Music

Topic one – Music. Why music? Well because I honestly suck at music. I’m not completely tone deaf but music is definitely my weakest point in art. I listen to it and I enjoy it, I can even go as far as to say I can't live without it, but picking a soundtrack for a video, or creating an AMV drags the soul out of my body. And since I like to start with what gives me most trouble, here it is - the media of music.

To best understand this phenomenon let us quickly look through some of its most notable examples through the ages. Starting from ancient Greece some time BC, we find the myth of a legendary performer, poet, and musician who could enchant the hearts of every creature with pull of a single string of his lyre.

 

 Orpheus was said to be so talented and his music so magical that even Hades, the god of the dead himself, was moved and agreed to let Eurydice, his wife out of the underworld. For those familiar with Greek mythology you know that it just doesn’t happen, you go to the underworld, you stay there. 

Now the fact he screwed up doesn’t really count towards the impacts of his mystical music.

No, I don’t say he actually existed or that his music actually possessed magical qualities. All I want to show is how music was viewed by the ancient Greek, what it meant for them and what their ideal of a musician was. Music was magic. And Orpheus' name survived through the ages as even today everyone must have heard at least once in their lives, or the state of my faith in humanity would be threatened.

But let us move a bit to the east. The exotic India has a rich and ancient culture. There, music is thought to have power. The vibrations produced by the sound of the strings of the sitar (a traditional Indian instrument) are believed to harmonize energy, transfer it from nature to human, or human to nature, and even be able to heal the soul and the body. There’s also a specially designed note system to maximize the vibrations of the sound. 

While I cannot say I’m a fan of such music myself, I can't deny it has its appeal, not to mention its mood influencing qualities. Similar thing can be said about traditional Chinese music. Back in time, there was nothing more soothing, more magical than the sounds of the east.

Now let go back west, to Europe, several hundred years later. Aristocrats in the so called Classical Period were moved to tears by beautiful melodies. They visited concerts, parties, balls, and wherever they went they had, the best known, musicians hired to entertain them. Music accompanied their every social activity or appearence.

Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi, the list goes on. Not to mention the many styles and forms that were conceived, which sadly I cannot list and properly explain due to my limitations in musical knowledge.  

Even today these memorable compositions and their composers are prominent. Their music is still played and many modern songs have been influenced or have borrowed tunes from them. A perfect example for the latter is Mozart’s Lacrimosa. You’ll be surprised to see how many songs have been based on it. There are also the countless movies and other creations of the media, which used, and will continue to use, classical tunes as soundtracks and inspiration.

Moving further west and further in time we reach the 1960s which were marked by a rapid evolution and shifts in both art and music. One of the most influential British bands of that age was no doubt The Beatles. They not only changed what rock&roll was really all about, but also had such a huge impact on popular culture we can still feel it today. Don't believe me? Just how many times have they been reissued or remade by other authors, how many times have they appeared as fictional characters in TV shows, or how about all the references to them in the modern media? I rest my case. 

I will not go into further details or we’ll be here all night. Moving even more to the west and a few decades in the future we see the scandalous influence of Madonna in the Americas. She too, no doubt impacted both music and culture. Even if she is not as prominent today, she’s still a pretty big deal in the showbiz. Again no time to go into details.

But I’ve been focusing only on the geniuses of music you’ll say. Why yes I have, these are the people who made an impression, for who the public would sell their souls to hear. The great musicians who were beyond their times, inspirational even now. Personal tastes aside, very few can argue against their importance and greatness. Why I have been concentrating on them? Well who else? There are those who make it big and then there are the insects. A problem occurs when more and more insects make it big and less and less people are interested or even as little as know who the great figures of music were or still are. But let me better explain my concerns as I continue my story.

Having gone on a long journey through the ages we finally reach the now. What about the music now? Well we have Lady Gaga, we have Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and what’s her face – Kesha… Oh how have times changed! I bet most of the past musicians are rolling in their graves in horror. I know at least I am, every time one of the up mentioned release a new useless song and it somehow reaches the top of the charts. And yes I know there are many good Euroean and some American musicians. But answer me this, exactly how many of them have made it to the intternational spotlight? It’s heartbreaking really. However, I’m not here to rant, mostly, I’m here to present an objective view of the state of today’s music, and society. If the notable figures of the past were created or at least have been marked by what society was like, then what does today’s music say about us? Things that I would rather ignore while I safely isolate myself in the bunker I built. When I see the popular music art of today’s culture, a culture believed to be way beyond the primitive and transcending the classic, why do I feel ashamed, why do I feel like crying out in terror? Why have we chosen these people, this form of atrocious art to represent our age? Did we degrade morally and intellectually? But don’t get me wrong, I know there are still many good musicians out there. They just hardly ever seem to reach the spotlight. They are isolated in the circles of true music lovers, and for everyone else, for the big chunk of people out there, kids, teenagers and adults, there’s Katy Perry…

Why is our society fascinated by such music? I can’t give a clear answer, for the question is too grand and complicated even for me to comprehend. What I can do is present the concrete example, and maybe try guessing why it has become this way. So next time I will be taking on one of the songs that can make the devil cry. A sound so horrible even I could not finish listening, and believe me I tried. Next post: Sak Noel - Loca People.