True music is a reflection of people and communities and where they are in their lives. Music creates a place where we can be completely honest about whatever we are feeling without the need for verbal communication, although lyrics can also be a part of music. The “pop music” of our current times mistreats this intrinsic value of music. I sincerely hope the music is not honest and sincere. If it is, we have reached a point in our culture where we have lost all morals; our ethics are centered around sexual misconduct, alcohol, and drugs; and we have no intentions of turning back.
I rarely listen to music that is rooted in genres popularized after the 1970s. When I listen to “pop music” and similar styles of the present time, however, I am far too often appalled by both the music and the lyrics. For a generation that cares more about equal rights than the generations before, our popular music does not reflect that belief. I hear lyrics that I will not repeat, even in writing, which glorify alcohol and drugs, objectify women, and promote immoral actions. Despite the tragic death of the true songwriter that pop music has initiated, the “artists” who make this “music” are paid in the tens of millions of dollars each year. Why? Because we have forgotten what music truly is in the midst of our technological and commercialized society.
Hopefully this comes as no surprise to most of you; many of the songs recorded and performed in the pop genre are not written by the singers, or the musicians who play them. Songs considered “hits” are more than often written by at least four different writers in a fashion which some have termed the “songwriting factory.” As the title suggests, “songwriting factories” produce songs in a similar fashion to how a plastic factory would produce plastic materials. They cater to the demands of the majority, seek to maximize profits, and have little to no variation in their products. Songs written in this style are shallow, often lacking meaning and emotional characteristics, and far too similar to one another.
As a musician and songwriter, my favorite part about the art of music is the originality it provides in the form of emotional expression. Music is where you can undo the chains that have been placed on your hands and mind and let everything go into what seems like another world.
We cannot let this experience die in the presence of industrial music. Next time you turn your radio on, open Spotify, or play music for yourself, take a moment to truly listen to what a song is saying. Try to put yourself in the experiences that influenced the writer to choose their words and music. If the song is true and pure, you will be filled with the life that music gives to those who respect the inherent perfectness that music can be.
