Interesting, no? I believe John Cusack said it the best in (My tied-for-first-favorite movie of all time) High Fidelity in the opening monologue:
"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
I think that's pretty telling of now awesome the movie is. Right? Right. None the less, Rob Gordon, the fictional man created by author Nick Hornby (One of my favorite authors, by the way. And yes, High Fidelity was a book before a movie. He also wrote About A Boy and that horrible movie Fever Pitch [But he's British so Fever Pitch is actually about cricket and not baseball]), was able to hit the nail on the head. There are THOUSANDS of people out there who write songs about lonliness and unrequited love but they never seem to be the ones who win in the end, do they? I know I don't.
Did they write music because they were miserable? Or were they miserable because they wrote music? I like to think the first, rather then the latter. Rob Gordon goes on to later explain how there were people who were all over censorship of music in the gangster rap explosion in the 90's and late 80's, but no one ever did anything about music. Music is filled with broken hearts and tearful songs about love and loss but they go unnoticed. It's like a pile of shit. You can dress it up and gussy it up, but, it's still, well, it's still frankly a pile of shit. You can put whatever happy, sing a long melody you want over the happiest major chords ever, but, it's still about your broken heart that you're wearing on your sleeve. People talk about the birth of emo music coming with Guy Piccioto and Rites of Spring (The very first band to be labeled in the "emo" genre therefore giving birth to later amazing bands like Fugazi, The Get Up Kids, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jimmy Eat World, and the first Weezer record. Then later spawning terrible bands who grew up LISTENING to those bands, like Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance. Not emo. Repeat, not emo) but it really started at the birth of the minor scales when music was really seriously looked at in the renisance periods and classical periods when people were able to deconstruct music and put music theory to work.
I certainly, as a song writer who preforms primarily as a singer-songwriter (and in a few other projects but this not the location for such shameless promotion), draw on everything that happens in my life for my music. Every miniute I spend pining for a girl goes out of my head, into my arms, to my fingres, and out my pen into my notebook and then evetually to my guitar. It's all about the catharsis of your mind. I personally know that without that, I'd have exploded like that guy at the end of that Monty Python sketch about eating too much at dinner. Every minute I spent miserable at the end of my last relationship while I was away was transcribed into a song that I happen to love. Every minute of my yearning for a girl to return my phone call (Before she turned out to be a deceptive whore) was written down, and I can definitely say I feel better about it.
So naturally, they were miserable and then chose to write the music for their own safety. Music is a lost art form, in that very little can say very much in todays world where we can hire someone to write our lyrics and have a computer make us the song and then correct our vocal pitches so we stay on key (T Pain). That's why I have to do what makes me feel good. And that is write music.
I'll never forget the first song I ever heard. It was Elvis Pressley covering the Isley Brothers' 'Unchained Melody'. It was probably the most perfect song I've ever heard. The music is nothing but A+ and the emotion in Elvis' voice still, to this day, 15 years later, makes my knees wobble. I remember, I put it on a mix tape for a girl and she didn't quite get why I was so in love with the song. ANd I remember thinking, is this tape wrong? Is she stupid? Am I stupid? But no, it just turned out she wasn't really into me. But none the less, mix taping is another lost art form, now that i think about it. Rob Gordon said it the best (Again)
"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules."
Did they write music because they were miserable? Or were they miserable because they wrote music? I like to think the first, rather then the latter. Rob Gordon goes on to later explain how there were people who were all over censorship of music in the gangster rap explosion in the 90's and late 80's, but no one ever did anything about music. Music is filled with broken hearts and tearful songs about love and loss but they go unnoticed. It's like a pile of shit. You can dress it up and gussy it up, but, it's still, well, it's still frankly a pile of shit. You can put whatever happy, sing a long melody you want over the happiest major chords ever, but, it's still about your broken heart that you're wearing on your sleeve. People talk about the birth of emo music coming with Guy Piccioto and Rites of Spring (The very first band to be labeled in the "emo" genre therefore giving birth to later amazing bands like Fugazi, The Get Up Kids, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jimmy Eat World, and the first Weezer record. Then later spawning terrible bands who grew up LISTENING to those bands, like Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance. Not emo. Repeat, not emo) but it really started at the birth of the minor scales when music was really seriously looked at in the renisance periods and classical periods when people were able to deconstruct music and put music theory to work.
I certainly, as a song writer who preforms primarily as a singer-songwriter (and in a few other projects but this not the location for such shameless promotion), draw on everything that happens in my life for my music. Every miniute I spend pining for a girl goes out of my head, into my arms, to my fingres, and out my pen into my notebook and then evetually to my guitar. It's all about the catharsis of your mind. I personally know that without that, I'd have exploded like that guy at the end of that Monty Python sketch about eating too much at dinner. Every minute I spent miserable at the end of my last relationship while I was away was transcribed into a song that I happen to love. Every minute of my yearning for a girl to return my phone call (Before she turned out to be a deceptive whore) was written down, and I can definitely say I feel better about it.
So naturally, they were miserable and then chose to write the music for their own safety. Music is a lost art form, in that very little can say very much in todays world where we can hire someone to write our lyrics and have a computer make us the song and then correct our vocal pitches so we stay on key (T Pain). That's why I have to do what makes me feel good. And that is write music.
I'll never forget the first song I ever heard. It was Elvis Pressley covering the Isley Brothers' 'Unchained Melody'. It was probably the most perfect song I've ever heard. The music is nothing but A+ and the emotion in Elvis' voice still, to this day, 15 years later, makes my knees wobble. I remember, I put it on a mix tape for a girl and she didn't quite get why I was so in love with the song. ANd I remember thinking, is this tape wrong? Is she stupid? Am I stupid? But no, it just turned out she wasn't really into me. But none the less, mix taping is another lost art form, now that i think about it. Rob Gordon said it the best (Again)
"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules."
God damnit Rob, you are so right. AGAIN. I digress....
Bottom line.... I'm slowing turning into somewhere in between Rob Gordon and my father (Which isn't a bad thing, I love my father) and people wrote music because they were miserable.
Bottom line.... I'm slowing turning into somewhere in between Rob Gordon and my father (Which isn't a bad thing, I love my father) and people wrote music because they were miserable.
2 comments:
I most definitely agree. I play/write(hardly) music because of my sadness/depression/and miserableness. I saw that t-pain shit in time a week ago, and i can say that music is much better when it does in fact have mistakes and errors in there, and makes people strive to be better musicians overall. with t-pains shit it makes it so people hardly try and let the computer do all the work. great blog!
I like this blog too.
High five, 'cos you mentioned Rites of Spring. One more, because you put Elvis on a mixtape. And yet another, because you like High Fidelity. Great film. I enjoyed this post. Now write more!
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