For the second portion of the assignment, I decided to approach the song selection in a more proactive way. I thought of bands that seemed on first thought to be driven by either the idea of liberation or success. The first things that came to mind were punk bands and rap artists. Punk messages seem to normally be about fighting the authoritative powers that be and Rap songs typically have some sort of allusion to the wealth or success that they have had. Both of these stereotypes proved to have some background and I was able to get a few songs from each. For the rest of the songs I used my ipod and thought about the assignment as I was working out or running. Neither songs referring to liberation nor success were particularly hard to find. Success was a slight bit easier to find in the fact that people would rather hear about someone doing well at something or completing a goal. I doubt many artists would write about a complete failure in their lives. Likewise most artists that wrote or sang about liberation usually tailored it towards breaking away from oppression or a relationship that caused them pain or heart ache.
When comparing the American music idea of success to that of the aims of Hinduism they are surprisingly similar in their goals. Completion of specific goals or tasks and a general wellbeing that was better than what the singer experienced before was the general commonality among the artists. This sense is also felt with the Hindu beliefs. Achieving a better state of life and living is the common goal for both the American artists and the aims of Hinduism. The Hindu aim of achieving liberation is understandably different from that of the American artists. Liberation for American artists seems to focus on personal relationships, government oppression, and social pressures that are affecting the writer. Liberation means becoming free of the oppression and not of the freedom discussed by Hindu's aim of releasing ones soul from this world and passing to the next. The American artists seemed self centered in their music when it came to these two aims. Almost all of the songs focused on their own success and liberation, not that of the community or a country. This is understandable after the tough time I had in finding songs last week about community service.
First of all, I looooove "The Cave" by Mumford & Sons, that's totally my jam right now. Secondly, it is a great song to pick for the Liberation category. It seems to be about liberating yourself from the negativity of losing confidence in someone or something. This is the ultimate song about Liberation and I'm kicking myself in the ass for not thinking of it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you made a good point about the differences in the meaning of liberation and success between Americans and people who practice Hinduism. Americans really do tend to focus more on themselves and not the community.