Sign in or 
Share this
Music Is...
What does music mean to you?
At Mr. Music Review, it is our mission to discover what makes music so special. We'll ask every featured artist this question to see what professional musicians have to say, but their answers are no more important than that given by any highschool student with an iPod. So we ask you the question, what does music mean to you?
Name: Justin Hawkins
Age: 17
Hometown: Atherton, CA
Favorite Genres: Alternative, Experimental, Grunge
Favorite Artists:
- The Doors
- Explosions in the Sky
- Radiohead
- Liars
- Wilco
What is music? Look it up in a dictionary or online and the general synopsis will be that music is simply “organized sound”. But how can something as unadorned as tones synchronized together in different ways produce such emotions as sadness, fear, angst and love? Music is something more – a universal language that everyone instinctually understands, regardless of background, ethnicity, place or time. Music is a reason to take a girl by the hand and dance, a reason for a couple high school kids in a garage to dream, a reason to close your eyes and hope for a better tomorrow, a reason to redefine a generation, and for me: a reason to live. You look at the pain behind Louis Armstrong’s eyes as he played his trumpet, the weeping in John Lennon’s voice as he sang “Imagine”, the teenage angst of the 1990’s embodied in Kurt Cobain, the anarchist rebellion in the swagger of the Sex Pistol’s frontman Johnny Rotten, and the social discontent in Ice-T’s disgruntled shouts in “Cop Killer”, and you realize that music is more than just some entertainment industry making a buck off suburban America. You realize that rock n’ roll isn’t “just a fad”, but rather the statement of a generation – our generation. And you realize that by putting on those headphones and letting music overtake you is not a mindless activity, but rather is taking part in that statement.
An unknown author once said, “Music is what feelings sound like,” and I could not have put it better myself. Music has a way of resonating with moods and feelings perfectly, whether they be euphoric or melancholic. There’s nothing like the whining wail of Axl Rose to sing along to when you’re in the mood, or some Velvet Underground for those days you feel like lazing on a lawn chair. Nothing can compare to “Enter Sandman” when you need to get pumped up, or the sound of Soul Coughing when you just need to relax and contemplate. Even when you’re down and depressed, a sad song like Travis’ “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” has a way of calming your nerves and making you hopeful again. I can always turn to music to empathize with my feelings and moods in order to make me feel stronger. The Verve describes it best in “Bittersweet Symphony” when Richard Ashcroft laments, “I need to hear a sound that recognizes the pain in me/ I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now.” It can be lyrics that strike a chord, or a melody that resonates with the feelings inside you – whether it be hate or love you feel, the right music has its own unique way of understanding.
The reason music can so perfectly match our experiences is the fact that the artists themselves were once in our shoes. Any respectable rap artist once grew up in the ghetto dreaming the same American Dream they embody. Any ballad ever sung by some British export was originated by a love story turned to heartbreak. Any punk rock song that challenges authority or calls for change is spawned by some injustice in the world. The reason why music can empathize with the human experience is because musicians are simply portraying their respective realities. Leopold Stokowski said that, “A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” Just like any other art medium, music is not art until it is fully appreciated. It’s the tones, the pitches, the instruments and words that make up a song, but only when amalgamated can they make art. And once you truly appreciate the art form behind music like Bob Dylan, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Sonic Youth, or any other of the insurmountable number of musicians, music can truly set you free – just like The Verve suggested.
So what does music mean to me? Music means everything to me, because it allows me to cope with reality and finally be free. What does music mean to you?
At Mr. Music Review, it is our mission to discover what makes music so special. We'll ask every featured artist this question to see what professional musicians have to say, but their answers are no more important than that given by any highschool student with an iPod. So we ask you the question, what does music mean to you?
Name: Justin HawkinsHometown: Atherton, CA
Favorite Genres: Alternative, Experimental, Grunge
Favorite Artists:
- The Doors
- Explosions in the Sky
- Radiohead
- Liars
- Wilco
What is music? Look it up in a dictionary or online and the general synopsis will be that music is simply “organized sound”. But how can something as unadorned as tones synchronized together in different ways produce such emotions as sadness, fear, angst and love? Music is something more – a universal language that everyone instinctually understands, regardless of background, ethnicity, place or time. Music is a reason to take a girl by the hand and dance, a reason for a couple high school kids in a garage to dream, a reason to close your eyes and hope for a better tomorrow, a reason to redefine a generation, and for me: a reason to live. You look at the pain behind Louis Armstrong’s eyes as he played his trumpet, the weeping in John Lennon’s voice as he sang “Imagine”, the teenage angst of the 1990’s embodied in Kurt Cobain, the anarchist rebellion in the swagger of the Sex Pistol’s frontman Johnny Rotten, and the social discontent in Ice-T’s disgruntled shouts in “Cop Killer”, and you realize that music is more than just some entertainment industry making a buck off suburban America. You realize that rock n’ roll isn’t “just a fad”, but rather the statement of a generation – our generation. And you realize that by putting on those headphones and letting music overtake you is not a mindless activity, but rather is taking part in that statement.
An unknown author once said, “Music is what feelings sound like,” and I could not have put it better myself. Music has a way of resonating with moods and feelings perfectly, whether they be euphoric or melancholic. There’s nothing like the whining wail of Axl Rose to sing along to when you’re in the mood, or some Velvet Underground for those days you feel like lazing on a lawn chair. Nothing can compare to “Enter Sandman” when you need to get pumped up, or the sound of Soul Coughing when you just need to relax and contemplate. Even when you’re down and depressed, a sad song like Travis’ “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” has a way of calming your nerves and making you hopeful again. I can always turn to music to empathize with my feelings and moods in order to make me feel stronger. The Verve describes it best in “Bittersweet Symphony” when Richard Ashcroft laments, “I need to hear a sound that recognizes the pain in me/ I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now.” It can be lyrics that strike a chord, or a melody that resonates with the feelings inside you – whether it be hate or love you feel, the right music has its own unique way of understanding.
The reason music can so perfectly match our experiences is the fact that the artists themselves were once in our shoes. Any respectable rap artist once grew up in the ghetto dreaming the same American Dream they embody. Any ballad ever sung by some British export was originated by a love story turned to heartbreak. Any punk rock song that challenges authority or calls for change is spawned by some injustice in the world. The reason why music can empathize with the human experience is because musicians are simply portraying their respective realities. Leopold Stokowski said that, “A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” Just like any other art medium, music is not art until it is fully appreciated. It’s the tones, the pitches, the instruments and words that make up a song, but only when amalgamated can they make art. And once you truly appreciate the art form behind music like Bob Dylan, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Sonic Youth, or any other of the insurmountable number of musicians, music can truly set you free – just like The Verve suggested.
So what does music mean to me? Music means everything to me, because it allows me to cope with reality and finally be free. What does music mean to you?
justin_hawkins |
Latest page update: made by justin_hawkins
, Oct 29 2008, 1:55 AM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by justin_hawkins
view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
