Setting the mood

So I didn’t write a blog last week. My computer broke and I was in mourning, however life goes on. I’m taking it one day at a time and I want to thank all of you for your prayers and support as I go through the painful process of recovery.

This week I’d like to talk about emotion, specifically music’s power to as a catalyst for our rage and our rapture; our fear and our frivolity. (Frivolity might not be the best word, but I like alliterations, is that okay with you?)

Even in as small children music has the power to completely alter our perception. Just look at Looney Tunes. The tone of the music tells you who the good guy is, who the villain is, even when you should laugh.

What’s more, music can inspire stories, even entire worlds, to spring almost fully formed into one’s imagination.   

                Singers like Billy Joel and Alice Cooper (and every country singer ever) tell stories or paint pictures directly through their lyrics, using the melody for punctuation.

                This form of musical storytelling has existed for thousands of years. In the 70s a new musical concept called opera expanded on this ethic, weaving a story or theme through the fabric of an entire album. The Who’s Quadrophenia, Queen’s Night at the Opera and David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars are excellent examples of Opera. (What? Were you expecting Mozart? Well ok, here’s a link, but don’t ask me for the cliff notes, because its really long and foreign.)  

                I like songs and albums that tell stories, they can lend perspective, help us view the world through somebody else’s eyes, even if it’s only for three minutes at a time.

                Lately though, I’ve been thinking of another way music tells stories and paints pictures…. Or maybe inspires is a better word, because sometimes the feeling brought to mind by a song, album or even an artists entire repertoire has nothing to do with their lyrics.

When I listen to Queens of the Stone Age I can see grimy desert wastelands of apathy and methamphetamine.

Ok, bad example...

 

 

Nine Inch Nails sounds like a gothic death robot burrowing into your brain with the express purpose of turning you into a cybernetic nihilist-drone.

What? You thought I was joking?

Just a single shotgun blast of Rage Against the Machine’s political outrage, hip-hop and metal could incite the mildest mannered pacifist to riot like an Egyptian revolutionary.

Yeah... I have not making snarky comments about revolutionaries.

 

On the other side of the coin we’ve got the lusty Bluesy awesomeness of Janis Joplin who’s jagged heart wrenching voice could creates visions so poignantly beautiful even the tin man would feel a twinge.  Every one of Radiohead’s enigmatic yet gorgeously accessible albums should come with a sticker that reads, “No psychedelics required for this mind-trip.” And John Mayer…. Well, I don’t need to tell you what John Mayer’s velvety tongue brings to mind, do I ladies?

Of course all of these feelings are subjective. When I listen to Cage the Elephant’s first album I envision the best high school party ever. You might listen to the exact same or hear the essence of WWII blasting through your speakers. Maybe it’ll make you think about breakfast cereal. I don’t know how your brain works, and I’m not here to judge, what you do with your lucky charms is your business.

The thing is the lyrics on their debut had nothing to do with my impression. they wrote songs about the end of the world and societies moral bankrupcy, but all i got out of it was beer pong and quarters. Maybe that would piss the band off, but at the end of the day, I think art is what we make of it.
(On a side note, these guys are awesome live. If you ever get the chance to see them I highly recommend it.)

Regardless of your feelings about Cage the Elephant, there is no denying that music can bring out the rawest emotions in each of us. I don’t know why certain sounds strung together into patterns speak so directly to our psyches. I’m not a scientist or theologian. Hell, I’ve never even taken music theory, but I think music is either hardwired into our DNA or a sacred gift from God above. Either way I’m grateful.