Real Music
Long day at work today…..it’s one of those rainy dreary days outside that you should be spending inside your own dwelling not in an office on the first day following the weekend……on my way home with mild to light traffic, unseasonably cold and just all around dreary and gloomy day. Leave the parking garage (break out) after giving the man my 9+hrs, blow thru a few traffic lights to get onto the main road to take me home….while at the same time browse the local stations stored in the presents on my radio and what to I find? Garbage, straight up garbage.
Am I soothed, moved, motivated and liberated by the hypnotic sounds of instruments, melodies and smooth vocals?….Nope, my ears are assaulted by Mariah Carey belting about someone touching her body, Flo Rider talking about jeans and some girl’s boots, a drug addict going on and on about a lollipop, and User whining about getting some in a club? Seriously…..is this what we are calling music now? Disgruntled, and disappointed I cut the radio off, (didn’t even bother to look for a cd) and resumed the ride home.
I arrive at my destination tired, disappointed, and sapped of energy due in part because of the climate but mostly because one of the very art forms that i’ve come to love and appreciate above all others was utterly butchered and has at that moment failed me. I take it to heart just because of what it invokes in me, what I gleam from it….. the melody, dynamics, texture, structure of this art form just does something to me, especially on days like this.
Drop my bag, kick off the shoes, prep/begin dinner. Stop and take a second just as i’m about to turn on the tv, go for the Zune instead and put on some Marvin Gaye (1976; I Want You). This was 100% without question an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental and vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner. As I suspended the rest of my evening to absorb the mellotic tones of one of the greatest artists of our time one song inparticular comes on.
Track 1 (the device is set to shuffle, Track 4 ended up starting first) I Want You. The title track for the album, this is where my night stays….for the past four maybe five hours i’ve been absorbing art in it’s raw form from the soulful sound and equally romantic and erotic lyrics of this great song. I’m aware that not everyone loves this genre of music that I do, neither can the same song that impacts me in this very moment do the same to someone who might share my same love for this art form…but If you love, and know of what real music is then there’s no denying the greatness in this…Real Music, from this truly great artist.
I Want You (Vocal)
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-266196747943131850&hl=en]
I Want You (accapella)
April 8th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I feel you on this post I was raised in the 80’s but I got to share what went down in the 70’s from grandma and I am always gonna stay true to old school. The stuff they play today on the radio is a hawt mess. I personally will not subject my future children to this type of nonsense lol
April 8th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I like your playlist. I hate listening to the radio for the reasons that you mentioned…not enough good music on unless you’re listening to one of the old school stations.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I totally agree with you on today’s music, its totally meaningless. I know I have heard that lollipop song and its ridiculous. I was raised on 80’s / 90’s music and I appreciate old school all the way.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I can agree with the aspect of garbage being played on the radio, but I didn’t grow up listening to American music. I can relate on the aspect of listening to old songs that actually have a meaning. Most of the Spanish songs I grew up with dealt from love to the tough times such as war and freedom. Now all I hear on the Spanish radios is reggaeton. I mean there are some reggaeton artists who actually play good music, but then there are some reggaeton artists such as Daddy Yankee who are singing about dumb stuff. Most of the Spanish radios refuse to play the old stuff because it’s not what the “young generation” wants to hear or have requested, but maybe listening to some of the old stuff will do them some good and will let them know what actual music sounds like.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
@La Chica: Good to know that this “infection” is spread amongst other genre’s, here I was thinking that it was just hip hop, pop and R&B. It’s all about what the “mainstream” wants or is interested in hearing….more and more i’m realizing just how lost they are.
@Hadassah: Likewise, although my father was spinning classic 60’s and 70’s R&B in the house, mom was bringing up the rear with those 70’s love ballads.
@Shelia: Thank you very much, those songs on my playlist are some of my favorites, Real R&B. I feel your pain with the lack of good music on mainstream radio, i have to turn it on the 30’s+ radio station just to get some quality music in my ears. Need to get back to my cd’s, or get my in-car unit for my digital music player.
@Mikki: Can’t agree more, I know my kids will not be listening to the “oldies from the early 2000’s” when it’s time for me to become a Father and pass down that musical influence and exposure.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:06 am
waaaaaaaaaat
good stuff
thnx for taking it back man
mainstream music these days has a bk chick wanting to go hurt somebody