We all listen to music to feel connected. Music is the colloquial poetry of our society and it reaches out in an explosion of expression that can touch a person’s soul. This is not to say that all music has some deep and meaningful message or some higher value it is trying to convey; I would argue that most of it doesn’t. Like most modern consumers of music, I have heard some chauvinistic, and frankly insulting, lyrics in popular music and I have also heard music that sounds no better than nails on a chalkboard.
Music reflects the mindset of our society. It is just as diverse and just as integral as any other aspect of our culture, and I would further argue that it is a better measure of modern culture than any poll or news story. The scene in which music is enjoyed, whether it is a coffee shop, a small jazz club, or a large arena, is a study in humanity. When listening to music we connect to the lyrics, the instrumentals, the atmosphere, and the people.
I recently attended a small concert in Boulder where a local pop-reggae band, Na'an Stop, played. This is not a genre of music I usually listen to and I was really just there to support a friend who is dating on of the musicians. However reticent I was about the music, the atmosphere in the venue was electric. As the band played, everyone in the audience focused on the music. There was no exclusion in the audience, no place for judgment or insecurity, just a collective sense of being in the moment.
To me, this is the importance of concerts: it is a place for connection, a place for release, a place to express yourself.
Yet the most enduring music, music from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, and even Madonna, is able to connect to audiences that span several generations. John Lennon, a member of The Beatles, created the song "Imagine" that is still played at peace rallies all over the world and is often cited as one of the most historically influential songs of all time.
In several concerts I have attended in the last few years, there has been an animosity and competitiveness in the atmosphere that I find jarring and distressing. While this is not a new phenomenon by any means, I believe it deserves to be discussed. The antagonistic mindset of concert goers is unnecessary and is hurting the music industry. I recently attended 93.3's Big Gig summer concert, and the level of disrespect and entitlement among the concert goers was something I had never seen at such a large scale (and I have attended Big Gig for the past few years). I had, at the time, blamed it on the heat and the overcrowded venue, but weren't those the same conditions for the past few years?
I watched as a girl fainted from heat exhaustion, a simple case of dehydration and excitement. Her friends swore she had not been drinking, and the paramedics later confirmed this, yet despite her obvious distress (she could not stand up and was a sickly green color) no one stopped to help. People moved slowly and reluctantly out of the way, rolling their eyes and grumbling loudly at the interruption. It took nearly 10 minutes to walk the few hundred feet out of the crowd and to an administrative post.
Concerts foster a feeling of community. They take emotions that are often too abstract to simply put into words and create musical representations of the human experience. Yet the ever-prevailing sense of entitlement and the self-centered mindset of many concert goers is changing the experience into a vulgar show of notoriety and privilege.
The sense of entitlement is reflected in the popular music of today. Kanye West, a prolific and controversial artist, is a prominent figure in popular music. He is an incredibly wealthy artist and is best known for his bad attitude and narcissistic personality, and yet his music is constantly lauded and awarded. With lyrics such as, “For all the girls that got dick from Kanye West If you see 'em in the streets give 'em Kanye's best Why? They mad they ain't famous (God damn) They mad they're still nameless (Talk that talk, man)” it is hard to argue that West is not sexist, so why are his albums so popular? They are demeaning to a multitude of people and promote material wealth, racism, and sexism.
One of the best moments in a concert is when the band plays the crowd’s favorite song. As soon as the opening notes sound, the audience eagerly shouts their excitement. Everyone moves to the music, sings, and is desperate to share their enthusiasm. However, in so many concerts this perfect moment is interrupted by the presence of social media. People furiously Snapchat, Tweet, and post on Facebook or Instagram, distancing themselves from the immediate environment in order to prove that they were there, that they saw that band, and they have concrete proof.
I'm bringing all of this up to try and convey the importance of music to our culture to you; to try and make you think how music has shaped your own life and what role it plays in your everyday routine. Yet the music itself is only a part of the impact the music industry has on our culture. I would argue that concerts are an epicenter for human connection and are a celebration of the emotions that music can bring out in anyone. Next time you are at a concert, take a moment and look at the crowd. Look at the diversity of the group, the obvious enjoyment (or maybe not, maybe they were forced there by a friend or significant other), the timelessness of just being in the moment. Next time you turn on the radio to a popular station, listen to the lyrics that are being preached. What does that say about our culture? Our obsessions and our passions are commented on by the artists, it just takes a moment to really listen, and a bit of reading between the lines, in order to hear what is really being said, or sung.
No comments:
Post a Comment