There is a quote from a Bob Seger song that says, “Today’s music ain’t got no soul.”
Let’s evaluate that. Music will always be different over the decades. Music has been the bees’ knees, the cats’ meow, a groovy scene, and totally retro man. Change is good, but today’s popular music has lost something very important over the years. What happened to music?
Real musicians spend their time working hard by practicing, studying, and learning about music. They work constantly to become experts in their art only to be left out because they do not look good enough or their music video does not have enough naked women in it.
On the other hand, people can instead gain instant fame from something called American Idol, but a million text votes did not make Ray Charles an amazing pianist.
Bob Dylan was not dubbed the “Voice of a Generation” because Simon Cowell let him do it. Bo Bice, Dave Cook, and Chris Daughtry should have spent his years working on his music but instead that was traded for a 30-second interview and a chance to ruin a classic. Although, some great hardworking bands and musicians can make it big very quickly as well. So what is the difference?
Jimi Hendrix had no musical education, but that did not stop him from becoming the most unique and revolutionary guitar player of all time. So what is the difference between “artists” today and Hendrix?
Finally, the answer is the sheer talent, devotion, and love of the music. Unfortunately, it is obvious that you do not need any of that to be called a musician today. That is the secret of popular musics’ downfall. If an artist will not sell out, or if they do not have ties in the music business, or if they are not pretty enough, it does not matter how good of a musical brain or heart they have.
However corny it may be, today’s popular music is suffering from a lack of heart, and we need to get music on a defibrillator before it stops beating.
— Brian Greig
Leesburg
