I was sitting in my office at home today, watching my wife work on her resume and online applications for a job, and me laying out the basics for next Sunday's sermon. In the background music was playing, sort of a melodic white noise which would cause either one or both of us to begin to sing along, softly, as we worked. It hit me, though, while I was listening to the music, that I haven't heard anything lately that has really grabbed me. I've been listening to some good stuff but nothing that made me sit up and truly listen and go "wow". Most music of late has just served as "white noise" and that bothers me. It bothers me because I can't remember hearing anything in a while that has grabbed me and made me giddy with delight or moved me, not just my feet but my head and heart. Is it because artists have finally written everything new that there was to be written and now their left with simply trying to recycle it with just enough slant to make it seem new?
I was listening to some of the music on the radio that my daughter listens to while we were on a trip to the beach the other day. After three songs in a row I honestly couldn't tell you when one song ended and the other began. And lyrically, there was no depth, no meaning that I could tell, no emotion. Just synthetic, computerized vocals and rhythm. (I have heard similar words once upon a time - when I was a teen and my parents listened to my music but really, it's really different now, right?) After a few songs I couldn't take it anymore and I had to change. Of course, what I listen to is just "old man" music. Really?!!!!? You just can't reason with a teenager these days!
I remember, when I was in my teens and into my 30's, hearing songs from an album (LP) on the radio and running to the store and purchasing it, going straight home, putting it on the player and then reading every word on the linear notes (the lyrics, who played what, all that stuff) while the music played. Then, when I was done, I would play the album over again and just listen to the music and the lyrics. There were times when it seemed like a mystical experience. Listening to Yes' "Close to the Edge" or "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" or Larry Norman's "In Another Land" or.....there have been a few others. Or remember those rare occasions when you stumbled on an unknown artist and you went "wow!" and you couldn't wait to share their work with others - they were unique, their music was different, their lyrics was full of pathos or empathy or energy or hope or... But it just seems that those special moments have become fewer and farer between. Of all the CD's and downloads that I have, and I have a few, there are only a small number that still impact me like they did when I first heard them. All the others are nice, and I enjoy, but just don't haven't maintained that energy like they first did.
I miss those musical mystical moments. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (could my daughter be right?). I'm willing to admit that. But I do think there's more to it than that. I try to be open in my musical tastes; I do make an effort to check out a CD/download when a friend or reviewer recommends it. But I am still often left yearning for more. It's nice, I enjoyed it, but where's the power, the impact?
I wonder if the fact that we now simply download songs, and not entire album's/CD's, and therefore don't have the "package" that often helps draw the listener into the process of the music. You download what you want and often skip what doesn't grab you, which removes the opportunity for those songs to "grow" on you or help set up the other songs. You know what I mean?
Well, anyway, I was just thinking and wondering. Not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else. It may be just all in my head - which is where good music has its greatest impact but moves the heart.
Speaking of head and heart, I think I'll put on John Mark McMillan's "The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down" and Number One Gun's "The North Pole Project" or 16 Horsepower's "Live March 2001" or just about anything by U2 (I know, I need to move on from this U2 kick I have been on for a while). There is something in these albums that is powerful and riveting, unique and different, deep and stirring.
What music have you found that has created those mystical moments for you? I'd really like to know.
I was listening to some of the music on the radio that my daughter listens to while we were on a trip to the beach the other day. After three songs in a row I honestly couldn't tell you when one song ended and the other began. And lyrically, there was no depth, no meaning that I could tell, no emotion. Just synthetic, computerized vocals and rhythm. (I have heard similar words once upon a time - when I was a teen and my parents listened to my music but really, it's really different now, right?) After a few songs I couldn't take it anymore and I had to change. Of course, what I listen to is just "old man" music. Really?!!!!? You just can't reason with a teenager these days!
I remember, when I was in my teens and into my 30's, hearing songs from an album (LP) on the radio and running to the store and purchasing it, going straight home, putting it on the player and then reading every word on the linear notes (the lyrics, who played what, all that stuff) while the music played. Then, when I was done, I would play the album over again and just listen to the music and the lyrics. There were times when it seemed like a mystical experience. Listening to Yes' "Close to the Edge" or "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" or Larry Norman's "In Another Land" or.....there have been a few others. Or remember those rare occasions when you stumbled on an unknown artist and you went "wow!" and you couldn't wait to share their work with others - they were unique, their music was different, their lyrics was full of pathos or empathy or energy or hope or... But it just seems that those special moments have become fewer and farer between. Of all the CD's and downloads that I have, and I have a few, there are only a small number that still impact me like they did when I first heard them. All the others are nice, and I enjoy, but just don't haven't maintained that energy like they first did.
I miss those musical mystical moments. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (could my daughter be right?). I'm willing to admit that. But I do think there's more to it than that. I try to be open in my musical tastes; I do make an effort to check out a CD/download when a friend or reviewer recommends it. But I am still often left yearning for more. It's nice, I enjoyed it, but where's the power, the impact?
I wonder if the fact that we now simply download songs, and not entire album's/CD's, and therefore don't have the "package" that often helps draw the listener into the process of the music. You download what you want and often skip what doesn't grab you, which removes the opportunity for those songs to "grow" on you or help set up the other songs. You know what I mean?
Well, anyway, I was just thinking and wondering. Not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else. It may be just all in my head - which is where good music has its greatest impact but moves the heart.
Speaking of head and heart, I think I'll put on John Mark McMillan's "The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down" and Number One Gun's "The North Pole Project" or 16 Horsepower's "Live March 2001" or just about anything by U2 (I know, I need to move on from this U2 kick I have been on for a while). There is something in these albums that is powerful and riveting, unique and different, deep and stirring.
What music have you found that has created those mystical moments for you? I'd really like to know.
3 comments:
Good question...I wonder if the musical mystical moments are gone for now.
I sense just a bit of the mystical at times but not with music right now.
http://www.thedailytube.com/video/14674/playing-for-change---stand-by-me
Check this out...
This is a great video, Kurt. I would love to see the film.
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