All Night Dance Parties in the Underground Palace

With everything that is taking over the world today- fear, poor economies, wars, more- it is important to have a place where we can all connect and feel that we are brothers and sisters once again.  It was not long ago that everyone was able to get along and mingle without having to worry about how people viewed each other based on who we talked to, how we dressed, and what we “really meant” when we talked.  We need to get back to that peace of mind where each person can be his or her own person, without having to worry about being politically correct.  This is not saying that certain rules need be forgotten, as there are some that make life better for everyone, but maybe ease up on some of the unwritten rules that bind people so tightly that everyone starts acting and looking the same.

Much of the tension in the world today is caused by stereotypes.  We all like to think that we do not fall victim to them, but in a way, even subconsciously, we do.  There has to be a place where we can stop thinking about everything we do and say and just let loose for a little bit.  There is- and it is the collective dance floor that we all shake it on.  Whether it is in a club, a bar, at a wedding, or maybe just at work (yes, I dance at work), the dance floor is one place that we can let it all hang out and be ourselves.

Sure, there may be some people that judge how people dance, but for the most part- at least for me- I could really care less about what they think about my dance skills.  I start to boogie because the song that came on is making me feel good and I want to have a little fun, so what if someone thinks I look a little goofy doing it?  Dancing is not to make other people jealous, or to impress someone (ok, maybe sometimes it is to impress, in that case do the dice throw), it is to feel good about being you and letting loose.  If we can all accept this fact, then the world may be a better place.  I know that may sound a little cliché or optimistic, but it is true.

Music can make anyone feel good at one time or another and if you are really “feeling” the music (which is mostly controlled by the music and not the lyrics), ten you are going to start moving and grooving- at least a little bit.  By this time you are feeling the rhythm and having a good old time, and it is not until later that you may realize that the song you are dancing to is an unfamiliar one, a different band, a different genre, a different language.  Music can be such an amazing tool in bringing together friends and strangers and putting differences aside.  The only this that we need to remember is to enjoy the song and try not to step on anyone’s toes. For example, this song really makes me like to shake my head and lightens my mood no matter how bad I am feeling at the moment; now just imagine a crowd of people feeling good and dancing.  At that point it becomes difficult to remember why we fight...

Purple Haze

Jimi Hendrix was one of the most influential guitarists of all time.  This is fact.  Ask anyone that has picked up a guitar or had any interest in rock, psychedelic, or blues music and they would agree.

Hendrix took the way people played the guitar and flipped it 180 degrees (he literally flipped a guitar over and played it left handed).  Not only was his vision of the guitar physical, but also the chord progressions that he played and the chords themselves were vastly different than what was accepted at the time.  No one had ever really used the tritone that Hendrix loved because it was always closely tied to "Devil's music."  Some even called the chord "The Devil's Triad," or "The Devil's Interval."  This was largely due to the fact that it was so dissonant that the whole sound was very dark and spooky.  But that is another discussion.

Hendrix was very forward thinking when it came to music.  He was one of the first players to overdrive his amplifier and get that nice crunchy sound out of it.  He was able to mix R&B vibes with a very hard rock sound and got lost in a world of music called "acid rock," or "psychedelic rock."   Hendrix was so wacked out on acid for so much of his career that, for the most part, he didn't even know where he was or how many people were watching him play his guitar, and then set it on fire.

While there are some people that cannot function under the influence of drugs and alcohol, it almost seems as if we expect rock 'n rollers to be a little crazy, maybe even a little high when we watch them.  Hendrix was a good example of what could happen in drugs.  Yes, he did die in 1970 from what is considered a drug overdose, but that is beside the point.  His drug of choice, LSD, did not kill him, rather it opened up a world of musical colors that may have helped his creativity when writing and performing music.  He was known for his odd guitar licks and crazy antics on stage, and most of that was due to the drugs.  There is a level of musicianship that he had that cannot be argued, and that would always be there, with or without the drugs.  But if someone were to try and tell me that Hendrix ruined his mind with controlled substances or could have been a better musician without them, I would have to disagree.  We may never know what exactly Jimi could have done had he not started his love affair with chemicals, but with what he has given us, do we really want to risk it to find out?  I am not saying that drugs are good, or that everyone should experiment with them, but for some people, they can actually have benefits.  Medical patients smoke/vaporize marijuana to help with pain, and SOME musicians can unleash creativity with other substances- marijuana, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, etc.  They may not help everyone, but for some, drugs can open up new worlds and shine a light on new, creative ideas.

Such a Mess

Warning: Readers may not like the post they are about to read.

            Ok that may be overdramatic.  But on the topic of "Parental Advisory" tags on records and CDs, I think it started off as a great idea when it was launched in 1985, but over the years, it seems the stickers have lost meaning.  When a person had to be over 17 to purchase a CD with the PA sticker, it was a way to control the music and ideas that the youth was fed.  The only way I was able to get that Jay-Z album I wanted was to either buy an edited version or get my mother to buy it for me (not happening), so I was stuck listening to "I got 99 problems, but a girl ain't one."

            Record companies should be held accountable for including that PA stickers on records and CDs that include heavy foul language or suggestive themes.  But there is a limit to this as well.  If you buy a song on iTunes from an album that has swearing somewhere on the record, there is an "Explicit" label tacked on the file, even if that particular song has nothing even questionable in it.  This may be an over-reaction.  For example the song "Until the Day I Die" by Story of the Year is foul language free, but since it was released on the album Page Avenue, which includes other songs with explicit lyrics, iTunes has tagged it as "explicit."  Another theory is that even though the song contains no language, the story can be seen as violent, so children should be prevented from hearing it.  Some language that may be questionable is "my hands are at your throat and I think I hate you."  For critics that take lyrics out of context, this can be a direct threat of choking a lover; for those who keep these lyrics in context with the rest of the song, it becomes more a song of confessing undying love for someone, no matter how many mistakes are made.  We may get angry, but for the most part we are able to control ourselves.

            Over the years though, the meaning of the PA label has lost the effect it used to have.  Now people are looking for the label to prove that they enjoy listening to gangster rap, or that they can be just as "hard" as the next person.  Personally, I pay no attention to the labels that may or may not be present on my albums, I purchase music for the music.  I know many people will not go out and buy a CD only because it doesn't have a PA label on there, but at the same time, I cannot remember the last time (if ever) that I decided against a CD only because it did have a label on the front cover.  In the end, the PA labels have really lost the effect that there once was, and no one really even pays attention to them, not that I notice anyways.  For a fun little experiment go to your favorite record store and watch people browse the CDs, if you ask them their feelings of the PA label, most will probably admit that it means nothing to them, so if no one cares, why are they still on there?

Negative Space

With everyone talking about how the music of today can be a negative influence on youth, no one really talks about how great the influence can become.  Yes, there are a multitude of bands and artists out there that write lyrics that can be interpreted the wrong way, and can really mold the mind of a young person into something that is going to head in the wrong direction; but there are also tons of groups out there that relay a positive message to the crowd.  Let’s start with the negative influences.

Rap music, in my opinion, is by far the worst when it comes to morals and messages that are leading the kids today.  I am talking about modern rap, not the good beat, tap your toes, bob your head hip-hip of Run DMC, which is great music.  But today’s rappers are more interested in the shock value, or proving “street cred” than they are about realizing that kids look up to them and idolize what they do.  In the song “Regulators” by Nate Dog and Warren G, the intro is “you gotta be handy with the steel if you know what I mean, earn your keep.” So by listening to this, kids are able to figure out that in order to look cool for the rest of the group, you need to be able to walk the streets with a weapon.  And this thought (not only this song) is why in the larger cities, we can see teens, young adults, even children being killed by gang violence. 

The role of women in rap music is one that is far from coveted. In a popular song by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, “Bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks.” This can only teach kids to walk the streets and repeat this until it actually becomes fact for them.  Degrading women is a long-time passion of popular rap, and it won’t come to an end anytime soon.  As long as people still buy the albums, they lyrics will remain the same, because it sells.  But this is only one genre of music.

At the other end of the spectrum- both musically and lyrically- lies Christian Rock groups: Underoath, MxPx, The Devil Wears Prada (TDWP), and August Burns Red.  For the sake of fairness I will still only use a few examples to show the good that can be brought from positive music. In the song “Reptar, King of the Ozone,” TDWP sings “Bring it to your lips and experience the sulfur infect everything that we’ve created/ Don’t twist this around/ Don’t attempt to justify.”  The members in this band are devote Christians and are firm in their beliefs.  They are not afraid to show this passion and always ask the crowd to look into themselves to find a higher power.  This is a long stretch from the messages that rappers put forward.

Christian rockers have a hard road in front of them, while they can get the blood flowing just as well as Ozzy can, they will always lack a certain following in the hardcore/ metal culture because of these lyrics.  But they are not running away to play gospel music either, they stand strong and do what they love.  If one audience member can get turned on to Christian Rock/ Metal, then that’s one more person that will tell friends and spread the word.

I realize that the topic was to discuss the negative influence that music has, but I feel that if we only discuss one side, then the positive messages in music will remain hidden.  I have nothing against rap in general, but I wanted to use examples that were available for everyone to see and hear.  The lyrics I have used are extreme examples; there is an abundance of music that falls somewhere between the two.

All Day Music

     Passion can take you from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.  Almost everyone has at least one this that fills the heart, the mind, and the soul with a drive so profound that it seems to become overwhelming.  While some would argue that music has taken on a front seat in the minds of young people, “it is their passion, nothing else excites them as it does; they cannot take seriously anything alien to music” (Bloom paragraph 1), I find it hard to believe that nothing else can fuel a passion in the younger crowd.  My opinion may be slightly biased due to the fact that I am a musician (guitarist), but I still hear and see many other activities take someone’s dull expression and twist it into a beaming smile with a special twinkle in the eyes.

     Working at an autoparts store, I am able to see a love for anything automotive shine through coworkers’ eyes when they talk about cars they hold near and dear to their hearts.  Whether it is Cardell’s 1974 For Maverick that just sounds like a hot rod coming around the corner, or Pedro’s Mitsubishi that makes way more horsepower than it needs, these two men are prime examples of passion for something that is not music.  If you hear were to talk to Cardell about the Maverick named “Patches,” you would see the same shimmer in his smile as you would if you were talking to me about Senses Fail of Avenged Sevenfold, there is just something about that car that makes him all giddy with joy.  At one point, even I had a strong passion for cars in the same way, I have dreamt of building the perfect rat rod- flat black with some rust coming through, exposed motor, 1930’s style coupe with the top chopped off.  I began working in auto parts to fuel this passion and build that perfect car.  Then, something else took over, success.

     I realize that everyone wants to be successful at what they do, but I strive to be the absolute best in my field.  We place bets at work to see who can earn better customer feedback, who can sell the most of a certain product, etc.  I got my first taste of success when I was promoted from part-time to full-time, then Shift Manager, now I am shooting for Assistant Store Manager.  After that, who knows?  The only thing I am sure of is that I will never be satisfied with mediocre, I do not want to just meet expectations- I want to blow them away.

     I can see where Bloom can get the notion that music has taken over though.  In my personal life (not business Mike), I am always listening to music.  I listen while I drive, while I exercise, on the job, at the house, even right now as I write this blog (check out the band Alexisonfire).  While some of the time music can be nothing more than background noise to break the silence, I do have a tendency to focus more on the sound coming out of the speakers than the book I need to read, so in those instances I try to listen to instrumental music, that way I can’t sing along with the lyrics (I just start making up my own).