D.S. al Fine

Well, beloved reader, I'm afraid that it is now time that this blog come to its official end. Note that handy little adjective near the end of that sentence: "official." Theoretically, if I have spare time (and we all know how much of that I have), I'll continue to write on this blog. So put down the paper bag and stop hyperventilating, dear reader; I will continue to entertain you with my cheesy humor and my wonderful philosophical insights. For now, however, I must focus on the wonderful requirements of the final blog assignment. So here goes...

Looking at my blog entries, I have come to the conclusion that I am a synthesizing mind. Over the past few weeks, I have pulled information and media by Don McLean, Madonna, Rolling Stones Magazine, Five for Fighting, Michael Buble, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, and my imagined notion of stereotypical Cro-Magnons, and have discussed a wide array of topics, including love, politics, the music industry, commercialism, psychology, and even a little unfounded anthropology (See: "Cro-Magnons"). I believe those would qualify as "disparate sources," don't you? Using all of these sources, I somehow have been able to (hopefully) pull together some relatively logical conclusions on why we as human beings need music in the world and for what music can be used. Pretty impressive, no?

During this project, I have exhibited curiosity about the reason for music. Given my background in music, it would have to take continuous curiosity in order for me to write an entire blog about a subject I have been so involved in. Furthermore, I delved quite a bit deeper into the soul of music, the purpose of music, than I had ever intended. In doing so, I only increased my curiosity, attempting to discover links between seemingly disparate musical themes and topics. I have engaged in intellectual discussions of the common motifs shared by all music and in doing so, I have drawn connections between the driving influences of music and, ultimately, humanity (See: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "The Meaning of Life"). Pretty clever, eh?

Through my discussions, I have challenged my own belief of how music can affect a person. Yes, I already knew that music could be a powerful medium to convey a message or express an emotion. Yet I only saw that through an intellectual level-- an objective, aloof perspective. Along the way, though, I have learned that sometimes, things cannot simply be viewed through an objective lens. Occasionally, ideas cannot be observed and analyzed indifferently. Sometimes, ideas must be reflected on by the heart and soul (pun slightly intended; if you don't get it, don't worry: it wasn't that funny anyway). With a media as deep and emotionally-charged as music, it is essential for one to throw one's own experiences into the pot, add a cup of opinion, mix in a heaping teaspoon of beliefs and values, sprinkle in a dash of oregano, and see what happens. The important thing to remember, however, is always this: each person's opinions on music--and really, on life--will be different, must be different. Without differences of opinion, there would be no opinions and, therefore, no free will.

Throughout my life, I have been surrounded by music; one would think that by now, I might have a general grasp of the philosophy behind music. Yet to be honest, I think I've simply taken music for granted. I've learned how to play music, how to sing music, even how to write and compose music. However, I have never learned how to feel music, how to believe music, how to listen to music and discern the truth nestled within chords and rooted beneath the lyrics. For the first time, I have been able to strip away some of the intricacies and theory of it all and glance at the core of the matter: music, in reality, is the manifestation of a person's soul. In this politically correct, emotionally sensitive world in which we live, it is truly amazing how much we hide within ourselves in order to shield our true emotions from the ripping, shredding claws of society. Yet we as fragile beings cannot contain such raw emotion within ourselves, and that is why we have music. It is said that "music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul." Music is what helps us as human beings express our innermost feelings, our most cherished freedoms and inhibitions, our highest joys and our deepest sorrows. Music truly is the gateway to the soul.

The Meaning of Life

As I was blogging about love and how it was the meaning of our existence and all that nice philosophical stuff, I suddenly remembered probably one of my favorite songs ever: "The Riddle" by Five for Fighting. According to Wikipedia, John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting's real name) took eighteen months and over one hundred drafts before he finally chose the final version. Ondrasik originally started writing the song as an attempt to discuss the meaning of life, yet as he worked on it, he became more and more influenced by his relationship with his five-year-old son, and as a result of the love that he discovers, he writes about the real "reason for the world: you and I."

Until next time,

ParallelFifths

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Ah, love. It's amazing how much power a four-letter word can convey, isn't it? Throughout life, we are all seeking love from others and seeking the ability to love ourselves. Love is undoubtedly the most profound and deepest human emotion, and an overwhelming majority of music reflects this. If you, beloved reader, chose to look through your collection of songs, whether it be on your computer, on your iPod, in a giant stack of CDs, or in the speakers of a radio, you would notice that probably at least three-fourths of all music concerns love. These songs can discuss several aspects of love: romantic love; the joy of love; the loss of love; the pains of love; the power of love; the forgiveness that comes with love; the list goes on and on. Yet all concern love.

So what is love? Well, as the writer of that really crummy essay we read in Mrs. Sander's class said, "I don't know, it's a hard question." All joking aside, though, I can't truly answer that question because for each person, love is something different. More than that, though, a person's idea of love grows constantly as they live their lives on this spinning ball we call Earth; as we live our lives, the interactions we have with the people around us and the love we share and receive change who we are and how we perceive love in our world. Love defines us as human beings; it gives us meaning and gives us hope. That's why love is so prevalent in music. "If love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?"

Now, dear reader, I couldn't possibly write an entire blog post about love songs and then not include a love song at the end. So, as my gift to you, here's quite probably my favorite love song out there: "Hold On," by Michael Buble.

Until next time,

ParallelFifths

Politics and Music??? NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe me, dear reader, when I say that the last thing I want to discuss in this blog about music is the unsavory topic of politics. Inevitably, someone either gets combative or hurt or embarrassed at not being able to support an opinion (and let's face it, we're all a mixture of all three reactions). Yet I am going to dabble in the dangerous briefly simply by pointing out an observation.





As I was trying to find some inspiration for my blog, I remembered that in November 2004, Rolling Stones Magazine published a list of great songs-"500 Greatest Songs of All Time," to be exact (wasn't that clever, how I snuck in the title of the article? I amaze myself sometimes).





As I was looking at the top of the list (and just in case you were wondering what was on aforementioned list, I decided to be generous and post a link to the list, with lyrics, here. No, not here, eight of words back.), I noticed something interesting: the top five on the list all discussed different political or social themes:

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan--discusses hitting hard times and economic crisis (ring any bells?)
2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones--written as the British band's reaction to American commercialism
3. "Imagine" by John Lennon--Lennon commented that the song was "anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."
4. "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye--written in reaction to violent police action against anti-war protesters in 1970
5. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin--banner song for feminism

Now, being the smart person that you are, dear reader, I know that you're currently thinking to yourself, "Hmmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if that says something about music in general?" Well, indeed it does, clever reader! Theoretically, music is intended to convey a person's inner feelings and beliefs. Theoretically, politics are based on people's beliefs and opinions. So, theoretically, including political stances in music is a rather natural concept. While it seems that there is an excess of theory in that little syllogism, the truth is that a substantial amount of music contains political messages in their lyrics, whether intended or not. So, dear reader, keep that in mind the next time you jam out to Hannah Montana, Lil' Wayne, Carrie Underwood, Metallica, or basically anyone else that you might feel inclined to listen to. After all, for all you know, what you listen to on the radio could influence what you choose in the polls.

Until next time,

ParallelFifths

Modern Music Continued-Oh Yes, I Have More...

Through my own personal genius (no, no, there's no need to write any comments of praise; you can just tell me in person), I have come up with an excellent example of the musical differences between then and now. I already posted a video of Don McClean's "American Pie," which obviously is a masterpiece of lyric and music syntehesis. Yet did you know that in 2000, a certain female artist by the name of Madonna attempted to do a respectable cover of this sacred song? As you can see, she failed quite miserably...

Now, you could always argue that since Madonna was more of an 80s artist, using her as an example of modern music is a bit of a copout. Yet Madonna attempted this cover as a way of gaining popularity with a modern audience that wanted this kind of music. By doing so, though, she destroyed the essence of the song; the music simply does not sync with the music. This is a great example of what happens when artists decide to change a song in order to give it more appeal to an audience that has become used to inferior music: they simply are forcefed even worse music.

Until next time,

ParallelFifths

"Taylor, I'm Really Happy for You, and I'm Gonna Let You Finish, but..."

Ooooooh, boy, we remember that little outburst, don't we? When Kanye West graced the musical world with his little tirade against Taylor Swift, the whole music industry collectively groaned and rolled their eyes. Yet given West's history of making unexpected stage appearances, the actual event itself wasn't a huge surprise. Wait, think about that. Could you see something like that happening fifty years ago? Thirty years ago? Fifteen years ago? I could be wrong, but it seems to me that a good portion of the modern music industry has become too consumed by commercialism to actually care about finding musically-skilled class acts.

Now, before I get a bunch of rap fans and Taylor Swift worshippers on my tail, let me explain that last paragraph. In my last blog I discussed the importance of the connection between music and lyrics. Well, I believe that a lot of musical artists today have simply forgotten about this crucial detail. Why? Record labels have become too focused on spitting out as many albums and merchandise as possible, putting the actual quality of the music on the wayside (if you want to see a full blog about it, I highly suggest Kate Schutte's excellent blog). More specifically, the industry has maimed the amount of diversity which an artist can employ within his or her songs.

Let's start with hip hop and rap music. I will admit right now that I am definitely not a big fan of either of these genres. I have legitimate reasons, though. To start, hip hop and rap music focus on sexual interests. Now, I have already expressed that music is intended to manifest emotions, and sexual desire qualifies as an emotion, so I can't really condemn these genres for that reason. However, not all of the songs contain lyrics that discuss this topic. Yet nearly all hip hop and rap music contain the same type of swinging, suave beat and playing style that implies that the audience is supposed to still dance seductively while listening to the song. Now, obviously not everybody dances like this when listening to the songs. Still, though, I would appreciate a sorrowful song about lost love a little more if they actually contained a tune that reflected that sorrow.

To me, that is one of the worst musical crimes of all-destroying the potential of good lyrics or a good concept because the industry demands that you sexualize it or make it overly upbeat and poppy (not to name anybodyHannahMontana). I also take issue when artists are popularized simply because of their good looks. I know this is just my opinion, but I'm sorry, the Jonas Brothers/Justin Bieber/Hanna Montana contingent is just painful to hear. The Jonas Brothers have good instrumental music, but the songs are consistently ruined whenever Joe Jonas decides to open his mouth and sing. Justin Bieber simply has an average voice that tends to sound overwhelmingly weak, and if it wasn't for his long hair that drives preteen girls bonkers, he'd simply be another rich kid in school. Hannah Montana...well, anyone who comes up with a name like Hannah Montana is waaaaay to preppy for me. I know that my musical tastes are a bit old-fashioned, seeing as I grew up listening to folk, Beatles, and seventies and eighties music, but still, I wish there was some actual quality in today's music.

Until next time,

ParallelFifths

A Little Bit o' History...

For today's wonderful and exciting blog entry, I'll be including my very first Youtube video! (Cue triumphant fanfare: preferably something by John Phillip Sousa, but I'm not picky about my victory themes.) For this monumental occasion, I thought I would choose a very special song. In terms of symbolism and meaning, this composition is arguably the quintessential song. Now you, beloved reader, may be asking yourself at this very moment, What is this magnificent song which ParallelFifths has been so gracious to present us with? Well, I would answer you, but considering you have access to it approximately one centimeter below this sentence, I thought I wouldn't insult your intelligence and just let you press that magical little triangle that means "Play." So go ahead, press "Play." No, really, now. Why are you still reading this? Now!

That's right: "American Pie" by Don McLean. I'm not going to give a full explanation of the song, in part because there's no right interpretation, as McLean never gave an interpretation, and in part because it's simply waaaaaay too long of a song to discuss here. If you want to look at a really good interpretation (and I highly suggest you do), just look here. Yet even without reading a full-blown explanation, the significance of McLean's lyrics can still be felt.

"American Pie" is a reflection on nearly 15 years of music (about 1957 to 1971, when the song was released), and the progression from dance-styled rock music to the more pop rock music of the Beatles and the beginning of the psychedelic rock movement. In 8 1/2 minutes, McLean sums up a decade and a half. That's some pretty impressive stuff, no? On top of that, McLean supports his lyrics through the music itself. The more sentimental verses are the bookend verses, which he plays slower and with less guitar and more piano. The middle verses, on the other hand, are played very acoustically and rhythmically, reminiscent of the dance music which McLean yearns for throughout the song. McLean weaves subtle references throughout his song to simpler days, which he then reinforces through his musical choices. Pretty crafty, eh?

The thing about music is that most songs are exactly like "American Pie." All music has (or at least should have) some truth, some message which it is trying to convey. The lyrics and music both contribute to the success of the artist's message; if either of the two inadequately expresses the artist's theme, then the song flounders. Music contains vast potential in its ability to inform, enlighten, and affect; the trick is mesh the lyrics and music in the most cohesive way in order to perform best these three tasks. That can be some pretty tricky stuff.

Until next time,

ParallelFifths