Essay on "Popular Music"

Essay 7 pages (2706 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Davis, for one:

Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized morality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance. (Nettl, B., et al.).

Davis does this interpretively, decades taking the style of sparseness, use of space, intense lyricism, all molded together with passion using disparate elements and turning them into various styles and techniques that pushed the boundaries for the listener as well as the musicians (Mandell).

It is interesting, too, that this idea of the meaning of life has ingrained in so very many parts of culture -- popular, spiritual, and philosophical. There was a full-screen movie called Monty Python's Meaning of Life that examined the question from a humorous point-of-view; Lounge singer Peggy Lee epitomized the notion with the song and millions of pages have been written about the subject ever since humans coalesced into an urban society. In fact, Joseph Campbell, one of the foremost scholars of human myth and archetypes noted Yet there is something innate in the human psyche that continually reaches out to explain why we are here, who put us here, and is there anything after 'here'? Most individuals, though, try to find guidance in conformity and fitting in with a series of cultural groups. However, as society became more complex, as technology increased our distance from each other, and as social constructs began to dissolve, this became increasingly difficult now that humans have both the freedom and the responsibility to make our own choices -- to make and find our own meaning. However, meaning must be found by the individual -- it cannot be given. Meaning is like laughter; you cannot force someone to laught -- you must tell a joke. The same applies to faith, hope, and love -- they cannot be brought forth simply by an act of will, our own or someone else's (Campbell).

The real power of popular music is, as we have noted, to communicate broad levels of culture emotion in such a way that it is universally appealing. One can compare styles, verbiage, and other techniques, but it is the combination of sound and music with words and poetry that really exemplifies the clash and conflict paradigm. To conclude we will reiterate the idea of the search for the meaning of life through two separate genres, both poetic, both emphsizing words and timbre/mood. The first, from Bob Dylan, Let me Die in my Footsteps, the second, Is that All There Is, sung by Peggy Lee. Both are designed for smaller, more intimate audiences, yet both popular during the 1960s and era of social and political commentary.

There's been rumors of war and wars that have been,

The meaning of the life has been lost in the wind.

And some people thinkin' that the end is close by,

Stead of learnin' to live they are learning to die.

Let me die in my footsteps,

Before I go down under the ground (Dylan).

SPOKEN:

I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.

I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.

I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.

And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

SUNG:

Is that all there is, is that all there is

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

SPOKEN:

And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.

There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.

And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.

And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.

I had the feeling that something was missing.

I don't know what, but when it was over,

I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

SUNG:

Is that all there is, is that all there is

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is

SPOKEN:

Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.

We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.

We were so very much in love.

Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't, and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

SUNG:

Is that all there is, is that all there is

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

SPOKEN:

I know what you must be saying to yourselves, if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?

Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment, for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you, when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself

SUNG:

Is that all there is, is that all there is

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is (Lee)

Bibliography

Campbell, J. Reflections on the Art of Living. San Anselmo, CA: Joseph Campell Foundation, 2011. Print.

Dylan, B. "Let Me Die in My Footsteps." By B. Dylan. You-Tube, 1964. Film Video.

Firth, S. "Music and Identity." Questions of Cultural Identity. London: Sage, 1996. 108-27. Print.

Jay-Z. Decoded. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.

Lee, Peggy. "Is That All There Is?" Is That All There Is? By J. Leiber and M. Stoller. You-Tube, 1969. Video/Recording.

Mandell, H. Miles, Ornett, Cecil. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.

Middleton, R., et al. "Popular Music." July 2010. Grove Dictionary of Music. .

Nattiez, J. Music and Discourse. Trans. C. Abbate. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990.

Nettl, B., et al. In the course of Performance; Studies in the World of Improvization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Print.

Tagg, P. "Analysing Popular Music: Theory, Method and Practice." Popular Musci 18.2 (1982): 41-54.

Taylor, A. Notes and Tones. New York: Da Capo Press, 1993. Print.

Wondrich, D. Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924. Chicago: A Capella Books, 2003. Print.

Worth, S. "Music, Emotion and Language." May 1999. Paidea. .

Z, Jay. "Blueprint 2 Lyrics." January 2013. Rap Genius. Web. December 2013. . READ MORE

How to Reference "Popular Music" Essay in a Bibliography

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