Martha Washington
eat it! it's GOOD for you
His songwriting muse might be playing hard to get but he does seem to REALLY have his chops as a guitar player.
and then some.
and then some.
Rock Philosophy
- Thread starter newdawnfades
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Big Generator
Senior Member
Yes...that's a nicer way of putting it.
AboutAGirl
oh, be nice
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newdawnfades said:
Oh, well I'd be more than happy to do that...
Most recently, Robin Trower contributed to my philosophical outlook on life with their song Pride. At first I disliked the song but I eventually realized that despite my selfism and large ego, I didn't actually have any pride at all. I would serve other people constantly until I could get to a point where I feel I wasn't obligated too, and in turn I never felt at home with myself or with the world. That's a main reason why even things that I should enjoy didn't afford to me any enjoyment. Thanks to Robin Trower, I now see that I need to have pride in myself, believe that I have jurisdiction over my own body & mind, and believe that my desires and needs are in fact valid. I can still do good things for people, but now I can do them for them, instead of doing it out of fear and insecurity. Oh yeah that's the quote in my signature... I said "JD" for James Dewar 'cause he sang it, though I didn't check who wrote it. The other quote is Graham Nash from Teach Your Children.
There's lots of other stuff like that but they aren't on my mind right now, maybe I'll come back with some later...
Musically speaking there's, naturally, a lot of stuff. Kurt Cobain proved my long-hoped hypothesis that you can be as good as anyone without bending over for traditional standards of musicianship and style conventions. Neil Young showed me that you definetly don't need to just do one style of music when I heard how awesome and unique his electronica 'Trans' album was.
Nirvanadude
Vinyl Collector
I listen to many different genres of music.
Musicianship comes first on my list - I listen to the percussion and guitars mostly being that I play both.
I don't "read anything" into lyrics. Call me shallow, but to me they're just words on a page. I recognize good lyrics but they are just not as important to me as the musicianship.
Musicianship comes first on my list - I listen to the percussion and guitars mostly being that I play both.
I don't "read anything" into lyrics. Call me shallow, but to me they're just words on a page. I recognize good lyrics but they are just not as important to me as the musicianship.
Reverend Rock
cool music and hot coffee
John Lennon contributed greatly to my philosophy of life with "All You Need Is Love". Not just the title, but the whole lyric. I especially love the line, "There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be." I think that's a revelational truth right there. The whole idea that life boils down to being here now and being "in love" (as in dwelling in the principle of love, living a life that is based on that) is very central to what I believe.
A lot of the songs from the psychedelic late 60s have shaped my thinking philosophically. The music of that era has probably been almost as influential as the Bible on my life. I think of such songs as "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells, "Get Together" by the Youngbloods, and other such songs as being part of why I am the kind of person I am today. The ideal of universal love and of the world as a community is still something I believe in strongly. It doesn't look like the concept has a lot of takers these days, but I'm still pushing it.
A lot of the songs from the psychedelic late 60s have shaped my thinking philosophically. The music of that era has probably been almost as influential as the Bible on my life. I think of such songs as "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells, "Get Together" by the Youngbloods, and other such songs as being part of why I am the kind of person I am today. The ideal of universal love and of the world as a community is still something I believe in strongly. It doesn't look like the concept has a lot of takers these days, but I'm still pushing it.
My rock philosophies:
1. I can't tolerate an artist giving less than his best. If they put their name on it and charge for it, then it better be the best they can do. Drug habits are no excuse for not releasing quality products
2. I don't mind an artist experimenting, so long as he remembers rule number 1.
3. I expect an artist to progress over time. Covering the same ground repeatedly is useless. Progression and experimentation is not necessarily the same thing.
4. I expect not only rule number 1 to be followed, but I also expect respect for the buying public in the form of not releasing a bunch of material on CD singles and/or bonus tracks on imports expecting the diehards to chase it down and pay several times for the same song/record. Paul McCartney is bad to do this, but he's not alone.
5. Finally (for now), I expect the respect for the purchasers to include NOT re-issuing an album mere months after its initial release with bonus material. That's probably more properly 4(b).
JcS
1. I can't tolerate an artist giving less than his best. If they put their name on it and charge for it, then it better be the best they can do. Drug habits are no excuse for not releasing quality products
2. I don't mind an artist experimenting, so long as he remembers rule number 1.
3. I expect an artist to progress over time. Covering the same ground repeatedly is useless. Progression and experimentation is not necessarily the same thing.
4. I expect not only rule number 1 to be followed, but I also expect respect for the buying public in the form of not releasing a bunch of material on CD singles and/or bonus tracks on imports expecting the diehards to chase it down and pay several times for the same song/record. Paul McCartney is bad to do this, but he's not alone.
5. Finally (for now), I expect the respect for the purchasers to include NOT re-issuing an album mere months after its initial release with bonus material. That's probably more properly 4(b).
JcS
newdawnfades
Senior Member
An interesting set of expectat...er philosophies. 
Now what have you learned from the music?
Now what have you learned from the music?
Nirvanadude
Vinyl Collector
newdawnfades said:An interesting set of expectat...er philosophies.
Now what have you learned from the music?
I've learned to take lyrics with a grain of salt. Although there are brilliant lyrics written by equally brilliant songwriters- the songs are not about me. Maybe I can relate to a certain lyric but it is still not about me as an individual. Maybe a certain singer is expressing his/her experience. That's fine, but it's not my experience
An awesome guitar solo or fill gives me the chills. An awesome drum fill or solo gives me the chills.
Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, Bon Scott and a cast of thousands have great voices but that's all I hear- a voice
I love Stairway To Heaven and it has great lyrics. I can relate somewhat to the words. This, however, is not a priority for me. I get into Page's guitar and Bonzo's incredible drumming. I have heard the song 1000s of times and cannot quote most of the lyrics.
Maybe this is why I love instrumental music so much.
Drummer Chris
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That's interesting, Joey....I agree that a lot of lyricists do not have much valid information to share and then there are those rare moments when I do get meaning from the lyrics of a song from recent years and the music that accompanies it .Joey Self said:
I found a lot more meaning in songs from the past, truthfully....I guess it is the bubblegum product age that has it's influence over the industry still.
Not to say that there is not meaningfull lyrics and music still, I'm sure it exists if one looks.
