My taste in music can best be described as eclectic. I listen to everything from the Military Bands of the United States Armed Forces (Navy and Marine Corps being my favorite) to Mozart. Anything in between is perfectly acceptable as long as it meets the "American Bandstand" critic's rule.
Each Saturday afternoon for some 36 years (1952-1988), Dick Clark would host this "Teen" show which showcased the popular songs of the day. At some point during the show, a couple would critique the featured song. If they liked it, their comment invariably would be: "It's got a good beat and I can dance to it."
That's my test. If I can discern the melody, the song is a winner in my book. Unfortunately, much of the popular music of today fails that simple test. Thank goodness I'm deaf in one ear.
Sometimes, I listen to the old standard patriotic songs that we all used to learn in grade school. I don't know if they teach them any more. In this day of political correctness and shrinking school budgets, there is either no money for music programs or the schools are afraid of offending someone who is a "visitor" to our fair land.
I understand the cutting of elective classes such as music, art and the like. Many believe that the humanities have no place in the public school system because they are not basic skills. I disagree but, that is for another blog and another day.
Fortunately, we do have musicians in this country and others who learned the humanities and thus can exercise their imagination, creating new music from the old and thus, giving us an entirely new experience with the same music.
The amazing thing about music is, the same melody can be arranged in an infinite number of ways which while keeping the essence of the original, creates a new mood and thus a new musical experience. So, depending on our frame of mind, we can listen to whatever suits us while never changing the piece of music. Now, that would be a study I would love to participate in.
So, with that in mind, I come to what inspired my ramblings of the day. One of the most heartfelt pieces of patriotic music; in my opinion is "My Country tis of thee." Most of us know this famous melody, of course. It's the same as the British National Anthem (God Save the Queen). The words in the American standard are equally familiar and very clearly tell the patriotic story of what America was and should be.
At first glance, this all may seem rather boring because of the familiarity of the tune but, remember; music can be transformed simply by changing the arrangement.
Yesterday I spend most of the day at various doctor's offices and was pretty tired when I got home. As is my habit when I want to relax, I put my headphones on and listened to some tunes. In my iTunes collection I have an arrangement of "My Country Tis of Thee" performed by Steven Stills and Graham Nash. What a far cry from the simple tune we learned as children this is. With it's haunting melody and emotionally delivered lyric, I was moved as usual when listening to good music. For that minute and 42 seconds, the troubles of my day seemed to melt away as I listened to the promise that the idea of our Country holds.
That brings me to my point. The music doesn't have to be the same as when we learned it. It can be adapted for any audience. The message in that music will always remain the same. I've given you one example of a patriotic tune. The idea is not limited to simply patriotic music. Take any tune you like. Find anything that touches you and look for it's message. I might not care for some arrangements of music but, some do like it and that's what counts because the music speaks to us all in one way or another. The message is there. All you have to do is listen for it.
As always...
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