Category — music

Today’s New York Times has an op-ed piece entitled, “Authentic? Never Mind” by Paul Krugman. It’s about how presidential candidates are trying to appear authentic. (Oxymoron.) Fred Thompson, for example, switched from a Lincoln Continental to a pickup truck to appear authentic during his Senate run. Does anyone really fall for #(@) like this?

Substituting the image of authenticity for authenticity is dangerous. When you can’t tell the difference, anyone can lie to you about anything. You can lie to yourself.

Some examples:
Ladies with Wedding Scrapbooks. When I was on the Oprah show a few years ago (talking about The Hard Questions to ask before marriage), one of the guests was a woman who had a bridal scrapbook. In it were pictures of gowns, flower arrangements, and wedding rings that she might like. There were lists of caterers and business cards of wedding bands (music, not rings). For the groom, she had selected photos of various tuxedos. The problem? She didn’t even have a boyfriend. I felt sad. Instead of looking for love, this young woman was seeking to cast someone in the role of groom. She had the costumes all picked out and the script written. Mr. Husband was a staging necessity.

Christina Aguilera. (Or Mariah Carey) Whenever I hear one of these singers, I want them to SHUT UP. Do they have astonishing voices? Yes. Range, power, technique: check, check, check. But there is no feel. They’re pretending to be singers. There is no sense of anything but performance, nothing of soulfulness. All the melisma, escalating hand flutters, and pained expressions in the world will never make one single moment of authenticity, the kind that you hear when the song is emanating from the inside out, not the other way around. You can excuse Britney or Madonna (whom I love) because they don’t have a choice. They aren’t gifted with great voices. They can carry a tune and surround themselves with beats, style, dancers, and costumes and it’s all good. But when you hear someone pimping a real voice, it makes me VERY UPSET.

We seem to have lost all common sense about what is genuine and what is pretending to be genuine.

We suffer from image poisoning.

I heard that Sam Cooke dreamt the song A Change is Gonna Come,woke up and wrote it down. It scared him. He thought it meant he was going to die.

The song sounds like this.

Lately, I’ve been listening to it repeatedly. Like maybe hundreds of times in the last several months. It makes me cry every single time. I’m trying to figure out why…

I was born by the river
In a little tent
And just like the river
I’ve been running ever since

The “in a little tent” part just kills me for some reason. And we’ve all been running since the day we were born.

It’s been a long time coming
A long time coming
But I know change is gonna come
Oh yes

We keep longing no matter what…

It’s been too hard living
But I’m afraid to die
Because I don’t know what’s up there
Beyond the sky

How much more perfectly and succinctly can this fear be expressed? We don’t really know what’s going on or why we’re here. The only people who say they do seem not all that bright to me.

It’s been a long time coming
A long time coming
But I know change is gonna come
Oh yes

But still we long.

I go to the movies
And I go downtown
Somebody keeps telling me
Don’t hang around

And the confusion creates the poison of hate. Plus when I think if anyone being racist to Sam Cooke I just want to cry and cry.

It’s been a long time coming
A long time coming
But I know change is gonna come
Oh yes

But still we long.

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

And still poison grows. Cruel responses are real and I don’t know what to do.

There have been times that I thought
I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on

When I see the courage people have to renew themselves and carry on, I think it is the most moving thing in the entire world.

It’s been a long time coming
A long time coming
But I know change is gonna come
Oh yes

When I hear faith like this, I feel so grateful. Maybe it’s true.

So I guess what the song sounds like to me is

Life is suffering
But there is basic goodness
Our biggest fear is not-knowing
Plus everything is impermanent: why?
But there is basic goodness
And also poison
But there is basic goodness
And also poison
But I can be brave
I have faith.

i forgot. this is what music is supposed to sound like. listen to cyndi lauper offering tribute to joni mitchell at some awards thing-y. (mtv?) vocal is relaxed and intensely focused. the singer is listening to the band. the band is listening to the singer. the performer is deeply seated within herself. no one is in a hurry. the context is tribute. the listener can listen without being distracted by tricks, hoopla, or poses. these qualities (relaxed, intense, synchronized, trick-free, created and performed as an offering) are exactly what i love about music. it’s the clearest connection i can get with living, pre-packaged energy. i forget all the time from hearing music on hold, in airport restrooms, and as advertisement. instead of coming to you directly from the sambhogakaya, this time courtesy of cyndi lauper. whom i thank deeply.