In our last class session we discussed how music can serve as an indicator of the tenor of the times - a vital clue to the overall attitude of society. I ran into this post which discusses that idea further:
http://tcapologetics.org/2012/01/the-apologist-currently-known-as-prince/
Check it out and let me know what you think.
I don’t know that if music is the “indicator of the times”, I think possibly it’s only one needle in a ginormous haystack. Couldn't we say the same thing about movies, TV shows or even our newspapers? Wouldn't that also be some indicator of the times as well? The sphere of where most people live in within the scope of their daily activities, outside of this we view things from an external source, (e.g. music, TV, News and internet ) to gain an insight onto the world outside of our sphere which unfortunately tends to be on the negative, derogatory and depressive information.
ReplyDeleteI can’t point my finger solely at music and state that it an “indicator of our times” however, it is one of the lessor indicators. I think people resonate with music because musicians often tends to speak of things in which people experience in their lives but choose not to talk about it for whatever reason, therefore people tend to choose music that they relate to because it gives them a source of meaning or perhaps an “outlet” for their own emotions and mental thoughts.
Music has always had the opposite reaction with me, I recall when I was younger my father would screen my music and then proceed to break any record that didn't fit in the scope of his understanding or what he didn't want me to learn or “hear”. What he didn't realize is that I can’t understand music, in the sense that I can “hear” every word sung. I was after the beat or the tones of the musical instruments not the words. Much of this has to do with the fact that I am deaf. Music has a different reaction to me, I can “hear” words being sung, but the words do not translate into my brain verbatim. Rather my brain produces a completely different song, into whatever I am relating to the sounds of the musical instrumentals itself.
Although, when I do pull out the lyrics I am often surprised by what they are saying. My kids have often have had to pull up lyrics for me, because they discover me dancing to a “really cool song”; the kids end up giggling because they know and do understand that I am absolutely clueless of the nature of the song. Once I read the lyrics, I am often aghast at the language and its implication on young minds. I try to stick with my favorites of classical music that doesn't have words involved.
I think the article is interesting, but not the only indicator of the times which we live in.
Agreed - and I think that my blog stipulated that it is "an" indicator, rather than "the" indicator. It's just that what we were discussing in the class was specifically music. But just as people are complex beings, not to be defined by just one thing (that would be stereotyping), so also societies are complex. Good observation!
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