The future of music
January 12th 2012 01:48
Sometimes I wonder whether any of today's musicians will be remembered 30 years from now. What song will be so timeless that my children's children, assuming I will eventually have kids, will be able to identify with the lyrics. What protest song will make tomorrow's teenager raise their fists in rebellion against some form of injustice.
The more I think about these things, the more depressed I become. Other than a few examples here and there, the music industry just doesn't have the magic it had during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sure, there are a handful of poets and prophetic voices out there -- Sarah McLachland, Zack de la Rocha, Talib Kweli, Alicia Keys and Kanye West (despite, not because, of his arrogance) -- but overall the sound is chaotic, commercialized and without a clear vision beyond the latest fad.
Today's generation doesn't have a Bob Dylan. or John Lennon. or John Fogerty. or Bob Marley. or Johnny Cash. or James Taylor. or Paul Simon.
In his famous song, "American Pie," Don McLean sang:
"Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again."
Although it was written decades ago, that song aptly describes the music scene today.
So why can't today's music tug at our hearstrings and enlighten our minds like it could back in its heyday? I think the lack of substance in music is connected to the isolated state of our culture. People are too addicted to their cell phones and technological gizmos to think deeply about anything beyond "what am I going to do today?." Those of us, who are not addicted to today's "get me everything I want this second" gadgetry find the culture so foreign and unattractive that we retreat inside ourselves.
Hopefully, our culture will one day retreat from the world of hypertechnology and learn to communicate with each other again. After this happens, slowly but surely, music will regain the authentic, human elements that made it great.
The more I think about these things, the more depressed I become. Other than a few examples here and there, the music industry just doesn't have the magic it had during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sure, there are a handful of poets and prophetic voices out there -- Sarah McLachland, Zack de la Rocha, Talib Kweli, Alicia Keys and Kanye West (despite, not because, of his arrogance) -- but overall the sound is chaotic, commercialized and without a clear vision beyond the latest fad.
Today's generation doesn't have a Bob Dylan. or John Lennon. or John Fogerty. or Bob Marley. or Johnny Cash. or James Taylor. or Paul Simon.
In his famous song, "American Pie," Don McLean sang:
"Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again."
Although it was written decades ago, that song aptly describes the music scene today.
So why can't today's music tug at our hearstrings and enlighten our minds like it could back in its heyday? I think the lack of substance in music is connected to the isolated state of our culture. People are too addicted to their cell phones and technological gizmos to think deeply about anything beyond "what am I going to do today?." Those of us, who are not addicted to today's "get me everything I want this second" gadgetry find the culture so foreign and unattractive that we retreat inside ourselves.
Hopefully, our culture will one day retreat from the world of hypertechnology and learn to communicate with each other again. After this happens, slowly but surely, music will regain the authentic, human elements that made it great.
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