Musings on Music, #2

[pat]

Kevin lately has been asking me "what does that song mean?" And that's a hard question.

Songs are so complicated. Good songs, anyway. Lyrics alone do not convey the full feeling, but neither does music alone. And when an eight-year-old asks you "what does that mean?" it can be hard to answer.

There are the ways in which lyrics themselves are complex. We've been listening to Flogging Molly's "Tobacco Island" a lot lately. The song is about being uprooted from your homes and being forced to sail away, but it's also about rage and despair. How do you explain that a line like "where the sugar cane grows taller than the God we once believed in?" says much more about the men than the height of the sugar cane?

Or another recent favorite, Eddie from Ohio's "Number 6 Driver." It's about driving across country. But it's also about searching, and being maybe not lost, but a long way from where you want to be. And you get some of that if you read the lyrics, but nowhere near as much as you understand if you hear the lyrics sung.

When music and lyrics clash, the results can sometimes be kitschy (prime example: Faith Hill's cover of "Piece of My Heart") or simply disturbing. I find Garth Brooks "Papa Loved Mama," seriously unsettling, because of its clash of upbeat fast-moving music at odds with its story of domestic violence and murder. Sometimes I find the contrasts interesting: I love Eric Clapton's Unplugged version of "Layla" precisely because the laid back bluesy guitar is at odds with the passionate desperation of the lyrics. It's almost as if Clapton is saying, "Hey, we've both been around the block a few times, we both know that nobody's going to die if you turn me down."

I'm not a musicologist, and there are people who written scholarly articles about all of this, I'm just noodling on this, and trying to figure out -- how do you teach love of music to children? And how do you answer "What does it mean?" The answer I find myself falling back upon more and more frequently, "What do you think it means?" seems somehow inadequate. Maybe they just need to grow up enough that they can figure the songs out for themselves.

Comments

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

I dunno, song dissection is something I remember fondly of growing up. Especially with older songs where there was a bit of history or politics with them that just the lyrics alone aren't enough for a young person. Like Woody Guthrie's Deportee is a sad song as it stands but when you know the actual story behind it, it's incredibly powerful.

Like Spike Jones, needs some explaining to a kid who doesn't get the context.

Or getting a feel for why old big band songs were so important to my grandmother because they reminded her of her youth.

Learning about how your elders relate to music can be very informative and formative.

I'd say for songs where there is no history you just answer the question and explain what is explicit in the song and explain that there is also what it means to you which may or may not actually correspond with what the songwriter, performers and producers had in mind.

Because, just turning the question back on them seems like missing a chance for some of that 'quality time' type communication that people remember forever. Especially, if music is a big part of their lives.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Where there's a historical context to a pice of music, I'll explain that. It leads to some interesting discussions.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

You teach love of music to children by playing music, or singing music, or making music all the time. As for what it means? My father started me out, when I was very small, by asking me to close my eyes and listen to a piece of music and talk to him about the pictures it made in my mind. That's what it means. Your answer is not inadequate, it's just right.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I basically agree with this, except for one thing. I don't actually think you need to teach love of music to children. What you have to do is not teach them to stop loving music. And it doesn't sound like you would teach that.

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

I find Garth Brooks "Papa Loved Mama," seriously unsettling, because of its clash of upbeat fast-moving music at odds with its story of domestic violence and murder.

I'm not familiar with that particular song you mention, but I certainly know the issue. I feel the same way about Annie Lennox's (Feels Just Like I'm) Walking on Broken Glass. I love the music, but the words are just so WRONG with that music it drives me nuts! Akien totally doesn't not get why that particular bit of cognitive dissonance bothers me, because he reacts to the SHAPE of the music, very nearly discarding the words except for how they contribute to the shape.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Ironically, that's one of my favorite relationship-processing songs... precisely *because* the music keeps me from miring in depression while still feeling the pain in the words.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.. I like the song, because I sense rage in it.and pain, and I think the music reflects that energy that fules rage. Maybe I'm not listening to the lyrics closeely enough.

[dangerpudding.livejournal.com]

how do you teach love of music to children? And how do you answer "What does it mean?" The answer I find myself falling back upon more and more frequently, "What do you think it means?" seems somehow inadequate. Maybe they just need to grow up enough that they can figure the songs out for themselves.

I think you already have, from what I've seen. You play music for them, and show your own love of it. Sometimes, maybe you can explain what it means- take a song like "Fire and Rain" with a known history to it that can be explained- but more often, I think your answer is better. Especially if you're willing to discuss that opinion with them, and share your own.

*grin* growing up helps too. Took me till a few years ago to understand that Paul Simons Kodakrome isn't about Chloroform... ;)

I hugely appreciate that Dad and Paul (bio-dad) shared their love of music and encouraged mine by buying me music, playing me music.. all of this.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

There are a whole host of songs which made logical but little emotional sense to me when I was younger. I see that now with J. -- he can't understand why I find some songs moving, and I didn't find those songs moving when I was his age. (Good example: "My Back Pages," which he says makes no sense. It doesn't, if you're a teenager. It does if you're forty.) Some songs you just need to have enough life experience to be able to relate to.

[xopher-vh.livejournal.com]

I always say "If I could just SAY what I meant by it, I wouldn't have had to write a poem!" So too with songs. The best you can do is give your own insights. (This is not even counting the ones written under some kind of "inspiration," where I myself can spend years trying to figure out what they mean. My latest blog post is an example of that.)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

How do you teach anybody to love anything? I don't think you can. I think that you can give them the tools to explore, but they'll either love it or they won't. (And you can't guarantee either outcome.)

I think that for such things, a good answer to "What does it mean?" begins with, "What it means to me..." Possibly if you begin that way and then when you're done describing that, following up with, "What does it mean to you?" will be more meaningful.