Rock Philosophy

[Martin Q. Blank]

It's true the idea that the master will only appear when the student is ready.

That is so true. I learned a long time ago that you can't adequately judge a piece of music after one cursory listen. It takes time to appreciate. Sometimes I've put an album on the shelf for a year and when I dug it out it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

I hated the Beach Boys for most of my life until a friend of mine showed me the intricate beauty in a lot of their compositions. Severe heartbreak also helped me see that.

So many things affect how much I appreciate an artist. There is no easy answer.

 

[Joey Self]

This describes me as well. For me, questions of philosophy are a left brain activity best addressed by the logical, analytical thought process involved in reading a book. But I think I process music with the right brain; it's much more about emotion and intuition than logic. While I have semi-spiritual experiences listening to music, it's more about feeling than thinking. So if the content of a particular lyric connects with me philosophically, it's because it's consistent with my philosophy of life, not because it actually helps to form that philosophy of life. I don't know if that will make sense to anyone else but I can't think of any other way to explain it.

Spike

I was going to respond to NDF's question, but there's not much I can add to this. When a particular lyric connects with me, it's not creating a new philosophic bent to my character; it instead phrases something I already believe in perhaps better than I have (as Spike has done here!).

I can't think of a single song that I've heard and said "whoa--that shifts my way of thinking from X to Y" (or even from X1 to X2).

JcS

 

[newdawnfades]

Well said. I figured as much of you two.

 

[Big Generator]

I was going to respond to NDF's question, but there's not much I can add to this. When a particular lyric connects with me, it's not creating a new philosophic bent to my character; it instead phrases something I already believe in perhaps better than I have (as Spike has done here!).

I can't think of a single song that I've heard and said "whoa--that shifts my way of thinking from X to Y" (or even from X1 to X2).

JcS

Call me shallow...but hearing Journey's "Be Good To Yourself (When Nobody Else Will)" shifted me from X to Y...it was like an epiphany!

 

[Big Generator]

Actually...so to did "Don't Stop Believin'/Hold On To That Feeling"...and "I Can't Wait All My Life/ On a Street of Broken Dreams". The poetry and wisdom of Steve Perry has profoundly shaped my philosophy of life.

 

[AboutAGirl]

I for one don't think that Socrates and John Locke were much smarter than Jim Morrison and Neil Young. Yet that, of course, stems from my complete disillusionment with the concept of wisdom or knowledge in general. Regardless, I've certainly never read a fiction book that has presented any more evidence to support its philosophical claims than a rock song does. People draw their own philosophy from music, but they do just the same for any classic of literature. I don't believe that there is much distinction. I'll admit that I definetly don't believe that the average median rock song is as profound or well written as the average piece of classic literature, but if the classics get their point across better than Jim or Neil then I chalk that up to the fact that a book provides more room to express than a rock song does.

 

[Big Generator]

I for one don't think that Socrates and John Locke were much smarter than Jim Morrison and Neil Young.

Surely you mean that Morrison and Young have touched your life more deeply than Socrates and Locke? I don't think that even the most fanatical follower of the Doors would claim that Jim Morrison was a towering intellect whose lyrics rival the most outstanding works of classical literature.

 

[Big Generator]

if the classics get their point across better than Jim or Neil then I chalk that up to the fact that a book provides more room to express than a rock song does.

Okay...in the spirit of open-mindedness...I'm curious...what points or philosophies did Morrison and Young get across?

 

[AboutAGirl]

Well yes, they have touched me deeper, but Socrates has also touched my life pretty deeply (well... Plato I suppose is the real one behind it). What I am doing is questioning conformist reverence towards classics. Just because it's classic doesn't mean it's good. I look at the works of the legendary philosophers purely for their intellect and worth as it stands right here and now, and I don't feel like anything they are saying is more profound than things that rock musicians say. I do think that the philosophers have expressed themselves better, but I don't think that they are mammoth geniuses.

Also take into account that I don't believe in wisdom. All the long discussions with wise people I've had, and all the famous philosophers I've read, it all leaves me pretty empty. Many very intelligent things have been said, but I'm of the opinion that their brilliance (Socrates, Locke, Morrison, Young, and everyone's) is just skin deep. Anything is only worth anything if someone takes it, uses it, and succeeds by it. What specifically makes these outstanding works of literature so untouchable and superior? Whatever it is I clearly need it to be explained to me, because all that I've read has been extremely intelligent thinking, but as there is only really one level of intelligence (because there is no universal truth, in my opinion) it doesn't go onto any higher levels than what Jim Morrison has said.

 

[Big Generator]

Well yes, they have touched me deeper, but Socrates has also touched my life pretty deeply (well... Plato I suppose is the real one behind it). What I am doing is questioning conformist reverence towards classics. Just because it's classic doesn't mean it's good. I look at the works of the legendary philosophers purely for their intellect and worth as it stands right here and now, and I don't feel like anything they are saying is more profound than things that rock musicians say. I do think that the philosophers have expressed themselves better, but I don't think that they are mammoth geniuses.

Also take into account that I don't believe in wisdom. All the long discussions with wise people I've had, and all the famous philosophers I've read, it all leaves me pretty empty. Many very intelligent things have been said, but I'm of the opinion that their brilliance (Socrates, Locke, Morrison, Young, and everyone's) is just skin deep. Anything is only worth anything if someone takes it, uses it, and succeeds by it. What specifically makes these outstanding works of literature so untouchable and superior? Whatever it is I clearly need it to be explained to me, because all that I've read has been extremely intelligent thinking, but as there is only really one level of intelligence (because there is no universal truth, in my opinion) it doesn't go onto any higher levels than what Jim Morrison has said.

I'm not sure I follow your argument that because there is no universal truth there is only one level of intelligence. Or that wisdom and brilliance only has value if it is applied in a practical way to "succeed".

But leaving that aside...what exactly did Morrison say? Are there any lyrics which might justify his place in the pantheon of great writers and philosophers? To me, Morrison seemed like a deluded, lost guy who was often too incoherent and out-of-it to make much sense to his band-mates, let alone anyone else. I'm not a fan or an expert though - so what am I missing here?