On The influence Of Music

One of the blogs I read and post on has a piece on how music affects children.  The point is that children tend to internalize what they hear and listen to.  I got to that blog post afte it had been up a while, and found quite a discussion going on.  So after reading several comments,  I decided to put in my two cents worth.  Re-reading it later, I realized I had written and dang blog post.  So I decided to repost it here, on my own blog.

The original blog discussion is here:

Could the Message Be in the Music? What White Kids Listen to Versus What Black Kids Do.

Kudos (Props) to the author of that blog, my online friend, Christelyn Karazin!

Enjoy!

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Okay, I just got to this post. I've only read a few of the comments, and from that it seems that there's a disparity of perception of the internalization of music. don't know if this will help, but I can relate my own experience. Maybe i'm different than most people, but I've observed that if a song speaks to me, no matter if the artist white, black, hispanic, or purple with pink polka dots, I'm most likely going to internalize it.

I've commented on at least one other blog here that when I was growing up, the only "black" singers allowed in my home were Nat "King" Cole and Charlie Pride. Out of their songs, the only ones that really spoke to me were "Unforgettable" (Cole) and "Kiss An Angel Good Morning" (Pride). Other songs that spoke to me were the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" and Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" and "The Sound Of Silence".

Later, as I grew up, the ones that spoke to me became more the "social message" songs and less the "romantic" and "love" songs. Ones like John Lennon's "Imagine" and The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby". And later yet, after I got out from under my family, I was exposed to other music that spoke to me, which I also internalized: "Black and White" by Three Dog Night. "Brother Louie" by The Stories. All "social message" songs.

Then I was introduced to "soul" music. Barry White, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and so on. And that music REALLY spoke to me. I understood almost immediately why it was called SOUL music. And for a while, I silently cursed my family for keeping this beautiful experience from me. And once again I literally fell in love with "love" music. "I Stand Accused" by Isaac Hayes. "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips.

But this wasn't the only music I internalized; I syill loved the "social message" songs like "One Tin Soldier" from the movie "Billy Jack". And the juxtaposition of the different types of music I liked and internalized made me realize that it's not the KIND of music, it's what the music says that speaks to me.

But when I first heard "rap", it was the "gangsta" rap. was immediately turned off. I hated it; it glorified destruction and mayhem. It definitely wasn't for me. And when I was later with Carolyn, this was one of the very few things we argued about. Tired of the arguing, I agreed to listen to the words of a couple of Tupac's songs. I don't remember which ones, but when I really listened to them, I realized that he had a message too, one of uplift and hope. But I still disliked it because of the language; as I saw it, there was no need to swear in music. I told Carolyn this, and she agreed in principle, having been raised in the R&B industry. But she also told me that Tupac was able to reach some of the people who were wrapped up in that so-called "culture" with his songs.

To this day, I don't know if it was true. But I do know that there are always possibilities. And I recalled one of the few rap songs I DID like before I was with Carolyn. It was a song by Queen Lateefa: "U.N.I.T.Y." And what stuck with me from that is the main line, the message for the women, especially the AA women: "You gotta let 'em know, you ain't a b*tch or a hoe."

Yup. That's my story ,and I'm sticking with it.

Namaste',
Don