This is a continuation of last week’s article. Let us delve a little further into our subject of music as a form of communication. Music can have a direct or masked message. Songs can be written directly and to the point so that even a child can understand and have no doubt of the message, and others can be written with double meanings or a hidden agenda. In 1970, Neil Young wrote the song called, “Southern Man” appearing on his album “After the Goldrush”, which had quite a direct meaning about racism in the south, even mentioning the Klu Klux Klan and slavery without saying those exact words. In the same year, on his “Harvest” album, he put out a song named, “Alabama,” putting down the State, basically saying it was pitiful, in ruins and saying they should look to the Union for help. In 1974, Van Zant, lead singer of “Lynyrd Skynyrd” wrote a “response” song to Young’s two offerings, called “Sweet Home Alabama”. Some said that Van Zant was just saying, “Thank you for your opinion, Neil, now leave us alone.” Yet Van Zant rebuts, “We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two.” He said, “We’re southern rebels, but more than that, we know the difference between right and wrong.” It is said that the response song itself is also racist and anti-civil rights, but with all of that having been said, there are those who have no clue of any intent other than they love Alabama and the catchy tune. The bottom line now is that this song continues to make millions of dollars for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band.
On vinyl records they used to have a “back masking” message which would range from evil, blasphemous, or disgusting to some, that would just be poking fun at the concept of subliminal messaging, for instance, “The B-52”, “Detour Thru Your Mind” said, “I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you’re playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle.” The technique was prominent in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and was made popular when The Beatles used backward instrumentation in their album “The Revolver”. It was discovered by accident when one of the band members was under the influence of narcotics and played the record backwards. He said that he enjoyed the sound. This technique was often used to produce a “clean” version of what might otherwise have been profane or even satanic song. The religious world took great offense to the use of this method of message sending, communication if you will, in the music world, because it was often offensive, profane, and immoral.
Songs can have messages for good or evil, as we have already seen in the above-mentioned songs of racial content, there can be political agendas, sexually obscene messages, rebellious rhetoric, propaganda shown in the lyrics of songs, but there can also be songs that inspire, uplift, and bring hope. The religious world has taken the Psalms of David written in the Holy Bible, and put them to song, as David himself indicated that many of them were. As David, there are countless song writers, who pen their own messages of joy and cheer, whether it be about the Creator, or to the Creator, it ministers to our souls. There are secular tunes as well that are fun and upbeat like The Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations” or Pharell Williams, “Happy.” Then of course there are the countless hundreds of love songs that have brought many couples through courtships, breakups, engagements, weddings, and marriages, not to mention the favorite or ‘hated by singles,’ Valentine’s Day. Just to name a few “Love to love you baby” by Donna Summer; “In your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel; “You are so beautiful” by Joe Cocker. You can often know what the song will be about by the title, but this may not always be the case.
Continuing our short study, let us look at twentieth century music genres. Everyone has their own preference and as many opinions that there are in the world about what restaurant you prefer to eat at or the fashions you are comfortable wearing, the same goes for taste in music. This could be because of upbringing, environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, exposure, or just human nature. Once we form an opinion about a certain genre, we are usually a convert for life. If you are introduced to another style of music and are inclined to enjoy it, usually it will not take the place of your top favorites. We find comfort and familiarity in our “play list,” and it is often disconcerting to be thrown into another environment altogether, than what we are used to. The first thing my husband will do when he gets into our vehicle is change my classical selected station on the radio, to something more on the 70’s rock and roll style. This is what makes us all individuals and allows the market to continue to be open and competitive.
Distinctive styles of music run the gamut and can even vary from person to person like a language with many off shooting dialects. Personalities, accents, and cultural upbringing will bleed into any musical style and give it a unique flavor, because music is an outward expression of the artist. The spirit of the singers and songwriters can be felt in the music as well, whether good or bad. One research paper could not adequately cover every genre that is on the market and that has existed over time, but a few that might be familiar to most, from the Twentieth Century are Classical, Rock and Roll, Blues, Jazz, and Country.
Classical music from the nineteenth century bled over into the twentieth, but composers such as George Gershwin and Darius Milhaud began to mix ideas of Jazz into their scores to give it a different flavor. Some retained part of the harmonic progressions while seeking to add new textures like Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. This has been a trend ever since. Music is always evolving, while building upon the previous generation’s styles. John Cage introduced aleatoric music in the 1950’s, which allows improvisation by the performer. This idea has now become a part of American music. ‘Contemporary’ music, whether Classical, Christian or any other genre, depicts that it is similar in style, but with modern ideas and techniques added to the style.
Rock and Roll has become a favorite, though within that label you could possibly find a flavor of Jazz, Blues and Southern Rock, Pop, and Heavy Metal. The 1920’s Boogie was also incorporated into the 1950’s evolving rock style. Fats Domino, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were some of the first to emerge in this new phenomenon. This music was aimed at teenagers and was often scoffed at by the older generation. Though it is by far the most popular music to date, it is hard to pigeonhole it into a single definition. Even the instruments used in rock and roll have changed over the years, moving from just guitars and drum sets, to anything goes. Progressive Rock was then born and was known for complex lyrics, length of composition, unusual timing, and different instrumentation playing long solo scores. Some familiar bands and artists filling this description would be Pink Floyd, Jimmy Hendrix and The Who.
Rock music has carried a stigma of being partners with sex and drugs. Often thought by critics “of inducing moral decay, undermining literacy, and subverting basic social values.” Often crazy antics were portrayed on the stage from screaming, pacing and even breaking guitars. Wild but to some an exhilarating experience. It was a far cry from the Nineteenth Century Classical pieces performed in a sedate format. It still holds an enormous appeal for the young and upcoming musicians of the Twenty-First Century.
Rock and roll could not be discussed without mentioning Woodstock. This was a Festival held on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York in August 1969. It was said to involve lots of rock and roll, sex, drugs, nudity, and mud! This is an iconic event to the 1960’s hippie counter culture. The organizers were four rich kids in their twenties, headed up by John Roberts, trying to make money. The original idea was to build a studio for rock musicians in Woodstock, New York, and this became a ‘fundraiser’ for the studio. The plans for the festival/fundraiser; Time: 3 days; Place: Industrial Park, Wallkill, New York; Tickets: From $7 to $18, and they could buy them in the store or via mail order; Entertainment: Sign musicians up; Capacity: 50,000; Other: Organize food and hire security. Everything went topsy-turvy when the town refused to allow the festival there, even passing a law banning it a month before the event. Though Max Yasgur offered up his six hundred acre farm rather quickly, they still had to have new contracts and make all the changes necessary. They built and worked up to the last moment and some things did not get done by the deadline because of their setback and their estimate in attendance rose to 200,000. They tried to scramble and get more water, food, concession stand workers, security and most importantly, toilets.
Financially it was a disaster for the four young men. The fences and gates were not finished in time, therefore, because the first 50,000 people walked in without paying, they had to declare it a ‘free’ concert. An estimated million people then flocked towards the festival with only 500,000 being able to get in. Helicopters had to be used to get the artist up to the stage. Musicians like Santana, Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, Sweetwater, Quill, Grateful Dead, The Who, Joan Baez, Jimmy Hendrix and many other artists kept the music going for four days. When the dust (mud) cleared, the organizers were one million dollars in debt, but the price tag reduced to one hundred thousand dollars after the Woodstock Festival film became a big hit. They did not realize that this would become the most talked about music event of all time. I do not know if John Roberts and his friend Joel Rosenman ever got to build their Rock and Roll studio.
Blues and Jazz are two styles that evolved from the African American culture. This was not only instrumentals, but vocal spirituals, work songs and chants that were an offshoot from their African descent. The Blues gained true popularity through W.C. Handy in the late Nineteenth Century into the early Twentieth Century and Jazz gained international recognition by the late 1920’s. It has had an enormous influence on other genres of music. Blues and Jazz festivals are held all over the country throughout the year to celebrate this art form, including the W.C Handy Festival held in July each year in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Country music has its roots in Blues, Spirituals and Traditional Folk music, but has developed primarily in the Southern parts of the United States into what we hear today. It goes as far back as the 1920’s with Jimmy Rodgers and The Carter family. The first hit record for country music being in 1924 by Vernon Dalhart, “The Wreck of Old ‘97”. Country music can encompass flares of Bluegrass, Pop, and Southern Rock, yet remain Country. Its themes can be anywhere from Lee Greenwood’s, “God Bless the USA,” to Billy Currington’s, “Good Directions and Turnip Greens.” One song’s message being exactly as the title predicts about God blessing America and the other about a fellow having his eye on a girl, and thinking it is love at first sight!
A musical artist can often be synonymous with poet, author, communicator, musician, orator, politician, composer, leader, inspirational speaker, therapist, teacher and so much more because these are the functions, they are engaged in. The lyrics they pen tell stories eloquently or can be brash, sometimes with exuberance and on occasion sorrowfully. Many artists fall into the workaholic category, which often leads to their own demise. While they are trying to give their all to their crafts and audiences, they get caught up in detrimental lifestyles. They often neglect themselves and their families and end up dying young or alone. Balance in everyone’s lives is a much-needed quality, but often it is very illusive. Just to name a few that have recently fallen victim to this, would be Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, George Michael, and Amy Winehouse. These lives and many others were cut short, and at the loss of extraordinary talent.
Two notable singer/songwriter/artists whose work is remembered and celebrated in many circles and recognized by all, are Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra. One of the most original, talented, and influential songwriters of the Twentieth Century was Robert Allen Zimmerman, which was his given name on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. He later changed his name to Bob Dillon after Matt Dillon, the lead actor in TV series, “Gunsmoke,” which later evolved to Dylan. He imitated Little Richard on the piano at his high school dances and followed early rock stars Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. He later developed his own style and got his start in cafés performing folk and county music.
His music was original and covered social and political issues, getting its start in the 1960’s. He signed his first contract in 1961 and has not stopped touring and releasing new music. His voice is unmistakable, almost a talking/singing style. He was constantly reinventing himself. He is also a painter and published six books of his paintings as well as having some of them appear on his album covers. In 1982 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has written over 350 original songs. He received Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards, The Nobel Prize for Literature and The Presidential Medal of Freedom. He became a legend in his own right. A memorable quote from Bob Dylan is, “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.”
On December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, unbeknown to them, a star, Francis Albert Sinatra was born. He was born to immigrant parents, hailing from Sicily. He was a fan of Bing Crosby in the 1930’s, which inspired him to become a singer. He would rise to fame in the 40’s and 50’s with his big band numbers and a list of hundreds of songs that almost everyone would recognize and appeared in dozens of films as well. His first recording was with a bandleader Harry James who discovered him through his involvement in radio. He earned nicknames over the years like “The Voice” and “The Sultan of Swoon” because of his smooth baritone crooning.
He earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award but also earned a reputation of womanizer, gambler, swinger, and hard drinker. This was an image that was portrayed in his albums and in his personal life amongst his peers. He was later awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan, who had become his friend after his extensive involvement in politics in the 1980’s. His last curtain call was a concert at Palm Desert Marriott Ballroom in California in 1995, and he passed away three years later at the age of eighty-two. He left behind tunes like, “Strangers in the night,” “New York, New York” and “I did it my way.” He had a successful career of over 50 years and attributed it to, “When I sing, I believe I’m honest.”
In conclusion, music continues to evolve and build upon the influences of past songs, poems, stories, and the artist’s lives. Their music lives on and continues to speak to us in numerous ways that bring hope, joy, and consolation. A couple can hear a tune, fall in love with it and it then becomes a personal anthem in their relationship, even if it was born and inspired out of an entirely opposite meaning, but that is of no consequence to them; it has communicated something special to them, it is “our song”. So, it can be seen, that the ‘perceived’ message of a song, becomes the ‘actual’ message, to the listener. It changes lives, comforts the sorrowful, serenades lovers and entertains the masses.
Music is a notable aspect of communication to self, others and to God. It is near to the heart of God who created it, and is an intricate part of heaven according to Revelation 4:8, “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Think of ways today that you can practice using this platform to minister to others, rather than using it for evil. Even if you do not think you can carry a ‘tune in a bucket’ do as David instructed in Psalm 100, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.” Let your voice uplift others and bring praise to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords today.