I am feeling detached this weekend and can not get this lonesome g->d->c progression (or maybe a half step down from there - but I barely passed music literacy) out of my head that was in Roger and Out (a song that takes 10-4 good buddy and sics it on you) which I heard at a preview listening of Living With War this past Friday.
And as I play those simple 3 notes over in my head, I finally get it.
Here I am, 44 years old, and apparently I have been ignorant about how protest albums work.
Intellectually, I was well aware of everying in the lyrics heard on Friday. One can go to Neil's site and read the words - technically there is nothing there that has not been in the news before.
Intellectually, I am also well aware of the emotive power of music and all that rot, yeah a good song can choke me up.
I was unprepared however, to experience how that emotive power can be used to force my two brains to reconcile what I have been reading and rationalizing for the past 6 years with what I have been feeling.
Our press is a largely visual and word-based medium. Our newscasters are professional. The net, newspapers, TV news, and blogs all use text and well chosen words to communicate in a way that primarily speaks to our rational minds.
Yet in my day-to-day life I make decisions by waiting for the moments when I can reconcile what I know with how I feel.
Neil's songs merely accelerate this process. The album does not really make a statement and tell us what to do, or say anything that is not previously published fact - it merely forces the listener to reconcile these facts with the listener's own melody-provoked emotions - whatever those might be.
I guess Living With War is not trying speak for us, it is just trying to get us to speak for ourselves.
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(below are the notes I wrote when I was trying to figure out the above)
I can read the papers, about the dead, and friends and family and things said,
it enters my eyes and goes to my brain to be weighed and measured as textual fact.
But hearing these songs, they go right to my heart, where they mix and mingle with rights and wrongs.
The words in the paper wrap around my own truths, my ears open my eyes and my heart really hurts.
So now I am left standing to brood or do, because try as I might, the songs don't stop.
By replying quickly to this post, I was treated to a preview of Neil Young's next album. I thought I would try my best to describe some of the songs using words - sort of a 'targeting the theme' exercise ala CTIN542.
After the Garden
Provides a counterpoint between soft melodic voices and a hard distorted guitar which mirrors the before-and-after message.
Restless Consumer
(Rustless Consumer) focuses on a simple chant from which it is hard to hide ("we don't need no more lies"), while questioning our deafness.
Families
Uses a wholesome, all American working class sound to remind us of, well, the wholesome all Americans fighting our war.
Flags of Freedom
Uses visual imagery to paint scenery in the mind's eye that raises goose bumps.
Let's Impeach the President
Protest song melody that moves frame by frame through the President's personal comic strip.
Looking for a Leader
Creates a rhythmic cadence that seats the listener on a horse riding to find whoever it is that we were - and are- supposed to put in charge.
Roger And Out
Well, this is it, this is the song. It starts with the strike of a distant guitar, then proceeds to zoom into and walk through everyday life, then pulls back to show a void.
America The Beautiful
An amazing recording - it captures distinct voices while retaining the sound of a 100 person choir - to help to bury the lingering feelings from Roger and Out.
My big brother Niko Bolas and my Mom Mary Bolas helped in this effort. I am kinda proud of them. This album was put together in what seemed like an evening.
CTIN 542
Design Assignment 3A
Due: April 18, 2006
Definition:
Create an object or experience which is inspired by an artist or artwork of your choice. Your medium can range from paper and glue to Max/Jitter. Effort is estimated to take between 3 to 6 hours.
Presentation:
Each student will present their project alongside imagery from 3 different artists or artworks - 2 being decoys. The class will then discuss and vote to determine from which of these pieces the project was influenced.
CTIN 542
Design Assignment 3B
Due: April 25, 2006
Eviggle, Inc., is a new business entity formed through the virtual merger of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Exxon, Google, Ebay, Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, Starbucks, and the Rothchild family, is creating a new digital gold currency and has hired your firm to handle its design and branding.
This is no small task. This private currency is expected to become the world's standard medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. Your designs must communicate and motivate faith in its value. Additionally, it is desired that exhanging the money provides an engaging and enjoyable experience.
You may employ any media desired - from forged gold, to RFID tags, from tangible to intangible - but your company got the job due to its reputation in new media designs.