Ok! Now... the tone of this piece is extraordinarily cynical, with regard to the whole dystopia thing... and yet, dude has some laser-sharp valid points. What I find truly valuable about this little nugget, however, is the absolutely spot-on assessment that we are living in a moment right now where musics true value and purpose is at best invisible, at worst completely absent in the mainstream consciousness. The days of the megastar-as-purveyor-of-meaning are over; you could say they began to slide into obscurity with Madonna and Prince, continued to wither with Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, and MC Hammer, and finally died with Kurt Cobain - leaving a vacuum at the top of the music food chain where only the most sugary acts can even hope to tread. My question now is, who are the ones who are going to step in and fill this vacuum with music that provokes a visceral desire to cause real movement in the world? Whos going to break the veil and come out with a song that causes people on a mass scale to sit up, rub their eyes, and realize that the soundtrack has changed, and were now in the part of the movie where the real action starts? I refuse to believe that music is supposed to merely entertain. I refuse to believe that music is meant to be sonic wallpaper, plastered over the veneer of human civilization so we can continue to pretend that the big picture doesnt affect our lives on a daily basis. I believe music has the power to cause movement. To inspire bold, fearless action in favor of real human values. Not like the sixties. Music in the sixties provided the soundtrack for a revolution, to be sure - but it was more about individuals tuning in, turning on, and dropping out of societys norms to pursue individualistic fulfillment. Weve got that down now, dont we? Were so individualistic that were literally drowning in isolation from one another, trapped in the illusion of separateness. No, this new revolution is about tuning in, turning on, and ENGAGING in the full-on transformation of human culture from the inside out. Together. As one human organism determined to heal itself from its cancers. I believe music has the power to stimulate this revolution. And I believe there is a generation of musicians blooming into this movement. And I believe we havent yet seen its leaders step up. A few of the ones I have heard who may be moving in this direction? Michael Franti. Nahko and Medicine for the People. Amy Steinberg. Frankie Hernandez. Gypsy Soul. Kiyoshi. The LuvAmp project. Im sure there are thousands more whose music leans into this movement, yet who may not yet realize they can be a part of the movement that transforms life on planet Earth for the better in this century. And it only takes one - to write one song - that starts the ball rolling. Whos it gonna be?
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:41:34 +0000
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