Why do some songs stop somewhere?
Or a song must stop somewhere?
Before that, it is worth to talk
about the use of music in everyday life. I purpose to focus on the use of music
on a receptive aspect, in other words, as a listener. Music talk is a discourse,
we talk about music, about bands, clothes, lyrics, artists, equipment etc, just
to name a few. The discourse of music is about taste, talking preference, but
naming taste, as a personal reference does not answer any question, whilst it
creates more questions in the contrary. As a result, the use of music is a
creation as well as construction. We create and construct by talking about
them, using them socially. Yet, how do we use music? According to Frith’s
article, “Towards an aesthetic of popular music”, he argued that the
social use of popular music could be examined from four aspects:
First, building up of identity.
For instance, it could be originated from the sub-cultural scene of England
over the period of 60’s to 70’s, those teddy boys, mods, punk, they apply
different semiotics elements to construct their identity. It could be seen from
their clothes, accessories, hairstyle, and music. In the meantime, to identify
with something means that they dis-identify with another. “It is what it is not”.
The tribes gathered together with people with alike mind, clothes, hairstyle
and listening to the same kind of music. Another noticeable example is the hippies
during the later 60’s in United States, they dress alike, act alike with some
utopian dreams, as well as listening to psychedelic music, in order to explore
their mind. The acid trip shared by every hippies is very much the most
significant example of how they construct the identity, at least, it is beyond
words something can be explained even till now. The use of music is an
important element to construct one’s own identity.
Second, private and public use of
music. Frith emphasizes that a song does not reflect people sentiment, but
serves as an “embodiment” for people to put sentiment with. Take for example,
we always find that it is difficult to articulate our feeling by words,
instead, we use a song to speak for ourselves. For the private use of music, I
love her so I sing a love song; I hate her so I sing a hatred song; inside
wedding, you choose to play particular songs; inside funeral, you choose to
play particular song; For the public use, let’s say, inside a horror screenplay
of a film, you are expected to hear some particular music; inside a happy
ending of a comedy, you are expected to hear some other. Again, it is “pre-digested”,
the system served as an embodiment for people to put sentiment with. No matter
it is private use (you have been through a “heart-breaking” relationship), or a
public use (inside coffee shop, restaurant or cinema) Therefore, to say a song
reflects you, from a Marxist point of view, it is “pseudo-individualization”, like you are attending a
concert and looking at the artists on stage, when he/she said “I love you”, you
think that you are the receiver, or only receiver of the message.
Third, popular music shapes
popular memory. It is something about nostalgia. Do you have this kind of
experience? Let’s say, you grow up by loving one band, but the more you grow,
the lesser you are likely to love another band, even if it is very similar to
the one you love. It is not about loving Blur or Oasis, there is nothing to do
with fans loyalty; it is about a 50 years old man loving Janis Joplin or Florence
and the machine. (putting the good or bad judgment aside), it is about nostalgia.
Good music is able to “stop” time, it is like a moment is frozen when you meet
the love of your life, no matter who comes next, you are not able to find
another one who can do the same, since the moment is frozen, and it is frozen
forever.
Finally, the function of popular
music is “something possessed”, by metaphor, it is to say “this is my song”. It
is pretty much a cohesive form of the above three functions. Popular music
shapes your identity, your private and public soundtracks and your memories. We
feel like we own the song, it transcends the boundaries between the producers
and the listeners, since we have already thought the music, is ours.
To return to my question at the
beginning, why do some songs stop somewhere? Or a song must stop somewhere?
Some songs stop somewhere because they did not grow up with you, I did not mean
to say they are not good, they just stop; And, a song has to stop somewhere because
we all grow up, nothing can stop the time, in the meantime, a very good song is
able to stop “time”, to remind you your identity, your private soundtracks and
your memories, and finally, it makes you believe the song is yours. The song
(or songs) grows up with you. The more we grow, the lesser we use music. But it
does not mean that we forget the good music, we never forget the good music, it
should be the feeling we could never forget, feeling could never lie.
They are functions, but it is
with much sentiment if someone chooses to talk about the functions of music
while being part of the function itself.
To quote Keith Richard:
“Music is something I grow up with, and
I am trying to see if it grows up with me now.”
