Klarinet Archive - Posting 000494.txt from 2001/07

From: "emily worthington" <emily.worthington@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Another musician honoured!
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 15:37:37 -0400

Tony wrote:
> I think we all have some responsibility (as musicians ourselves) to enter
> the debate on what music and musicians we like or dislike, and to not only
> let each other know these preferences, but to widen our voice to include
> what we want, or more to the point, what we don`t want from the "Music
> Business".

I agree with you here, at least from an artistic point of view. And
certainly everyone is entitled to voice their moral opinion. But I draw the
line at moral censorship. From the point of view of the 'youth of today', I
have to take issue with your apparent advocation of it. Censorship implies
that people are incapable of making their own decisions. Teenagers don't
take drugs or have sex because Eminem sings about them, they do it of their
own volition, for a variety of personal reasons. I'm assuming that this was
your reason for objecting, and that you aren't just saying that drugs and
sex should be taboo subjects.

The reason teenagers take do these things for is usually a combination of
peer pressure and lack of parental guidance. These things will always be
there in society, and banning certain songs sin't going to change that.
Exposure to these things is the baptism of fire by which confused teenagers
become strong people. But if you blame song lyrics and films for the drugs
culture or teenage motherhood, you encourage them to shirk respinsibility
for their choices.

As for pre-teens, any censorship is (as Frank said) the responsibility of
the parent; though in my experience, children are subjected to as much
swearing in the playground as they ever will be in songs. Almost all the
four-letter words I know were learnt from my peers between the ages of 9 and
13. And I doubt that they learnt them from popular culture, either; more
likely they got them from their parents.This doesn't mean I use them often,
of course. Just because a child knows how to swear doesn't mean that they
will; if their parents and teachers make it clear that some language is
innappropriate for most situations, to a certain extent it is up to the
child. I do think, however, that swearing is artistically unnecessary in
songs most of the time. But then a badly written song usually gives itself
away by more than just use of expletives.

Film censorshipis a different matter. I wholeheartedly agree with protecting
children from possibly disturbing experiences; I wouldn't have wanted to see
'A Clockwork Orange' when I was younger (in fact I still don't want to see
it now, having read the book). The combination of visual and audio
bombardment one is subjected to in a cinema (particularly with the advent of
surround-sound effects) means that once in there, you are effectively
trapped and unable to escape the content of the film. Songs don't have this
power. They aren't vivid experiences; or at least they rely on the
interpretation of the listener to become such. To a child, lyrics are simply
words. If they attatch enough meaning to them to be disturbed by them,
chances are the ideas were in their head already.

>I leave the serious concert promoters alone in this instance as I
> would like (as we have been discussing the Beatles) to talk about the
> popular music business and the music media.They, I`m sure you`ll agree,
are
> thrusting ever more "non music" in the direction of not only our youth,
but
> the under 10`s also.

Hmm....
I recently had an interesting discussion with my A level music teacher about
the way that students who are otherwise uncontrollable (often to the brink
of expulsion) tackle music performance with diligence. Her GCSE groups often
include the most unruly pupils, yet the enthusiasm they show for performance
and composition turns them into, if not model students, then certainly
managable pupils who are often a pleasure to teach. My point is that they
don't come to the subject through a love of 'superior' music, be it
classical or jazz or rock. They are engaged by the popular music culture
which is a massive part of their lives. These students, who would otherwise
never stand up on a stage or venture near the music rooms, will stand up in
school concerts and sing 'my heart will go on' or a song by Mariah Carey
(yuck! :-)) or Andrew Lloyd Weber. It is 'non-music' that draws them _to_
music and exposes them to broader kinds of music that they would otherwise
never experience. Would you really want to deny them this?

>There has to be an "end of the road" / or the "final
> straw" someday to some pretty disgusting and offensive song lyrics and
> music, and to warrant putting into effect something like government health
> warnings (as on cigarette packets) on C.D`s and live pop performances etc.

CDs with explicit lyrics already carry a warning sticker, not as censorship
or because the 'final straw' has ben reached, but simply for the information
of those buying them. This seems only fair because often the radio tracks
are edited to omit explicit material which occurs in the CD version so
parents cannot know that a CD is unsuitable by listening to songs on the
radio.

I'm finding this thread more and more interesting! Keep up the good work
guys!
Em.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subject: Re: [kl] Another musician honoured!

> I have not been able to respond immediately to your many reactions to my
> statements re The Beatles. But first of all , thank you to Annie for her
> support, altho` I wasn`t altogether clear on what she was saying her
reasons
> were. Frank was a bit blunt, but then I s`pose I asked for it, `cos he
> obviously sussed that I can also be a little like that myself. Then Annie
> and Frank started at each other`s throats enough for me not to be able to
> concentrate on my work :<(
>
> However, my voicing my dislike of the Beatles as guys in a band, - (NOT as
> songwriters I hasten to add) has served a purpose to ask if you would all
> care to think of this:-
>
>
> The term "sex ,drugs and rock`n`roll" is all too familiar, and has indeed
> become an acceptable part of our lives, as long as it`s not in our own
back
> yard. We`ve had the rock`n`roll; that has moved on and in my opinion
> deteriorated. We`ve had the drugs, and we now find it impossible to police
> this whole sordid business. We now have ever more and more sexual
simulation
> and direct innuendo in our pop industry. This will, I`m sure become just
as
> impossible to police, and soon we will have live sex in pop concerts.
> Although we already see it on T.V. and in continental clubs, this is
perhaps
> another debate not directly relating to the music business. Now we are
> <all> in "music", and whether at college, in a symphony orchestra, or
> busking on the street, I think we all have a responsibility to voice this
> degeneration to all appropriate authorities more so than what we do at
> present. The pop industry is not at present policed in any way, but we
allow
> that industry to serve up all it can to our young children. It is only
> <after> our kids, and ourselves have heard all the muck that we then
decide
> to kick up a fuss. The film industry <is> policed. The censorship board
> looks at every single film before it is released.
>
> One might think that my ideas and hopes are pie in the sky and futile, but
> it <is> possible to turn the tide of thought at least, as a first step
> towards making real acceptable music again, and with real musicians and
good
> singers. The music business "Barons" have ruled for far too long. They
have,
> and are creating mega unacceptable trash which we, as "musicians" copy
> instrumentally, when we write out this stuff for our pupils to digest in
the
> name of trendy music lessons.
>
> Best,
>
> Tony W.
>
>
>
>
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