The Noise Called Music
May 26, 2019
ALAN writes:
You quoted remarks by Allan Bloom on the vile noise called “rock music.”
More than 60 years ago, Frank Sinatra said rock and roll music is “the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear….. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people. It is sung, played, and written for the most part by cretinous goons and by means of its almost imbecilic reiterations and sly, lewd—in plain fact dirty—lyrics…..”
Forty years ago, Professor Dwight Murphey wrote:
“…..the reality with regard to outdoor rock concerts is that they cater, at least in the cultural milieu of the past few years, to potential audiences that include to a significant degree an element of society that has very little respect for the rights of others, for authority, for the police, and indeed for the basic values that cement together a civilized community.”
[Dwight D. Murphey, “No Outdoor Rock Concerts in Chisholm Creek Park.”]
All three men were right.
The most significant thing about “rock music” is not that it is vile, ugly, filthy noise, although it is; not that it represents anti-civilized values, although it does; and not that it is intended to promote degeneracy, although it is and does. The most remarkable thing is that older generations of Americans agreed to accommodate it as easily as they did.
I can remember a time when Americans could shop in retail stores and markets, dine in restaurants, wait in doctor’s offices, do their banking, attend sporting events, and walk or ride along city streets without having the noise called “rock music” imposed on them. That time is long past. Nearly all such civilized settings are now shattered by the noise called “rock music.” The fault does not lie with the younger generations, who are too stupid to know any better. The fault lies with the older generations—and I include the so-called “greatest generation”—who responded to “rock music” with supine capitulation instead of principled, firm, unapologetic resistance. I clearly remember episodes of Sunday night television’s “Ed Sullivan Show” in the mid-1960s when he presented such “entertainers” as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and other equally-talented “musicians”. It was apparent to television viewers that Mr. Sullivan himself did not care for their “music”. But the point is: It got presented and promoted.
The younger generations of rock music worshippers are zombies, indeed. But it was the older generations who provided the model.
Laura writes:
Rock music is pseudo-rebellion. It is not rebellion, but conformity and accommodation. Accommodation to commercialism (that’s why it is played everywhere.) Accommodation to ugliness. Accommodation to animal instincts.
It’s a sword in the heart of innocence and love.
But people love it!!
May 27, 2019
S. K. writes:
Laura, there has been some talk lately of the pernicious effects of rock n’ roll. You concluded as follows:
“Rock music is pseudo-rebellion. It is not rebellion, but conformity and accommodation.”
This is absolutely true, rebellion it most certainly was not, as actual rebellions are never so easy and have consequences that include loss of social status, not gaining it on the cheap by aping a certain fashion.
“It’s a sword in the heart of innocence and love.
But people love it!!”
Absolutely. I must confess; I love it as well. I’ve listened to more than my fair share, grew up with it and like it a lot. Alas, we all have our vices. I can summon songs in my head, in their entirety, that I’ve not actually heard in a decade or more, many of us have known nothing else. I have managed however, to understand and draw a line regarding what influences it has on me, and understanding for what it is, see it largely as entertainment (personally speaking). As for spectacles as Mr. Bon Jovi et.al. receiving honorary degrees and knighthoods and such; that is absolutely ridiculous. These folks should understand their place and stay in their lane. The more hardcore heavy metal bands do this and you rarely see them chiming in on society and politics, although rappers chime in frequently. We need a separation of minstrels and state.
Laura writes:
Heavy metal is saturated with the occult.
You have survived rock, but many of the musicians have not. And many listeners have become addicted to drugs under the influence of the music.
