These days I seem to be surrounded by robot music. I turn on the TV or the radio to hear auto-tuned vocals and artificial instruments, manufactured music, rife with imitation inspiration.
I'm saturated by soulless soul music, refurbished rock, and counterfeit country. It's amazing to me that most people aren't bothered by it. In fact, they don't even seem to notice it. It's as if they hear with their eyes. If the pop star looks good and fits the image they prefer, well, that's good enough. Never mind that the guy can't sing or play, or write his own songs. Can he dance? Does he look good? They'll buy that CD.
I recall the lyrics of Tom Petty from his song "Joe:"
"Bring me a girl
they're always the best
you put 'em on stage
and you have 'em undress
some angel whore
who can learn a guitar lick
hey, that's what I call music"
Right on Tom! Exactly! ...except that you left out the part where instead of learning that guitar lick, they just lip synch and do the choreography someone taught them. - but who cares?
I DO! I think music is important. It matters. The music of an era tells the story of that era. It matters.
Music and all art exists for a REASON, and the reason isn't just money.
Bands once formed in a natural way. Kids on street corners, or in their parent's cellars and garages got together and made the music that they believed in. I used to go into a music store and see a dozen kids trying out guitars and drums. Not anymore.
Kids had guitar heroes, favorite drummers, keyboard players, bass players, etc...
Those days are gone. I don't blame the kids though.
In a world where most schools think their music classes are unimportant, how can you blame the kids?
In a world where radio has been segmented into segregated playlists, how can you blame the kids?
They simply aren't exposed to a wide variety of music. American Idol will not fill the creative void.
I learned more from disc jockeys than I did from any other source. But disc jockeys who play what they want to play, are a thing of the past. How can a kid learn about great music? Not from a D Jay, not anymore.
I'll quote Tom Petty one more time:
"As we celebrate mediocrity
all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free
And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say
Hey, hey, hey
And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ"Well said, Tom.If a person eats only swill, then the only judgment he can make is what kind of swill he likes.
So music is beginning to suck, and as it continues, we lower our standards.
A kid can only make judgments based on the tiny universe he or she hears.
So I guess it's up to us to teach our kids about good music, because the schools don't care, and the D Jays are extinct.
BUT...
There are still great songwriters, singers and musicians out there.
You have to dig a little deeper to find them, but they are out there and you can tune it in, if you try.
Keep your standards up! Listen to good music.
Seek it out, play it loud and show it to other people.
Support your local musicians and songwriters. They're still out there fighting the good fight.
Rock on...
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