Are musicians philosophers?
One of the fascinating things about music is the subjective process involved in forming listening tastes. It is fascinating the way that music helps to build a life narrative affecting how people make sense of their everyday experience. Music is, in a very real sense, a kind of philosophy. Bands and genres often form an almost tribal following, with clear examples of what genres a part of another tribe. These tribal followings have their own social codes, general frameworks for acting and certain forms of living which are associated with them.
Along this line of thinking, the artists who create music are in some sense philosophers. Ok, they don´t have long beards and write very long books, but they share something of the philosophers spirit. Through reflecting on their life experiences, or simply because of them, they compose an artefact which in some way transmits their vision of how things are; melody and rhythm acting like different shades of colour on a paintbrush, like words on a blank page. Whether it is a chirpy guitar riff, a dazzling drum beat or a soaring piano melody or the mournful lyrics of an ode; it communicates something to the listener. Though the emotional effect of music lacks the precision of verbal expression, it often speaks with much more clarity. Dancing is when the emotional truth of music translates into action. The origin of rhythm may well lie in the steady beat of the heart pumping our around our biological self; in this case, music shares and intimate relation with our very existence. We will finish this contemplative post with a quote:
“Music expresses that which can not be said and on
which it is impossible to be silent”
- Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Tags: independent, Music, musicians, philosophy, record union, Recordunion
