THE MUSIC OF OUR LIVES

 

 

 

Dorothy A. Seese
May 31, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

Some have wondered whether the melodic tunes of the old standards are gone for good. Probably so. Others have wondered whether our music reflects our society, or is a driving force behind the changing culture. The answer is, both. Beautiful music is still being written and played, but it isn't on the pop charts and never will be. Great guitarists have a limited audience with their Spanish guitar solos, just as great operatic tenors and sopranos have a limited audience.

America has a declining culture and its music reflects it. Metal and Motown aren't music, they are frenzy at ninety-plus decibels with screaming "singers" who enjoy a moment in the spotlight (most of us never heard of them but the teens can name nearly all of them) and then vanish.

What is obvious is that we're not creating the same caliber of music as did Rodgers and Hammerstein. The last great Broadway producer is Andrew Lloyd Webber, a Brit. Maybe that says something about the decline of real talent in both Europe and America or, more accurately, the decline in acceptance of real talent with the preference being for non-talent, as long as the emphasis is politically correct.

The late greats are disappearing from memory, today's teens cannot recall when "Frankie" was a teen idol with melodic love songs. That is my generation's memories and this generation has barely heard the name. The same is true of the late Dean Martin, Perry Como, Bing Crosby and Bobby Darin.

The greatest puzzle is in the growth of "black" music, which has become jungle screaming. The truly great black artists made stardom by singing great music that was generally accepted as black music, the greats of jazz. Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, The Platters, the Ink Spots, Nat King Cole and Ray Charles all made themselves a spot in genuine music, while the younger generation of black singers insists on screaming. For that matter, the white rockers do likewise. All of it sounds like the cries of the tortured or the babblings of insane folks taped in the asylum.

The one message we get from the desecration of country music, the exploitation of rock as a screaming contest between warring tribesmen, and the Mo sound is that if the music is out of control, the songs are filled with obscenities and trash, is that if art is leading the culture, then the demons of chaos are in control. If music is following the culture, then the demons of chaos are in control.

The question is, how did this come about in thirty years?

Look back thirty-five years at America. We were starting the thirty-year "coming out" party ... out of Puritanism, out of conformity to old standards, out of the closet with homosexuality, out of their clothes for women who wanted equality, out of the time-honored conventions of decent dress, beautiful coiffures and elegant clubs, and into the world of ragged bluejeans, wild hair (the 70's was the decade of hair), legal abortions, legalized shackup arrangements, and into the jungle we call today's world. If music had something to say, it was "throw off everything and go wild." Against this we have a so-called war on drugs and cry for abstinence, after the diseases, OD's and growth of STD's has threatened the lives of our future generation. The rise of occultism, or the revelation of how deep its current has run even when this was a Puritan nation, is now open for all to see. No one seems inclined to hide it or try and defend against the charges. The occult is simply part of the lives of average people whether they know it or not, and that includes the demonic music from Hell.

What the music world didn't do ... totally ruin the family ... the government is finishing up through a process of indoctrination called federalized education, and stints in the military for both men and women that will end or ruin the lives of the youths who serve, voluntarily or involuntarily. (You bet your bloomers, the draft for males and females is on its way.) The deafening music of todays so-called artists will numb the minds of the youths who will be affected by this cultural collapse and ethical/moral failure of a civilization. Yes, it's a planned event from world leaders of the group that wants one nation, one race, one culture, one useless spiritual experience that some could call a religion. Otherwise, there would be competition from the other side of the spectrum, including art, whereas there isn't much choice now except to make loud music and scream. That's the in thing for those who want stardom in this generation ... and money.

Fortunately for people who do enjoy music that speaks to the heart, there are CD's of the great artists.

The negative side is, it's today's untaught kids who have the money to spend on recorded music and live concert tickets, while the rest of us are left to figure out how to get by on less of everything.

A fast life comes from listening to the beat drive us like the whip of ancient mariners beating the galley slaves to row faster. It didn't matter where they thought they were, there was no radar 900 years ago, but some got to where they were going, some capsized at sea, and some grew old naturally on this side or the other side of the Atlantic.

That's about where we are today as a civilization, and some are still living in the culture of 700-900 years ago, more than we'd like to think. For those who are ultra-high-sci-fi, there's always a new planet where the forces of evil lurk, screaming like rock stars.

Those of us who the world considers really "Neanderthal" still read and believe the Bible. Now that's really being "out of it" for this age.

© 2005 Dorothy A. Seese - All Rights Reserved