Music for Objectivists?
Posted by davidmcnab 9 years, 8 months ago to Culture
One of the greatest bonding and energising agents for a culture is its music. However, I'm scratching my head to think of music in the 20-21st centure popular repertoire that promotes Objectivist identity, at an intellectual, emotional or spiritual level.
So much of the pop repertoire is taken up by X wants to mate with Y, X is overjoyed at being with Y, X is pissed off an leaving Y, X got left by Y and is feeling blue, X feels ripped off by Y, etc. How many songs are there which glorify the individual human spirit?
One very vague possbility I can think of is Bob Marley's classic Get Up, Stand Up, whose lyrics exort people to give up their afterworldly dreams and focus on bettering themselves here on Earth.
Can anyone suggest any songs? Yeah, there's a ton of great classical music which promotes the good feeling, but what about the contemporary genres? Surely there's gotta be some good folk, pop, metal, reggae, techno etc pieces which put across those beautiful lifted liberated feelings.
So much of the pop repertoire is taken up by X wants to mate with Y, X is overjoyed at being with Y, X is pissed off an leaving Y, X got left by Y and is feeling blue, X feels ripped off by Y, etc. How many songs are there which glorify the individual human spirit?
One very vague possbility I can think of is Bob Marley's classic Get Up, Stand Up, whose lyrics exort people to give up their afterworldly dreams and focus on bettering themselves here on Earth.
Can anyone suggest any songs? Yeah, there's a ton of great classical music which promotes the good feeling, but what about the contemporary genres? Surely there's gotta be some good folk, pop, metal, reggae, techno etc pieces which put across those beautiful lifted liberated feelings.
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Some more recent songs:
Am I Wrong?
http://youtu.be/VBmEJZofz2s
Welcome to the Future
http://youtu.be/Y0Yg9wjctRw
Follow Your Arrow
http://youtu.be/kQ8xqyoZXCc
After that its more like Francisco's song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04176XP9...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyu5sFzW...
Mr Young sadly isn't very objective though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ib9N7L9...
C'mon, the call is for music, not poetry with a anti-establishment message and a clashing dissonant background.
Inspire me, dammit. Make me want to make it better than it is and to live up to the ideals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EV...
Inspector Javert would be a great Cuffy Meigs.
It is in turn inspired by hang gliding over a valley in Colorado. Simple lyrics:
Oh, kiss the mountain air we breathe
Good-bye it's time to fly.
Sparrow climb, the air is thinner,
Open wings cast this valley in the shade.
The real inspiration in the song is Mikey Houser's lead guitar - from an amazing performer who left us too young back in 2002. And not as one of these self inflicted types.
But how 'bout Steppenwolf's Monster?
http://youtu.be/gQmPXLJ8IKo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOiB00AP...
http://youtu.be/7xEwbzEBw14
Not all...still some good music out there
In Classical I would look for anything that matched the ability of Sibelius' Finlandia.
Listening to music like reading has nought to with Y the X Generation ends sentences with a question mark and makes zero impact.
For your quest go to the beginning, the roots and follow them through the changes. Folk, Blues, the originals and the trend setters like Alan Lomax, Leadbelly, and Dylan. At some point they all were people individuallyl struggling for an emotional, spiritual and intellectual expression. And it's generational. My Dad always asked why I listened to rock'n'roll'even though my classical, folk, and blues collections were equally as large. One day i sang to him a song from his generation Oop Oop Diddim Daddum Waddum Chew... three fish swimming over a dam.
I started to say the same thing to my daughter then bit my tongue. Of course that was before MTV and when a singer became an instrument not a voice.
"2112" and "Something for Nothing" from 2112. "With acknowledgment to the genius of Ayn Rand" appearing at the top of the lyrics lets everybody know where he's coming from. 2112 is Anthem set to music. I think this is why critics always hated them.
"The Trees" off of Hemispheres.
"Free Will" and "The Spirit of Radio" from Permanent Waves.
"The Camera Eye" from Moving Pictures.
"Losing It" and "Countdown" from Signals.
Neal Peart was very much influenced by Ayn Rand's ideas and linguistic style up through Signals. Less so in all that follows, but their music and lyrics remain intelligent at all times.
I'm guessing that that rubber tree plant wouldn't be much of a challenge ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaPTweZ2...
'Cause I've got faith of the heart
I'm going where my heart will take me
I've got faith to believe
I can do anything
I've got strength of the soul
No one's going to bend nor break me
I can reach any star
I've got faith
I've got faith
Faith of the heart
Even though it uses the word "faith", which might prickle some objectivists, in context it is talking about faith in yourself.
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