Music

There is something to creating music that means something. To anybody that knows me, there is a very deep-seated antipathy for what has come to be “Pop music.” Maybe it’s because what has become pop music is precisely the opposite of what pop music was when it was first invented in the 1960s—or maybe not. The Beatles were incredibly popular. Cream became incredibly popular—although it could be argued that they quitted their careers right at the point where they were verging on superstardom. CCR, Van Morrison, and even Bob Dylan all ran in the Something-or-other-Pop category: rock-pop, jazz/rock-pop, folk-pop, etc. That is a little difficult for this humble music listener to understand. A quick juxtaposition of top tens might prove something. The number one song from 1969 and 2007. According to one website (http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/best_songs50-69.html), the top songs of 1969 were:

1. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
2. Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
3. I Want You Back - Jackson 5
4. Honky Tonk Women - Rolling Stones
5. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
6. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash
7. Dazed And Confused - Led Zeppelin
8. Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
9. Come Together - Beatles
10. I Can't Get Next To You – Temptations

(Which is, I might add, a pretty imposing list.) According to Rolling Stone, the top songs of 2007 are as follows:

1 "Roc Boys" - Jay-Z

2 "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"
Randy Newman
3 "Umbrella"
Rihanna

4 "D.A.N.C.E."
Justice
5 "Four Winds" - Bright Eyes
6 "Dough Is What I Got"
Lil Wayne
7 "Rehab"
Amy Winehouse
8 "Long Walk Home"
Bruce Springsteen
9 "Boyz" M.I.A.
10 "Int'l Player's Anthem"
UGK
I guess the big question that I have, is whether or not anybody could see forty years into the future and see the artists of that day and age listening to MIA and UGK and wanting to make music like that? I guess the big difference, for me, is a matter of longevity.

Lately, I have been studying temporality. When I first questioned time, it took the rudimentary form of asking “Who invented time? And why should I abide by it?” Well, it turns out that I invented time at (or around) the same time that I made the split from myself in the upsurge of the consciousness. Time, if looked at from a technical viewpoint, is a personal fiction. Yes, the days move and the world turns, and we can measure it, but from a more individualized standpoint: the past does not exist because we can’t go back in time, every time we try to catch hold of the present we are presented with the problem that it is constantly being driven into the realm of an infinitesimal instant and the best we can do is get pretty close, and as to the future, I have a maxim: “Only act, the future is unknowable.” But given the fact that it is a kind of personal fiction, it is still a supportive kind of fiction. We rely on our past to make decisions in the present that will hopefully make our future what we want it to be. The past is like a crutch supporting us in the present: our experiences, our knowledge, and our wisdom from all of these things is what makes us the person we are—as a matter of fact, existentialist theory would say that we are what we were and Post-Marxist theory would say that the decision in the present illustrate what we want (which is always about the future). Given all of this. What kind of structure is “Roc Boys” building for the future of music?

There is no real music for this particular piece of music. It is pure lyrics and mix mastering. Your average Joe Schmoe, sure, couldn’t put together a piece of music like this, but give just about anybody a mix board and you’ll come up with something. Meanwhile, some of your most accomplished guitarists couldn’t manage to play Whole Lotta Love. They might not’ve known music theory, but they could play the instrument. It was part of them. Maybe I’m way off base. Maybe the mixboard is the most complicated instrument in the world, and I’m sure it takes time to master, but can you imagine carrying it to Central Park and busking? It is the manifestation of the capitalistic machine grabbing hold of the music industry. You can’t take it outside these boundaries. If the machine can’t control your money, then what’s the point?