Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Music

This morning it struck me as something quite fascinating. As Mr. Kiedis once proclaimed "Music the great communicator." Now I am not disagreeing with the man here nor am I attempting to make his song sound silly but if you don't understand the words that someone is singing, surely that stops it being a communication and actually just becomes an odd parody of the British/American stereotype of just saying things slower and louder when in non-English speaking countries.

Don't mishear me on this, I think that music from all over the globe is a wonderful thing but what I am saying is if you don't understand the heart behind the music, you don't understand the music. Were you aware that when Coolio released "Gangsta's Paradise" a lot of people branded it as glorifying being involved with gang violence? Rather than simply listening to the man who was declaring the struggles facing people with (for want of a better phrase) a background of being raised on the "street". Gang violence isn't something to be praised, it is something to be concerned by.

A friend once told me that every genre has something good to offer, you just have to look. And after a fair amount of listening, I can honestly say that I haven't found evidence to prove this wrong yet. Rap music can be deeply profound and is not just about violence. Folk music can be really fun and catchy whilst not just being sung by a bunch of odd, old men. And as for the enormous, recycling behemoth that is Pop, well let's just say that The Beatles could only be classified as a Pop band on many of their best selling songs. Before you label something terrible, listen to it. I know I've been guilty of it in the past. Having a short stint as an indie child, if something became popular and was "overplayed" I decided that I just couldn't like it anymore. Well no more. 

Listen with your eyes shut and let someone's heart come through their music. Yes, sometimes someone is just singing absolute nonsense but you know what? Sometimes it is just fun to think about nothing except something silly. Peace out folks
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2 comments:

  1. Alex20 March 2012 at 04:01

    I disagree with your point about lyrics there, music is about more than words. Some songs deliver a message which is open to interpretation (Adiemus springs to mind) and some convey a message without using words at all (most classical orchestral pieces).

    I was recently criticised for claiming that in a cover of Nine Inch Nails' - Hurt done by Leona Lewis I couldn't hear any emotion. The critic pointed out that "you don't hear emotion, you feel it", but in a genre where the main medium is sound, all you have is what you can convey with the tone of a piece. You can be singing the same words that make me cry when sung by Johnny Cash, but if there's no heart... there's nothing.

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  2. Abbey mcleay24 May 2012 at 02:04

    I miss your blogs Jono, what have you been doing! X

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