Music...It makes the world go round...It hath charms to soothe the savage breast...It, well, you get the picture. What can be said about music that through the annals of time hasn't already been said, about it, by it or with it? That, it is a means of measure to us all at one time or another in our lives? That, it is a near magical language seemingly spoken in every known corner of the universe? That in some way, it has at some point, managed to influence, uplift and move us all to points beyond our known capabilities, realms and desires? Well, yeah, we could say that...
|
And On That Note...
Some say that you can get too much of a good thing, I say, that rarely happens. What actually happens is, you end up getting too much of a bad thing disguised as a good thing. Few places is this better exemplified than in the shameless facade we know as contemporary, or, popular music. With everybody and his cracker uncle now able to purchase home recording equipment equal in quality to most professional recording studios, and with the advent of the great equalizer, the internet, everybody and that same cracker uncle are able to record and release their own technologically brewed, artificially sweetened, home-made recordings and then inundate the airwaves with audio garbage. (Great name for a band, by the way...) This (dis)ability has pretty much turned what was once an occasionally semi-respectable medium into basically a, we-tote-the-note used car lot of so-called, music, made by so-called musicians.
Production, long ago took the lead over the quality of the music itself. As long as the recording was loud, clean, and filled with the timely appropriate frills, the message of the music became irrelevant. It simply doesn't matter anymore to the general public what a song says as long as it says it, loud and clear. Nowhere is this better exemplified in popular music today than in what is labeled, country music. (I know, I know, rap/hip hop could equally qualify it's just I've yet to correlate the two, rap and music, that is.) What passes as country music today however probably has Hank Sr., Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff and the rest of that one octave lot spinning in their graves faster than their records went around on the turntable. But, strip away the veneer, buff down the high gloss sheen and you'll find what's left to be basically, well, audio garbage. Regardless of the pop songs passed off as country music today by simply lacing them with a steel guitar or a fiddle, the country music singers themselves no longer truly present themselves as being "country". Oh, they'll remind you of their upbringing, how everyone of them grew up listening to the Grand Ol' Opry and gospel music, but a good number of them would, in fact, rather be Jimmy Buffett, while some want to be AC/DC or Van Halen. And, almost all of them do little, if anything to hide this fact. Witness: How many so-called, "country" artists have you heard enthusiastically scream out the words, "Are you ready to rock and roll?!"? Ever heard anyone, and I mean anyone, country or otherwise, ever wail..."Are you ready to country?!"? In fairness, to what, I'm not sure, there are a lot of washed up, left over pop and rock singers out there turning to country music in a desperate effort to reincarnate themselves. Unwanted in their former realm, forgotten by the fickle mainstream masses that linger long, nowhere, these hasbeens wander the streets of Nashville dazed and confused, clueless as to where to begin until someone says, "Oh, I remember you." and gets them a duet with an up and coming country diva that most of these guys immediately try to bed down. But, I digress.
It has long been established that the general radio listening public has the taste buds of a cat licking its own ass. Most music listeners have no idea of what they like or want to hear until someone else tells them, a friend, a colleague, a classmate, a family member, etc. And who, you rightfully ask, tells these others? Why the record labels, of course, via media of varying varieties, movie soundtracks, (probably the worst offender), video games, television shows, commercials, magazines and, of course, the internet. Via these mediums they inform the general listening public of what it is they "need" to be listening to, what it is they absolutely have to have. If millions already have it, then you must have it too. If the critics, critics, you know, those who cannot begin to do what it is they are considered authorities on, most bought and paid for in one fashion or another, are singing the praises of a particular "artist" then it must be something you should be praising as well, after-all, remember, you're just a cat licking it's own ass and you certainly don't want to be the only one on the block saying; "Man, that tastes like shit..." So, en masse, everyone just keeps on licking away, buying CD's of over produced, under talented, technologically surgically sliced and diced, rehashed drum beats and guitar riffs all intended to render a few individuals and corporations rich while robbing the future of music in general of any inherent wealth or value. I may sound like my parents here, but I just cannot begin to envision future generations kicked back 20, 30 years from now and honestly reminiscing gleefully to the strains of Lady GaGa or 50 Cents. I almost foresee entire future generations much like a growing number of listeners of today, abandoning the music of their youth, the '80's and 90's and reaching back with a great fondness to the music of my youth, the 50's and 60's and embracing it as theirs. It was, for the most part, real music, written from emotionally charged hearts and minds, made with the best of intent, to simply convey a message or instill a mood or mindset. Music, after all, belongs to those that embrace it. It may legally belong to its creator, of course, and, rightfully so, however, once it is unleashed, once it is set free to flow into the hearts and minds of others, it becomes a free bird.
|
|
