So as I posted a while ago that I do not really rate A Day In the Life as one of the best songs of all time. It is not a bad song, but to me , at least , it is not Kashmir or Hallelujah. It does amaze me that The Beatles remain so popular. Even amongst people that were not around when The Beatles were.
I was always in the other camp. As you may have gathered from my other posts if you have read them, I am a little bit contrary. As such I was much more attracted to the Rolling Stones image when I was growing up and was asked about it. My parents were very much of an age when that mattered. In 2011, does it matter anymore? Does anyone care about The Beatles and the Stones and which ones you thought were better?
Not really, if we are honest. In fact I am now a little more surprised if people have a strong opinion on it. It certainly doesn't come up very much. Does it mean that the music isn't relevant anymore? I am not so sure about that to be honest. I think that maybe music has moved on. But it is surprising how some of the early songs still stand up
That sounds like a Beatles song. Duh, but it has some lovely melodies and chord progressions. It is a good song. Not maybe the most popular or even the best from their early era, but it does have a lovely simple quality to it which means it still stands up as a good song. It is perhaps from a time when things seemed a lot more innocent, but that is timing and not quality.
Here is another to read along to.
I think their early music actually stands up a little bit better than their later more serious stuff. Honestly, I still do not get the fuss about Sergent Pepper. It is good, not good like Pet Sounds. Not good like The Doors, Deja vu etc.
However if you listen to this it sounds, much more trite, misplaced and out of time by today's standards.
I am not saying that it is bad song. I know that it isn't. I can see why so many people the world over like it so much. However, the sentiment is lost on today's society. Also , the lyrics are extremely repetitive. I think the issue I have with a song like this is that it is much more McCartney and less Lennon. I have to say that I am firmly in the Lennon camp. I read a review once which was talking about Yoko Ono, and it said she always saw McCartney as the Salieri to Lennon's Amadeus. I guess you have to know your Peter Schaffers plays to understand it. I think it sums up my feelings on the matter though.
Lennon wrote this, McCartney didn't
So , it is not really if The Beatles were any good. It is not also about who was the best in the band. Is it still a relevant piece of music to put on in 2011? Does it still actually make any sense? I think this is perhaps why the earlier songs still make sense. People like the innocence of liking boys or girls of the same age. There is something about songs written about courtship, for the want of a better word, that will perhaps always be a bit relevant. Sure, I doubt anyone today aspires just to hold someones hand, but by the same token they understand the meaning of it.
The songs about peace and love and the more cryptic (really?) ones about drugs do not really mean anything to anyone anymore. As Dr Evil says in Austin Powers, peace and love lost. We have moved so far from the idea that if we just love each other everything would be alright. I was part of a discussion today where we were all agreeing that if someone got on the train in a balaclava, you would walk off. Without a second thought. Let it Be , means nothing to us anymore.
That said, if you listened to the first two songs I bet you felt a little bit better. They are happy songs. There is nothing wrong with feeling happy. No matter when the message came from.
Do you think The Beatles matter ? I am interested because so many people rate them so highly. Feel free to comment on the facebook page as well.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Rock Goddesses
Where are all the rock Goddesses ?
Please do not get offended by the use of the term Goddesses my sisters. It is not meant to be derogatory in any shape or form. Really. But it is a term that is commonly accepted and is easier to use than, suitably empowered musically inclined females, I think you will agree.
Back to the point.
It seems to me that considering women are 52% of the global population that you would expect more of them to venture into music. I realise that in the pop genre there are a lot of women, but this isn't really about pop. This is about the more interesting side of rock, alternative and metal.
Maybe though it is just that they are not making a lot of the best music. As I think about it, it seems that there are more women involved in this scene than you might think.
For example, here is Angela from Arch Enemy,
I think you will agree she is a suitably empowered musically inclined female. I guess though that for a woman to be taken seriously in alternative, metal, indie, she has to be that much further out there than the men. This seems to have been the case from the beginning. Women have fallen into two or three main categories. You get the Folkies, like Carole King, Joni Mitchel, Gillian Welsch, the Pop Chanteuse, think everyone from Diana Ross to Olivia Newton-John to Maddona, Britney, Rhihanna, or the totally insane Rock Chick like Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, Courtney Love, Hayley Williams (Paramore) , Amy Winehouse.
Paramore are my example on this, they make pretty alright music.
That clip has had 40 million hits on you tube. Which is amazing. It says it is from one of the Twilight films and I guess that has added to the popularity. But it is only alright. It is not particularly ground breaking, even that interesting really. It is better than mediocre, but not much. Now , whilst you would have to class Hayley as a rock goddess, she is not as insane as the majority of her sisters. A topless shot on twitter is hardly the stuff of rock excess legend.
A woman who I think possibly leads that bunch is Courtney Love. Has there been a more dangerous woman in music? I am as a rule reasonably difficult to intimidate I like to think, however I am intimidated by Ms Love. her band Hole made some good music.
I do not wish to be uncharitable to Courtney, because having your husband commit suicide must be a life altering moment to say the very least. She is however as far out there as I think it is possible to be. It is not just the drugs, but the outbursts , the stories you hear about the way she attacks people etc. This is of course all done through the media and I doubt very much it has given me a full picture of what I have no doubt is a very intelligent person.
That said, Hole are a good band, not a great band. Even amongst their peers, their music is good, but not great. It is extremely hard for them to be classed in as much esteem as bands like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Soundgarden etc.
Even the mighty Janis. Few would argue with the rating of her voice as being one of the most outstanding. However , whilst the music is good, even touching greatness at times. It consistently falls short of the highest level. Why is this? If you (try admittedly) to take it from a feminist perspective, you could make a good argument for the music industry being traditionally a male based industry. As such pushing women to become that much more of a show than it being about their music. This is fine when you look at Alternative and Indie, metal etc. It however falls pretty flat when you look at the Pop and Folky scene though. Women are coming to dominate pop frankly. Not that it is a bad thing in anyway.
When you look at the way some bands were and are marketed because of their females leads you start to think that there is some strength to the feminst idea of holding women down. Debbie Harry from Blondie was a rock goddess. No doubt. Blondie made some brilliant music. However the way it is presented it was selling the Debbie Harry image first and the music as a secondary concern. Again though, were Blondie the best proponent of their scene? Perhaps not.
Maybe there is hope though. I have recently come into liking Florence and the Machine.
What the hell is that video all about?? I like the song a lot though. It scrapes into alternative doesn't it.
So I guess this is a request, send me your ideas about great music alternative music made by women. Because it has passed me by.
Please do not get offended by the use of the term Goddesses my sisters. It is not meant to be derogatory in any shape or form. Really. But it is a term that is commonly accepted and is easier to use than, suitably empowered musically inclined females, I think you will agree.
Back to the point.
It seems to me that considering women are 52% of the global population that you would expect more of them to venture into music. I realise that in the pop genre there are a lot of women, but this isn't really about pop. This is about the more interesting side of rock, alternative and metal.
Maybe though it is just that they are not making a lot of the best music. As I think about it, it seems that there are more women involved in this scene than you might think.
For example, here is Angela from Arch Enemy,
I think you will agree she is a suitably empowered musically inclined female. I guess though that for a woman to be taken seriously in alternative, metal, indie, she has to be that much further out there than the men. This seems to have been the case from the beginning. Women have fallen into two or three main categories. You get the Folkies, like Carole King, Joni Mitchel, Gillian Welsch, the Pop Chanteuse, think everyone from Diana Ross to Olivia Newton-John to Maddona, Britney, Rhihanna, or the totally insane Rock Chick like Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, Courtney Love, Hayley Williams (Paramore) , Amy Winehouse.
Paramore are my example on this, they make pretty alright music.
That clip has had 40 million hits on you tube. Which is amazing. It says it is from one of the Twilight films and I guess that has added to the popularity. But it is only alright. It is not particularly ground breaking, even that interesting really. It is better than mediocre, but not much. Now , whilst you would have to class Hayley as a rock goddess, she is not as insane as the majority of her sisters. A topless shot on twitter is hardly the stuff of rock excess legend.
A woman who I think possibly leads that bunch is Courtney Love. Has there been a more dangerous woman in music? I am as a rule reasonably difficult to intimidate I like to think, however I am intimidated by Ms Love. her band Hole made some good music.
I do not wish to be uncharitable to Courtney, because having your husband commit suicide must be a life altering moment to say the very least. She is however as far out there as I think it is possible to be. It is not just the drugs, but the outbursts , the stories you hear about the way she attacks people etc. This is of course all done through the media and I doubt very much it has given me a full picture of what I have no doubt is a very intelligent person.
That said, Hole are a good band, not a great band. Even amongst their peers, their music is good, but not great. It is extremely hard for them to be classed in as much esteem as bands like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Soundgarden etc.
Even the mighty Janis. Few would argue with the rating of her voice as being one of the most outstanding. However , whilst the music is good, even touching greatness at times. It consistently falls short of the highest level. Why is this? If you (try admittedly) to take it from a feminist perspective, you could make a good argument for the music industry being traditionally a male based industry. As such pushing women to become that much more of a show than it being about their music. This is fine when you look at Alternative and Indie, metal etc. It however falls pretty flat when you look at the Pop and Folky scene though. Women are coming to dominate pop frankly. Not that it is a bad thing in anyway.
When you look at the way some bands were and are marketed because of their females leads you start to think that there is some strength to the feminst idea of holding women down. Debbie Harry from Blondie was a rock goddess. No doubt. Blondie made some brilliant music. However the way it is presented it was selling the Debbie Harry image first and the music as a secondary concern. Again though, were Blondie the best proponent of their scene? Perhaps not.
Maybe there is hope though. I have recently come into liking Florence and the Machine.
What the hell is that video all about?? I like the song a lot though. It scrapes into alternative doesn't it.
So I guess this is a request, send me your ideas about great music alternative music made by women. Because it has passed me by.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
80s better than the 90s??
One of my Aunts posted a question on facebook, what is your favourite song of the 80s? I think like most people when I see this I immediately think of the cheesy pop songs that are so much associated with the 80s. But then I thought about it, and some of my favourite music is from the 80s. Think about it , Metallica, Guns and Roses, Public Enemy, The Cure.
I finished school in the early 90s and from that time the 80s have been very much maligned in terms of the contribution to the music library. This is to be expected though as the most uncool thing you can be is the thing that was cool two things ago. I also know that I am not the only one who finds the revival of 80s fashion and to some extents the music more than a little ageing and very odd.
You think I am joking??
Regardless of a revival which was better? 80s or the 90s?
Well let's look at those bands that spanned both periods. You have The Cure, with most of their output in the 80s to be fair, but if you compare their two high points. Disintegration and Wish. Well Wish is better, but it is a very close run thing.
Guns and Roses? Undoubtedly, Appetite is better that Use your Illusions. No question. If you do disagree, I need some very strong arguments please.
Metallica, well again this is pretty straightforward. Their first four albums are by far their best work. Even if you throw in the 700 billion selling Black album, it doesn't even come close. Load? Re-load? Please, they are nothing as good as the others.
So then so far the 80s are coming out in front. As I have said on numerous occasions I do not know much about popular music in so far as it occurs in the pop charts. That said , I do know that Michael Jackson at his pomp was better than the Spice Girls, or Alanis Morrisette, The BackStreet boys. Ricky Martin . . . I am sorry but Billy Jean is still a great song. Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were great together.
Didn't turn out so well did it. Oh well, let's be honest, it wasn't a massive shock really.
I really hated the whole boy band thing. I really hated it. This stopped me listening to the radio until the advent of itunes and internet radio. Think about that for a moment. I write a music blog, clearly reasonably into my music by most standards, and I stopped listening to the best source of new music. I hated the dancing, the impeccable way each one of the four , five or six chaps was chosen exclusively for their look. i.e. this is what teenage girls will go for, at least one of them. Who is to blame for this? New kids on the Block - damn you, damn you to hell .
On a much more interesting theme, the alternative and eventually the mainstream were far far more interesting. In the 80s, you have Janes Addiction. Husker Du, Fugazi, The Smiths , Dead Kennedys. and The Pixies in the 80s.
In the 90s you have , Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, the Tea Party, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead and of course the mighty, mighty Tool.
Tool videos take some getting used to.
I would put it this way for the comparison. The 80s music was more avant guard. There was more going on in a lot of it. One thing I notice is that while a lot of the bands I listed from the 80s were properly alternative the ones I listed for the 90s were very much part of the mainstream. In so far as the mainstream involves selling a lot of albums.
Although it is interesting that despite how big they all were, none of them had the biggest selling album of a year. It shows that no matter how big you think something is, there are a whole lot of people out there buying the music I am not so fond of. I guess this makes me alternative, although looking at the list above that came off the top of my head, I don't think I am that alternative.
Perhaps the point is though, that a lot of people were able to experiment a lot more in the 80s. Much more than in the 90s when the music machine really took over. It was not until the advent of the torrent and bit sites that the people took the music back.
The 90s was a terrible time for metal, which was a pity. It was better for the angst ridden alternative rock. It did however lack the free spirit nature of 80s. Everything seemed a lot more serious when it comes to looking back on it all. Perhaps the world was a more serious place and the music reflected this? That could just be me though.
Which was better? well depends what mood you were in.
Sometimes a laugh
Sometimes a cry
Any thoughts?
I finished school in the early 90s and from that time the 80s have been very much maligned in terms of the contribution to the music library. This is to be expected though as the most uncool thing you can be is the thing that was cool two things ago. I also know that I am not the only one who finds the revival of 80s fashion and to some extents the music more than a little ageing and very odd.
You think I am joking??
Regardless of a revival which was better? 80s or the 90s?
Well let's look at those bands that spanned both periods. You have The Cure, with most of their output in the 80s to be fair, but if you compare their two high points. Disintegration and Wish. Well Wish is better, but it is a very close run thing.
Guns and Roses? Undoubtedly, Appetite is better that Use your Illusions. No question. If you do disagree, I need some very strong arguments please.
Metallica, well again this is pretty straightforward. Their first four albums are by far their best work. Even if you throw in the 700 billion selling Black album, it doesn't even come close. Load? Re-load? Please, they are nothing as good as the others.
So then so far the 80s are coming out in front. As I have said on numerous occasions I do not know much about popular music in so far as it occurs in the pop charts. That said , I do know that Michael Jackson at his pomp was better than the Spice Girls, or Alanis Morrisette, The BackStreet boys. Ricky Martin . . . I am sorry but Billy Jean is still a great song. Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were great together.
Didn't turn out so well did it. Oh well, let's be honest, it wasn't a massive shock really.
I really hated the whole boy band thing. I really hated it. This stopped me listening to the radio until the advent of itunes and internet radio. Think about that for a moment. I write a music blog, clearly reasonably into my music by most standards, and I stopped listening to the best source of new music. I hated the dancing, the impeccable way each one of the four , five or six chaps was chosen exclusively for their look. i.e. this is what teenage girls will go for, at least one of them. Who is to blame for this? New kids on the Block - damn you, damn you to hell .
On a much more interesting theme, the alternative and eventually the mainstream were far far more interesting. In the 80s, you have Janes Addiction. Husker Du, Fugazi, The Smiths , Dead Kennedys. and The Pixies in the 80s.
In the 90s you have , Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, the Tea Party, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead and of course the mighty, mighty Tool.
Tool videos take some getting used to.
I would put it this way for the comparison. The 80s music was more avant guard. There was more going on in a lot of it. One thing I notice is that while a lot of the bands I listed from the 80s were properly alternative the ones I listed for the 90s were very much part of the mainstream. In so far as the mainstream involves selling a lot of albums.
Although it is interesting that despite how big they all were, none of them had the biggest selling album of a year. It shows that no matter how big you think something is, there are a whole lot of people out there buying the music I am not so fond of. I guess this makes me alternative, although looking at the list above that came off the top of my head, I don't think I am that alternative.
Perhaps the point is though, that a lot of people were able to experiment a lot more in the 80s. Much more than in the 90s when the music machine really took over. It was not until the advent of the torrent and bit sites that the people took the music back.
The 90s was a terrible time for metal, which was a pity. It was better for the angst ridden alternative rock. It did however lack the free spirit nature of 80s. Everything seemed a lot more serious when it comes to looking back on it all. Perhaps the world was a more serious place and the music reflected this? That could just be me though.
Which was better? well depends what mood you were in.
Sometimes a laugh
Sometimes a cry
Any thoughts?
Saturday, 19 March 2011
What happened to car music?
I have little to no trouble in admitting that I am not really down with the kids. I do not listen to the latest chart topping hits as most of the music is really not for me. I mean that in both senses of the phrase, it isn't for me because I don't like it, and it isn't aimed at me. When Lily Allen is singing she is not thinking about an almost middle aged person.
That's fine, I am cool with that. Given I might not have heard the latest greatest thing to come out of the mouth of some factory produced starlet, it does seem to me that there is a whole genre of songs that has disappeared. Where are the songs about cars? Cars have gotten a lot better, but the music about them has gone. Vanished.
Pure and simple - a guy singing about his car. Bragging about how good it is. Nothing earth shattering there. it seems it was big in the 60s and even into the 70s to talk about how cool your car is.
Another example by Deep Purple.
I am never quite sure what I think of Deep Purple. They are one of those bands whenever I hear them I think that I quite like them, but I never seek out their music. Their greatest hits albums are brilliant, some of their actual albums tend to disappear into a progtastic guitar and organ fest. Perhaps that is what puts me off them a little bit, the organ. Does an organ have a place in hard rock? Not sure, it is not bad , but organ solos? maybe not. Still Deep purple are good. Deepest Purple is a good 'Best Of' to have.
So I started looking around for more modern songs about cars. It is hard, they are certainly not in the mainstream. As with so many other things in life, you need to turn to Sir Mix-A-Lot for the answer to your questions:
That is a fairly ordinary song, but the genius of it is to get all of the car names into the rap so seamlessly. Seems Baby Got Back was a bigger hit than we all thought. Most of those cars are actually his according to the sites talking about it.
Rob Zombie emerges as an unlikely saviour?
I have posted about Rob Zombie before, I think that he is a genius, but that is not a great car song as far as things go.
So why have the car songs disappeared from our musical lexicon? People drive more than ever and there is little doubt that man's (sorry ladies it is a guy thing isn't it) love of the auto has if anything, increased. I think that it has to have something to do with the increasingly disposable nature of our relationship to the world. We no longer seem to cherish our relationship with the machines that we have. Especially with cars. Cars have become another tool for us to use. Not an object of deeper emotions. As our roads have become more clogged, much more stringently policed, it seems we take less and less enjoyment in our driving experiences.
This is a great pity. Depending on the kind of person you are, one of the great experiences of life is the road trip. A long drive through the countryside. Music blaring with cool tunes and following the road to where it takes you. As I have said before I grew up in Australia and there is a lot of space over there. You put tunes on and drive through the desert ,comparatively speaking , ok scrubland then. I wonder why a desert seems to be cooler to me. I guess there is the element of it being unpopulated.
So what is the best driving song?
Golden Earring are somewhat ironically Dutch. Not a great place for driving, Holland. Still a great song to listen to whilst driving. I am going to do a playlist blog about driving I think.
What do you like to listen to whilst driving?
That's fine, I am cool with that. Given I might not have heard the latest greatest thing to come out of the mouth of some factory produced starlet, it does seem to me that there is a whole genre of songs that has disappeared. Where are the songs about cars? Cars have gotten a lot better, but the music about them has gone. Vanished.
Pure and simple - a guy singing about his car. Bragging about how good it is. Nothing earth shattering there. it seems it was big in the 60s and even into the 70s to talk about how cool your car is.
Another example by Deep Purple.
I am never quite sure what I think of Deep Purple. They are one of those bands whenever I hear them I think that I quite like them, but I never seek out their music. Their greatest hits albums are brilliant, some of their actual albums tend to disappear into a progtastic guitar and organ fest. Perhaps that is what puts me off them a little bit, the organ. Does an organ have a place in hard rock? Not sure, it is not bad , but organ solos? maybe not. Still Deep purple are good. Deepest Purple is a good 'Best Of' to have.
So I started looking around for more modern songs about cars. It is hard, they are certainly not in the mainstream. As with so many other things in life, you need to turn to Sir Mix-A-Lot for the answer to your questions:
That is a fairly ordinary song, but the genius of it is to get all of the car names into the rap so seamlessly. Seems Baby Got Back was a bigger hit than we all thought. Most of those cars are actually his according to the sites talking about it.
Rob Zombie emerges as an unlikely saviour?
I have posted about Rob Zombie before, I think that he is a genius, but that is not a great car song as far as things go.
So why have the car songs disappeared from our musical lexicon? People drive more than ever and there is little doubt that man's (sorry ladies it is a guy thing isn't it) love of the auto has if anything, increased. I think that it has to have something to do with the increasingly disposable nature of our relationship to the world. We no longer seem to cherish our relationship with the machines that we have. Especially with cars. Cars have become another tool for us to use. Not an object of deeper emotions. As our roads have become more clogged, much more stringently policed, it seems we take less and less enjoyment in our driving experiences.
This is a great pity. Depending on the kind of person you are, one of the great experiences of life is the road trip. A long drive through the countryside. Music blaring with cool tunes and following the road to where it takes you. As I have said before I grew up in Australia and there is a lot of space over there. You put tunes on and drive through the desert ,comparatively speaking , ok scrubland then. I wonder why a desert seems to be cooler to me. I guess there is the element of it being unpopulated.
So what is the best driving song?
Golden Earring are somewhat ironically Dutch. Not a great place for driving, Holland. Still a great song to listen to whilst driving. I am going to do a playlist blog about driving I think.
What do you like to listen to whilst driving?
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
But does it define you?
A person that wants to remain anonymous asked me the question whether or not I thought the music that I like defines me as a person. I think this is a very interesting question. Do I think that I am defined by the music that I like, love, admire?
I guess it really depends on what you think the word define means. I think in many instances the word would mean to explain, to put in a way which explains it's subject matter. There is also an element of being succinct about it that define brings to mind. So if I am looking for music to explain me, then surely it must be music that i relate to? More than I like.
For example, I like and have always liked this song by Ice-T
I would however be somewhat delusional if I thought that there was a modicum of truth in it defining me as a person. Not being a famous musician and never having to deal with any of the descriptive day in the life that he puts together so well.
This being the case then it would have to be a song that might describe what i thought was my state of mind. If a song can not describe my life then it must be something a little less tangible than the cold hard reality of it all. This then becomes a very interesting issue. Because there is no doubt that there are songs that have described my state of mind very well at a particular time.
For example, the cold and somewhat detached fury of this song by Radiohead
I think that this song was very good at describing how i felt about certain situations. I love the echo effect, and as always Thom Yorke's lyrics seem to capture the isolation quite well. The way the line
"you and your cronies" immediately puts all of the associated people except the subject of the song into a secondary and inferior position in his mind. That is extremely effective and the way the song soars momentarily as if he was trying to control the anger and losing the battle for a moment.
However, before you get the impression that i am a slightly deranged serial killer, this song has also described my mood a number of times
The sentiment of the song, have some bad fun, whatever bad fun may mean. I like that a lot and have often listened to this song prior to going out to put me in the mood to be prepared to accept whatever the night may have in store for me. i love the line
"mayhem children take no lip
rev your engines from the hip"
There is a definite sense of not only being a little bit dangerous but also a little bit fired up and cocky.
i think I am getting closer to the point here. There are songs that can help you to define yourself in a mood. There are however an almost limitless combination of moods that you may be in at any one time and as such , a single song to define you is impossible. Unless of course you wrote the song. Could you write a song that defined you , and would you be happy with it. I can't say, I have written to lyrics to songs that never got sung, but I have not ever written the music, so i wouldn't know. If you have then please comment.
There are also some songs that attempt to describe a general state of being
listen to this by perennial favourite The Bravery
Maybe that describes the lyricist? maybe someone he knows? It doesn't describe my life, but I do think it is a very good song and I am very sure that must describe and even define a lot of people's lives.
The other bit about music defining you could also be the fact that hearing a song from the past reminds you of a particular time and place. Usually a particularly good or bad time and place. You know what I mean, a Holiday, a Funeral, the time you got fired, or when you met your partner etc . I think this really comes back to mood though doesn't it. You had a particular mood at the time and as such whatever you heard either connected with you, or really didn't. So when you hear the music again it brings back those memories.
So, Anon from somewhere on the planet, no my music taste doesn't define me. It describes my moods to me through other peoples interpretation of their moods. I have a lot of moods and so you would need to have a very large collection of songs that I like in one place before I would be happy about saying they came to describe the moods I have.
I guess this must be the same for all music lovers, although I do wonder what people who don't love music do, maybe it comes up in colours?
I guess it really depends on what you think the word define means. I think in many instances the word would mean to explain, to put in a way which explains it's subject matter. There is also an element of being succinct about it that define brings to mind. So if I am looking for music to explain me, then surely it must be music that i relate to? More than I like.
For example, I like and have always liked this song by Ice-T
I would however be somewhat delusional if I thought that there was a modicum of truth in it defining me as a person. Not being a famous musician and never having to deal with any of the descriptive day in the life that he puts together so well.
This being the case then it would have to be a song that might describe what i thought was my state of mind. If a song can not describe my life then it must be something a little less tangible than the cold hard reality of it all. This then becomes a very interesting issue. Because there is no doubt that there are songs that have described my state of mind very well at a particular time.
For example, the cold and somewhat detached fury of this song by Radiohead
I think that this song was very good at describing how i felt about certain situations. I love the echo effect, and as always Thom Yorke's lyrics seem to capture the isolation quite well. The way the line
"you and your cronies" immediately puts all of the associated people except the subject of the song into a secondary and inferior position in his mind. That is extremely effective and the way the song soars momentarily as if he was trying to control the anger and losing the battle for a moment.
However, before you get the impression that i am a slightly deranged serial killer, this song has also described my mood a number of times
The sentiment of the song, have some bad fun, whatever bad fun may mean. I like that a lot and have often listened to this song prior to going out to put me in the mood to be prepared to accept whatever the night may have in store for me. i love the line
"mayhem children take no lip
rev your engines from the hip"
There is a definite sense of not only being a little bit dangerous but also a little bit fired up and cocky.
i think I am getting closer to the point here. There are songs that can help you to define yourself in a mood. There are however an almost limitless combination of moods that you may be in at any one time and as such , a single song to define you is impossible. Unless of course you wrote the song. Could you write a song that defined you , and would you be happy with it. I can't say, I have written to lyrics to songs that never got sung, but I have not ever written the music, so i wouldn't know. If you have then please comment.
There are also some songs that attempt to describe a general state of being
listen to this by perennial favourite The Bravery
Maybe that describes the lyricist? maybe someone he knows? It doesn't describe my life, but I do think it is a very good song and I am very sure that must describe and even define a lot of people's lives.
The other bit about music defining you could also be the fact that hearing a song from the past reminds you of a particular time and place. Usually a particularly good or bad time and place. You know what I mean, a Holiday, a Funeral, the time you got fired, or when you met your partner etc . I think this really comes back to mood though doesn't it. You had a particular mood at the time and as such whatever you heard either connected with you, or really didn't. So when you hear the music again it brings back those memories.
So, Anon from somewhere on the planet, no my music taste doesn't define me. It describes my moods to me through other peoples interpretation of their moods. I have a lot of moods and so you would need to have a very large collection of songs that I like in one place before I would be happy about saying they came to describe the moods I have.
I guess this must be the same for all music lovers, although I do wonder what people who don't love music do, maybe it comes up in colours?
Sunday, 13 March 2011
What's appropriate? part II
You know maybe this song by Placebo sums up the reaction to the Earthquake and the feeling from us to the natural events
see here for some other thoughts on what music would be appropriate .
see here for some other thoughts on what music would be appropriate .
Saturday, 12 March 2011
What's appropriate?
Recently it seems that the earth is showing the little humans who is boss. This is of course a reasonably ridiculous notion, and leads to perhaps the scariest thing for us to face. The earth, if it was a sentient being, does not care one way or another about us. Mother nature is not a kind a nurturing being, but a completely indifferent one.
The floods in Australia, the earthquake in New Zealand and yesterday the quake and Tsunami in Japan. My heart goes to everyone who has been effected by these recent natural events. I lived in Japan for 6 years, and Tokyo remains my favourite place in the world. All of my friends and associates are OK, but there are so many people who can not say this.
The pictures of the Tsunami racing across the countryside and through the towns was, if you have seen, i think you will agree one of the most amazing and frightening pieces of film footage ever seen.
I have often said that there is music that suits every occasion. But what is appropriate in this case? As the Japanese follow the Australians and New Zealanders into the clean up phase after a disaster what would be appropriate? What is it appropriate for us to listen to?
There is what I think an instinctive part of human nature that says it is going to be ok. Is it there for appropriate to play this by the beach boys?
You know , it probably isn't ok. The song is about a relationship, and why that is perhaps the most important thing in a time of crisis, the flippancy of it doesn't make sense now. So where do you go? This is most definitely not a time for flippancy. Is it a time for humour? Please do not misunderstand I am not suggesting that this is something to make a joke out of, not at all. But, humour is a natural human response to the most tragic of circumstance and so maybe it is appropriate now?
I don't know, that isn't a particularly funny song, but it does change the topic at least. Perhaps that is the point.
There is also the option to get angry. That is often the way that people deal with things. Vent the wrath at the unfairness of it. Because it is unfair. there is nothing that is fair about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Throughout human history we have tried to explain this away through the elements of religion, through the explanation of others that there is some sort of divine retribution. Why? because it makes it easier for us to deal with the fact that the universe is unloving and unjust.
You could of course go the other way and go into the most serious songs. Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah? people play this song at lot at funerals.
It is however a very personal song, and while I understand that if you had been directly effected by any of the disasters then it would be appropriate. However, while I know a lot of people that have been, I have not been directly effected and as such I feel that I am almost intruding by listening to this and trying to imagine how it must feel. Is there a song that is able to convey this? at least to me? There have been some attempts at it. There was We are the World, which was a noble effort. It was done to raise funds for the relief in Africa after that continent went through one of the many natural events that cause great human misery and upheaval.
The sentiment is correct , but it is a song of hope and togetherness, something that is definitely needed. But it doesn't describe, metaphorically, the human element of the disaster.
But I don't know if there is a song that does it. I don't have the right song for this.
sorry
The floods in Australia, the earthquake in New Zealand and yesterday the quake and Tsunami in Japan. My heart goes to everyone who has been effected by these recent natural events. I lived in Japan for 6 years, and Tokyo remains my favourite place in the world. All of my friends and associates are OK, but there are so many people who can not say this.
The pictures of the Tsunami racing across the countryside and through the towns was, if you have seen, i think you will agree one of the most amazing and frightening pieces of film footage ever seen.
I have often said that there is music that suits every occasion. But what is appropriate in this case? As the Japanese follow the Australians and New Zealanders into the clean up phase after a disaster what would be appropriate? What is it appropriate for us to listen to?
There is what I think an instinctive part of human nature that says it is going to be ok. Is it there for appropriate to play this by the beach boys?
You know , it probably isn't ok. The song is about a relationship, and why that is perhaps the most important thing in a time of crisis, the flippancy of it doesn't make sense now. So where do you go? This is most definitely not a time for flippancy. Is it a time for humour? Please do not misunderstand I am not suggesting that this is something to make a joke out of, not at all. But, humour is a natural human response to the most tragic of circumstance and so maybe it is appropriate now?
I don't know, that isn't a particularly funny song, but it does change the topic at least. Perhaps that is the point.
There is also the option to get angry. That is often the way that people deal with things. Vent the wrath at the unfairness of it. Because it is unfair. there is nothing that is fair about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Throughout human history we have tried to explain this away through the elements of religion, through the explanation of others that there is some sort of divine retribution. Why? because it makes it easier for us to deal with the fact that the universe is unloving and unjust.
You could of course go the other way and go into the most serious songs. Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah? people play this song at lot at funerals.
It is however a very personal song, and while I understand that if you had been directly effected by any of the disasters then it would be appropriate. However, while I know a lot of people that have been, I have not been directly effected and as such I feel that I am almost intruding by listening to this and trying to imagine how it must feel. Is there a song that is able to convey this? at least to me? There have been some attempts at it. There was We are the World, which was a noble effort. It was done to raise funds for the relief in Africa after that continent went through one of the many natural events that cause great human misery and upheaval.
The sentiment is correct , but it is a song of hope and togetherness, something that is definitely needed. But it doesn't describe, metaphorically, the human element of the disaster.
But I don't know if there is a song that does it. I don't have the right song for this.
sorry
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