I said most of what I intended to say in my last post. But I still want to touch on the subject of beauty.
Most of the music that we hear on the radio is easy listening, or pleasing to our ears. Most of the time, it's catchy. All the hit songs have melodies or phrases that stick in our minds and are easy to remember. It's designed to reach out and grab your attention, and it nearly always does just that. Everything about it is right there on the surface.
Now songs have lots of ways of doing that, so let me choose one. Bridgit Mendler's "Ready Or Not."
When I heard this song, I immediately liked it. I love the peppy sound of it. It has a pleasing, interesting melody that is written well enough that it sounds good if you sing it by yourself. I always like those things in a song. And the girl can sing fairly well. She does kind of support her voice and sing properly.
But the trouble is, when I starting singing it to myself once it was firmly stuck in my head, I listened to what I was singing. What is the message of the words? "You see a boy you like, then don't be shy, go find him! Pursue him!"
Huh. You know, actually I don't believe that girls should do that. Not that I think girls should be shy and never introduce themselves or be friendly. Girls should, but is that what the song is about? No, it's all about getting things started so that a relationship can form ASAP. Why does she want it so fast? She's never seen him before, evidently, but she's wanting to swoop right in and make him her boyfriend. She doesn't know anything about his character, or even if he's friendly. The only thing that makes him eligible is that she likes his outward appearance. She "likes his face." Dang, he's cute, I want him!
Really? How shallow. How pathetic. And yet how easily I took the whole thing in with its peppy, happy sound and catchy little melody. If I'm singing it, I'm repeating, "ready or not, boy, I'm coming after you!" Is that what I want people to hear me singing? I don't believe that's right, but people will think that I do if I'm singing that song around them. What's more, if I get too used to hearing/singing a song with that message, it's making me more likely to act on that. That's not who I want to be!
I know, it sounds cute and fun and innocent. Guess what; that's how they made it to sound. The messages of the world are always packaged in an appealing way. As a girl, it tickles my ears. Yeah, I'm confident, I can have anybody I want!" It just tickles my pride and my vanity, and it makes me feel like it's okay to be forward and flirtatious. But that doesn't make it right.
Question. Is the music to that song beautiful? Not really. Fun, yes, but beautiful? No.
Now don't crack down on me. I like fun music as much as anyone. The reason I'm concerned is that we Westerners are losing our taste for beauty. We prefer our catchy hip-hop or pop or whatever. Take a listen to this.
Totally different, isn't it? It's beautiful. It's not in your face demanding your attention. It's almost as if it's offering to take you on a journey, and it's your choice to accept or decline. It's peaceful, quiet, lovely. It's reverent, and yet it doesn't sound unhappy or too serious. I like to be taken where this song takes me.
Now again, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to tell you that one is "right," and the other is "wrong." I'm asking you to consider the contrast between beauty and what we usually listen to.
How did each song make you feel? You experienced two very different kinds of music. Try to pin down the experience with some words. Could you not make it through one of them? Did it make you happy, thoughtful, aggravated, maybe?
What I'm driving at is a truth that is universal and cannot be argued or explained away. During all my years of struggling to understand if certain kinds of music was "right," or "wrong," or whether it was a "gray," issue, there was always one truth that I kept coming back to, and that is this: Music is its own message.
Music is inextricably linked to our feelings. Our minds, our emotions, even our bodies. Music always expresses a feeling, sometimes many feelings. Music has a power that breaks through all communication barriers. It is more poignant than words, and it slips into our minds and hearts with its message that often cannot be put into words. Yet we all understand. We all respond in some way. Music is subtle and can be used for infinite good and healing. But it is also evasive and is used by the evil one, too. It can increase or decrease mental, emotional, or spiritual sensitivity. We take care that the message of the words and the music go together, or the song doesn't fit. We couldn't plug some great theological truths into Bridgit Mendler's song. It wouldn't fit. That bouncy, mischievous, carefree feeling would be out of place. And to put a worldly message or a breakup story into John Rutter's tranquil Requiem would be laughable. The music gives its own message.
So I challenge you to ask yourselves, "What does the music I listen to say about me? What messages am I constantly feeding into my mind?"
Is it helping you walk down the middle of the two extremes, or is it dragging you toward one of them? Does the music you listen to cause you to think about God and meditate on His character? Or does it absorb you in your own cares in this life? In a nutshell, does my music uplift me and my soul closer to the Great King in all His majesty and goodness, or does it weigh you down in the messages of the world?
Is it uplifting?
~Cadenza
Most of the music that we hear on the radio is easy listening, or pleasing to our ears. Most of the time, it's catchy. All the hit songs have melodies or phrases that stick in our minds and are easy to remember. It's designed to reach out and grab your attention, and it nearly always does just that. Everything about it is right there on the surface.
Now songs have lots of ways of doing that, so let me choose one. Bridgit Mendler's "Ready Or Not."
When I heard this song, I immediately liked it. I love the peppy sound of it. It has a pleasing, interesting melody that is written well enough that it sounds good if you sing it by yourself. I always like those things in a song. And the girl can sing fairly well. She does kind of support her voice and sing properly.
But the trouble is, when I starting singing it to myself once it was firmly stuck in my head, I listened to what I was singing. What is the message of the words? "You see a boy you like, then don't be shy, go find him! Pursue him!"
Huh. You know, actually I don't believe that girls should do that. Not that I think girls should be shy and never introduce themselves or be friendly. Girls should, but is that what the song is about? No, it's all about getting things started so that a relationship can form ASAP. Why does she want it so fast? She's never seen him before, evidently, but she's wanting to swoop right in and make him her boyfriend. She doesn't know anything about his character, or even if he's friendly. The only thing that makes him eligible is that she likes his outward appearance. She "likes his face." Dang, he's cute, I want him!
Really? How shallow. How pathetic. And yet how easily I took the whole thing in with its peppy, happy sound and catchy little melody. If I'm singing it, I'm repeating, "ready or not, boy, I'm coming after you!" Is that what I want people to hear me singing? I don't believe that's right, but people will think that I do if I'm singing that song around them. What's more, if I get too used to hearing/singing a song with that message, it's making me more likely to act on that. That's not who I want to be!
I know, it sounds cute and fun and innocent. Guess what; that's how they made it to sound. The messages of the world are always packaged in an appealing way. As a girl, it tickles my ears. Yeah, I'm confident, I can have anybody I want!" It just tickles my pride and my vanity, and it makes me feel like it's okay to be forward and flirtatious. But that doesn't make it right.
Question. Is the music to that song beautiful? Not really. Fun, yes, but beautiful? No.
Now don't crack down on me. I like fun music as much as anyone. The reason I'm concerned is that we Westerners are losing our taste for beauty. We prefer our catchy hip-hop or pop or whatever. Take a listen to this.
Totally different, isn't it? It's beautiful. It's not in your face demanding your attention. It's almost as if it's offering to take you on a journey, and it's your choice to accept or decline. It's peaceful, quiet, lovely. It's reverent, and yet it doesn't sound unhappy or too serious. I like to be taken where this song takes me.
Now again, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to tell you that one is "right," and the other is "wrong." I'm asking you to consider the contrast between beauty and what we usually listen to.
How did each song make you feel? You experienced two very different kinds of music. Try to pin down the experience with some words. Could you not make it through one of them? Did it make you happy, thoughtful, aggravated, maybe?
What I'm driving at is a truth that is universal and cannot be argued or explained away. During all my years of struggling to understand if certain kinds of music was "right," or "wrong," or whether it was a "gray," issue, there was always one truth that I kept coming back to, and that is this: Music is its own message.
Music is inextricably linked to our feelings. Our minds, our emotions, even our bodies. Music always expresses a feeling, sometimes many feelings. Music has a power that breaks through all communication barriers. It is more poignant than words, and it slips into our minds and hearts with its message that often cannot be put into words. Yet we all understand. We all respond in some way. Music is subtle and can be used for infinite good and healing. But it is also evasive and is used by the evil one, too. It can increase or decrease mental, emotional, or spiritual sensitivity. We take care that the message of the words and the music go together, or the song doesn't fit. We couldn't plug some great theological truths into Bridgit Mendler's song. It wouldn't fit. That bouncy, mischievous, carefree feeling would be out of place. And to put a worldly message or a breakup story into John Rutter's tranquil Requiem would be laughable. The music gives its own message.
So I challenge you to ask yourselves, "What does the music I listen to say about me? What messages am I constantly feeding into my mind?"
Is it helping you walk down the middle of the two extremes, or is it dragging you toward one of them? Does the music you listen to cause you to think about God and meditate on His character? Or does it absorb you in your own cares in this life? In a nutshell, does my music uplift me and my soul closer to the Great King in all His majesty and goodness, or does it weigh you down in the messages of the world?
Is it uplifting?
~Cadenza
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