hi
a while ago, someone posted an email, about a friend asking them why they
loved joni's music. as i recall, their response was along the lines of "it
makes me think"
they then went on to question whether that was a proper/valid/good response.
"surely there should be something more to music than thinking?" was their
logic as i remember..
i was driving along the other day, listening to s&l on my car cd.
ive known the album for a long, long time. but even after all the times ive
listened to it"shadows and light" still gets to me. goosebumps from a song
ive listened to countless time.
familiarity breeds respect???
and i started thinking about that posting. im no language expert, and dont
really know the word derivations etc. but i started thinking about the word
"music", which after all, is a one word description of this thing that gets
under your skin, & changes your life so totally.
similar words i came up with, which seemed to be related to "music" were:
"amusing"
pretty much somes up most top 20/pop music. light, entertaining, not much
substance. nothing wrong with that, but there must be more to it than that.
also pretty much sums up listeners, who never went any further. again,
nothing wrong with that. if theyre happy & content - no problem. i dont
really believe that tho - personally i think that far too many of those
people are really unhappy and unsatisfied, trying to sustain themselves on
"amusement" to try & fill those inner cravings for more.
"muse"
to think on something. here we have another element of music. it must be
something we can think on.
a step beyond the normal "pop" music with substance. quality lyrics, melody,
harmony & rhythm that we can think about. yes, we can think about more than
lyrics. that melody that goes in the opposite direction to the same old
cliches weve grown accustomed to. im sure weve all experienced it at
sometime. where we are so confident it will go in the way weve grown
accustomed to, but it doesnt & we do a double take "hey what happened!!"
we think about it.
"muse"
same word here, but different meaning. here im thinking about the muses of
greek mythology (NOT sharon stone/olivia newton john!!)
the personification of inpiration. the spiritual boost that cuts down deep.
gets into your spirit, makes you feel one with the artist, even though you
may never actually know them physically. the thing that makes you love the
work of the artist.
so, yet again, another "threefer" as someone once called it on this list.
coincidentally, we are also threefers. all of us. spirit, soul & body. which
relates pretty directly to the three elements of music. and especially how
we get them. to be truly great, music has to have _all_ three elements.
jonis music has all three elements. ( i was going to say imho, but its not
an opinion, its an indisputable _fact_)
for many years i enjoyed "hejira" great song, great music. i was always
somehow aware there was something more there than i was getting, but it
never gelled.
?? the "amusing" stage - relating to the body/flesh??
then as i matured, i came to appreciate lyrics, the imagery, the poetry -
like so many of jonis lyrics, it is better than much poetry i have read. the
melody became richer, i started to appreciate the sheer poetry of sound.
the "muse" as in thinking, to reflect on stage?? relating to the soul, the
thought process??
today i read bobs posting on the recurrent theme of "stranger" in jonis
music. the examples he gave added up to such an overwhelming sense of
alienation, that i went back, spent sometime concentrating on the lyrics.
wanting to get a better perception of the alienation/isolation theme i
projected myself into the lyrics.
wow!!!! suddenly it gelled. i got it, i felt it. something deep inside of me
identified, and i felt that deep understanding/release catharsis.
suddenly a great song became a masterpiece. something so personal & deep.
the "muse" as in inspiration stage???? the spritual stage??
one of the reasons why i love this group. its a "madness" group - it goes
"one step beyond"
actually, i suppose, in a lot of ways, like jonis music, it has all three
elements. it entertains, it provokes thought, and it inspires.
ron
