Thursday, October 06, 2005
Music for Life
On Thursday night before Serenity, there was a Coke ad going on about how people should be respected for their love of "real" music. As someone rightly said when it finished, "what a wank" (if nothing else, they pushed their point way to hard - something half as long would have still been a bit much). But I did find myself agreeing with the thought - music is something special.
Most of the time music is just something in the background. Something that sounds good at the moment, and nothing deeper. But the right song at the right time can be magical. I'm one of those people for who music can be a powerful tool - it can make me feel good, help me deal with badness in my life, help me concentrate or help me switch off.
I happened to watch Australian Idol on Sunday night (I'm usually doing something else - anythine else - but I was too lazy to get off the couch), and so saw Mark Holden chuck his wobbly and storm off. Part of his problem (well, his problem with the performances that night) came from the fact that one of the contestents sang a political song (Holiday by Green Day) without caring about the message. A lot of people couldn't get past him being angry at someone for singing a song they happened to like, but I think I can see what Holden was actually saying - some songs are special, and you have to respect that. Personally I'd feel pretty annoyed if I had to listen to Britney Spears doing a version of Imagine.
I found this article on Boing Boing this morning interesting. It's about the drummer for the Doors, who even after all this time won't let their music be used for commercials. He basically says the same thing - some songs are special, and you have to respect that.
So yeah, go and listen to a good song - something that is special for you - and appriciate it. But also go and listen to some random crap that you like. After all, that song can't be special unless there are other songs that aren't.
[EDIT: My song choice by the way was With or Without You by U2. What's yours?]
