User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Power/Power in Music

Power in music

Music can be seen as a category of arts meant to serve as a medium to express emotions and to share them with an audience, as music is meant to be heard by others. However, music at specific period of time became a much more powerful tool as it gained importance in political matters and socialogical historical event.

Jazz and Rock'n'Roll

Jazz finds it roots in the second half of the 19th century, in the state of New Orleans. It's known as being "founded on the musical traditions of West Africa" and was created by Afro-American slaves. They developed it as a medium to talk about their life and express their nostaligia about their origins. Therefore their stories could be told and heard by others, and the rythmic part of it gave it richness and a major African Identity to it. Nina Simone was a songwriter and civil right activist, an emblematic jazz figure, and with her song 'I wish I knew what it would feel to be free', Silk & Soul album (1965), she clearly expresses her struggles to live as an Afro-Americans in the USA in her period of time, which overcomes the range of only being music. With the arrival of Rock and roll, it appeared that underground frictions took place, as rock and roll was extremely close to the rythm and blues style, a major branch of jazz. However, another name was given to it to ditinguish it from jazz even if it was nourished by Afro-american culture. One of the major representative figure of this musical current was Elvis Presley which most popular songs were "All Shook Up" (1957) or "Jailhouse Rock" (1957). Rock and roll in the 1960s became a real symbol of rebellion on the part of the youth as it was a music of the teenager while for others it incarnated the spirit of jazz culture. The same galvanized youth movement was for example animated by The Beatles, demonstrating how music could be a powerful tool to drive pacific revolution.

Hippies pacific's rebellion

With the 1960s, came the hippies and the pacific manifestations in regards to the Vietnam War in which the USA were taking part of from which the first videos were being filmed. Fundamentally, this pacific revolution was a revolt against the 60.000 americans soldiers that died during the Vietnam War and occured as people found a clear clash between their perception of life and how society was ran. Music empowered their movement as it gave them a voice. Those who felt rejected by the society's norms wanted to be heard and wanted to interconnect with others believing the same way. Music allowed both. An iconic singer of this movement was John Lennon who through the years became more and more attracted by an Indian philosophy promoting peace through the Hindu yogi Maharishi Mahesh. His song Imagine became a worldwide musical hit who served his purpose of sharing the pacific values of his belief. Music allowed peole to know about certain causes and to join them if they felt particurlary attracted to the lyrics for example, which in the case of the hippies movement greatly help aquiring new believers.

The power of Music for causes

One of music's virtue is to be able to promote certain combat and help joining people together. Micheal Jackson concerned about the well-being of our planet wrote "Earth Songs" who portrayed the dramatic position in which Earth is to unit people under a common objective of protecting it. The same purpose was undertook in Aril, 19 2019 through a charitative song by Lil Dicky a famous rapper with his song "Earth" where through a collaboration with other singers such as Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande, he tried to raise funds for foundations and charities. In the same way, artists such as Stevie Wonder, Micheal Jackson or even Cyndi Lauper gathered together to raise funds for humanitarian aids in Africa with 'We are the World' and collected around $160 millions. This project was one of the biggest artists collaboration and is the eight most sold single in the history of music. Music therefore has contributed spiritually and physicallly to helping populations in dramatic situation and powerfully reunited people around a cause. The Live Aid show of 1985 is yet another example of this powerful combat lead by music as it raised over $120 millions to fight famines in Africa after devastating ones arised in Ethiopia.