is a powerful song I really love but it developed a new context for me when two of my Vietnam veteran friends shot and killed themselves and a third will now live out his days in a wheelchair in Florida. I still love the song but it does take me someplace that I prefer to visit alone. On the new record "Why" has really sunk deep down into my bones. It gets harder to hear each time I play it because I get the feeling when David sings about the child�s toy at the oceans edge he's speaking directly about Bill Bottrel's son. I had to live through that situation as well when my friend John lost his baby boy all of a sudden. Unfortunately John's gone too now. The song, though difficult to listen to, also has a healing quality. When I came face to face with David I wanted to discuss that with him but couldn't bring myself to do it. Music can become deeply personal for us because we can attach it to our own lives for any number of reasons. I'm just glad there's people out there making stuff I feel is worth getting attached to.
Reg
The Mysterious Sense Of Self
Reg
location: back to the wilderness
listening to: static
registered: 1999.11.22
posts: 6470
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–--
'The only way to avoid getting crushed by absurdity, is to humbly include the absurd in our calculations.'
'The only way to avoid getting crushed by absurdity, is to humbly include the absurd in our calculations.'
Reg
(view)
Hey thanks for leading us into a topic that provides the opportunity for some interesting and peaceful discourse. As well as a chance for some self-reflection.
I would agree that people do make their musical preferences part of their identity. Music is a powerful and universal language. It speaks to us in an emotional and direct way that moves our souls as well as our feet. There's a pun there I think. Oh well. It comes in many flavors, colours, and textures because as human beings so do we. It can carry us through tough times and make the good times seem more vibrant. It is a language of the soul. We can use it to define ourselves and to define others. It moves with the constantly shifting landscape of our lives and attaches itself to particular moments in time in such a way that it illuminates them in our memory. It has the mystical quality of bringing us a sense of enlightenment about these moments and about ourselves. So it is a very personal and intimate language indeed.
The artists who create the music we love are in a way just ciphers. It is not really important who they are or why they created the music just that they bothered to do it in the first place. Celebrity has become a powerful myth of our times. One that along with science and technology has replaced deeper and more important myths that were at one time more central to the development of mankind. Now we have the myth of information too. Our myths these days have a tendency to be cold, shallow, and empty. But they are also served up in a rapid disposable fashion that suits the western lifestyle. Easy to obtain and digest. Less complex and easy to pack in your suitcase.
What does this have to do with music? Well, as society follows these myths into oblivion so do the people creating music. That's probably why so many of us find so much of what's out there unsatisfying. It's cold, shallow, empty, and designed to be easily digestible. It'll score a quick buck for a big conglomerate and make a teenybopper scream with glee but it's a vacant enterprise otherwise. The fact is though no matter what kind of music it is or what our opinion of it might be it's a language that is helping someone somewhere continue their dialogue with life. That's the beauty in any or all of it. The arguments over who's better, best, over, or underrated are pointless expressions of personal opinion and nothing more. It really comes down to what we individually choose to absorb and incorporate into our own sense of self.
For me and I know for most of you music is a constant companion. I seem to go through phases and shed layers like a snake leaving it's skin. I play guitar and write my own songs for my own personal use. I've found that old records that I used to play quite a bit are like old lovers. I don't go back and revisit them in most cases but I remember them fondly. I don't listen to the "Boomtown" album much anymore not because I don't like the songs but because they are all tricked out in 80's studio gadgetry that I don't care for. "Stranger" from Bedtime Stories is a powerful song I really love but it developed a new context for me when two of my Vietnam veteran friends shot and killed themselves and a third will now live out his days in a wheelchair in Florida. I still love the song but it does take me someplace that I prefer to visit alone. On the new record "Why" has really sunk deep down into my bones. It gets harder to hear each time I play it because I get the feeling when David sings about the child�s toy at the oceans edge he's speaking directly about Bill Bottrel's son. I had to live through that situation as well when my friend John lost his baby boy all of a sudden. Unfortunately John's gone too now. The song, though difficult to listen to, also has a healing quality. When I came face to face with David I wanted to discuss that with him but couldn't bring myself to do it. Music can become deeply personal for us because we can attach it to our own lives for any number of reasons. I'm just glad there's people out there making stuff I feel is worth getting attached to.
Reg
I would agree that people do make their musical preferences part of their identity. Music is a powerful and universal language. It speaks to us in an emotional and direct way that moves our souls as well as our feet. There's a pun there I think. Oh well. It comes in many flavors, colours, and textures because as human beings so do we. It can carry us through tough times and make the good times seem more vibrant. It is a language of the soul. We can use it to define ourselves and to define others. It moves with the constantly shifting landscape of our lives and attaches itself to particular moments in time in such a way that it illuminates them in our memory. It has the mystical quality of bringing us a sense of enlightenment about these moments and about ourselves. So it is a very personal and intimate language indeed.
The artists who create the music we love are in a way just ciphers. It is not really important who they are or why they created the music just that they bothered to do it in the first place. Celebrity has become a powerful myth of our times. One that along with science and technology has replaced deeper and more important myths that were at one time more central to the development of mankind. Now we have the myth of information too. Our myths these days have a tendency to be cold, shallow, and empty. But they are also served up in a rapid disposable fashion that suits the western lifestyle. Easy to obtain and digest. Less complex and easy to pack in your suitcase.
What does this have to do with music? Well, as society follows these myths into oblivion so do the people creating music. That's probably why so many of us find so much of what's out there unsatisfying. It's cold, shallow, empty, and designed to be easily digestible. It'll score a quick buck for a big conglomerate and make a teenybopper scream with glee but it's a vacant enterprise otherwise. The fact is though no matter what kind of music it is or what our opinion of it might be it's a language that is helping someone somewhere continue their dialogue with life. That's the beauty in any or all of it. The arguments over who's better, best, over, or underrated are pointless expressions of personal opinion and nothing more. It really comes down to what we individually choose to absorb and incorporate into our own sense of self.
For me and I know for most of you music is a constant companion. I seem to go through phases and shed layers like a snake leaving it's skin. I play guitar and write my own songs for my own personal use. I've found that old records that I used to play quite a bit are like old lovers. I don't go back and revisit them in most cases but I remember them fondly. I don't listen to the "Boomtown" album much anymore not because I don't like the songs but because they are all tricked out in 80's studio gadgetry that I don't care for. "Stranger" from Bedtime Stories is a powerful song I really love but it developed a new context for me when two of my Vietnam veteran friends shot and killed themselves and a third will now live out his days in a wheelchair in Florida. I still love the song but it does take me someplace that I prefer to visit alone. On the new record "Why" has really sunk deep down into my bones. It gets harder to hear each time I play it because I get the feeling when David sings about the child�s toy at the oceans edge he's speaking directly about Bill Bottrel's son. I had to live through that situation as well when my friend John lost his baby boy all of a sudden. Unfortunately John's gone too now. The song, though difficult to listen to, also has a healing quality. When I came face to face with David I wanted to discuss that with him but couldn't bring myself to do it. Music can become deeply personal for us because we can attach it to our own lives for any number of reasons. I'm just glad there's people out there making stuff I feel is worth getting attached to.
Reg
–--
'The only way to avoid getting crushed by absurdity, is to humbly include the absurd in our calculations.'
'The only way to avoid getting crushed by absurdity, is to humbly include the absurd in our calculations.'
