Ascribing Value to Music
How do you feel about the music of today? Do you like it more or less than you do the music of your youth? Music seeps into our souls, and it speaks to us in ways that we never forget. But how do we come to identify the meaning and value music plays in our lives?
My reply to the above questions will come at the end, but you’ll guess it far before I tell you.
I listened to the radio in my car the other day and perked up when I heard them talking about The Beatles. Aww. Music of my youth! But then I gasped at the way the conversation progressed.
Ghosts of the past
“Ghosts of the past,” the talk host said.
“Right!” the radio announcer echoed, and continued, “If The Beatles were an active part of the music scene in this day and age, none of their famous songs would make a dent in the music charts. None.” I could not believe they were saying those things about a music group that raised me.
Hearing that– the gloomy tone, the resigned voice they spoke, made me almost lose my marbles, but after my initial gasp, I felt compassion for those who thought that way about my beloved Beatles.
Well, hell! That may very well be so today, but the fact remains that The Beatles made much more than dents to the spice of our lives—a significant feat when in the absence of laptops and the internet. The Beatles wrote songs on their guitars.
What say you, fellow 1960ers? Can you fathom a world without The Beatles? Or imagine a world without those ripples. I Cannot!
***
Are they just ghosts of the past? The words clung to my socks like burbur, the local name in tropical America of the stinging herb known as bull nettle.
I’m here wondering what methods they used to arrive at this conclusion about The Beatles’ songs. Could it be that we, of the 1960s, had lower standards for appreciating, or were we too lost in our partying ways to notice things?
Or are the youths today too lost in their own partying to notice a good thing?
A bit of analysis
We of the 60s generation are now settling into a new era, namely Midlife — a phase I embrace wholeheartedly and which I approach with reverence and awe.
Some of us have awakened to the realization that we spent years busy with frantic schedules to avoid remembering the horrifying abuse we put our bodies through.
We’re realizing now how outrageous we behaved pursuing experiences that, according to peers, were going to reveal to us the meaning of existing. To our great discomfort, some of those experiences have become ghosts.
I’m sure that I’m not alone when I associate that era with the music. So that when the radioman mentioned The Beatles, my thoughts immediately went back a few decades.
Might this be why they are referring to the music of that era as ghosts of the past?
I’m sure you remember the music.
Sure, there was a whole lot more than The Beatles, but since it was this iconic group that sent my mind reeling so, I’ll stick to it in this article.
So yeah, the music! It was an era of awesome music and partying.
“get up offa that thing and dance ‘till you feel better.”
The music made us want to imitate the lives of the people who were making that music. They were the real party people.
Partying and Searching
We lived the era, and some of us did things that we’re too ashamed to talk about now. But partying is not all we did. We also tried looking for meaning.
Crying out woefully for meaning, we searched.
Starving to find meaning, we indulged.
But meaning kept evading us.
Our young people today are still partying and still searching for meaning and balance. Should we point them to some of the lessons we’ve learned, or should we wait for them to find it independently? Perhaps things will have more resonance if they stumble upon things on their own. What do you think?
***
If I had, say, a superpower to endow this world with one small thing I’ve learned about our futile search for meaning, it would be this:
We were desperate to find meaning, but it kept evading us because we did not ascribe meaning to situations in front of us.
Meaning is not what a situation gives us; it’s what we give to the situation.
But each generation extracts different meanings from different situations, and everyone arrives at the right conclusions at the exact moment they’re ready.
I listen to music on the radio all the time, and today, I have a slew of songs that speak to me. But the music that I like the best is the music of my youth. There might be invaluable beauty in the music of today, a beauty that my ears cannot comprehend or appreciate enough to ascribe real value to–
But the music of my youth is the flavor of music I like the best.
I will not allow myself to become unglued about things that are out of my control. I cannot make anyone appreciate what they’re not ready to appreciate.
I believe the music of the past got us to where we are today, and I have every confidence that today’s music will be/is already the catalyst for the music of the future that I will not be around to listen to. We cannot stop this trend, neither should we want to.
Enlightenment comes at the exact moment we are ready to receive it. Not one moment too early or delayed.
Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash
As for The Beatles and the rest of the music of the 60s, 70s, and onward, a vast majority might not have the means to ascribe the value we gave to the music that raised us, but a small minority might. And that minority might be just what we need to continue the ripple effect.
Revised article first posted in February 2021. This is a reblog.
Main photo Credits: Image by Andreea Swank from Pixabay
Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING.
I Wish You Miracles.
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They are probably right. The music of yesterday would not be popular today. It does not mean it is not important. It still is and the young set does at times discover the music of yesteryear and holds appreciation for it.
Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate. Thanks for reading. Stay lovely. ❤️
Like you I loved the Beatles. Their songs informed my youth too. I guess if you are totally into rap the Beatles wouldn’t make much sense musically. There were some great old songs though that still have meaning. I saw a movie on TV recently called ‘Yesterday’. It was made in 2019. The idea behind it was that people forgot about the Beatles and all memory of them disappeared (I’m not sure why – I missed the first bit of the movie). Some guy somehow learns their songs – he thinks he wrote them . He becomes a huge hit. If you thought the Beatles were just about the songs the movie would put their music into a contemporary context. For me the Beatles were more than their music. They were change bringers who shone a new light into my suburban youth.
For me too: more than their music. And they managed to speak to us— the young ones of that memorable time— regardless of geographic locations in a universal voice we understood. They entered our lives regardless of things like borders, brought in a tight brotherhood of understanding.
You are so right: change bringers.
We know. We lived it.
Thanks for adding your voice to mine. I appreciate you. Be well. I wish you miracles
You have described the impact of the Beatles well. I will never forget sitting on my high school friend’s bed listening to a 45 RPM of the Beatles on her little turntable. I had never heard anything like it before!
I’m not a Beatles fan, although there are a few of their songs I really like. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that they were hugely influential, and their music was varied enough that I’m sure of it would be hits if released today – just maybe not the songs that were the biggest hits. I think it’s too easy to remember a band from just a few of their biggest songs, especially if they were before your time.
I value your input. Love it. Thanks for reading. Stay sweet.