On Wed, 18 Jun 2003, Sylvia wrote: > > |>On the other hand, "Soul Music" as a genre was a just a euphimism for > |"black music", and doesn't have anything >to do with "soul" as a spiritual > |or metaphysical concept. > > Euphemism ???? > > 'blues' is without hope and that its singers accept their conditions without > complaint or expectation of anything better. Soul borrowed an expectation of > a better world from gospel, but translate it into a worldly context as > opposed to a religious one. Gospel gives soul its optimism because it > believes in a better world in heaven, soul starts looking for that better > world on earth.
Albery Murray in STOMPING THE BLUES, argues that the blues is actually about CHANGING MATERIAL CONDITIONS THROUGH STYLE, GRACE, AND SONG. The blues (the song genre) were played to actually TAKE THE BLUES (the feeling) AWAY! Now i don't like the blues in general. But it's important to correct this. Sylvia isn't coming up with this out of thin air--her interpretation is the generally accepted interpretation in mainstream literature. > Soul Music is the product of ever evolving social conditions and a diversity > of musical influences > Soul Music is about the problems faced by groups of people, not of > individuals > Soul Music is about poverty and day to day drudgery > Soul Music is the belief that circumstances can improve > Soul Music is about realism, it is not blinkered by romantic ideals > The 'Moan' is a defining characteristic of Soul Music > Soul Music is tolerant > Soul Music is..... > > Euphemism, psssst, dubya! but yes understanding Soul Music can just escape > from a brain with 2 neurons without connector. Similarly, soul music isn't JUST about the problems. Maybe looking at techno (the detroit brand) will clear this up a bit. By now, many of you have been able to actually see Detroit in all of her terrible glory. And I'm pretty sure ALL of you have read about Detroit in interviews with Detroit artists. When they talk about Detroit inevitably the idea of it being like a Western version of Beirut comes up. Images of Detroit being a Very Bad Place come to mind readily. Ignoring for a second statements from the artists about how the landscape of Detroit impacted their soundscape, LISTEN to the music. Do you hear horror or contextual poverty in STRINGS OF LIFE? In NUDE PHOTO? In TRIANGLE OF LOVE? There is undoubtedly some darkness in these and other songs. But that isn't all there is. Just as techno is solely a reaction to a limited vision of what Detroit is, soul (and the blues) isn't simply a reaction to subjugation. I don't think we'd be listening to this stuff if it were. peace lks
