Musicians and reality

[U2fan42]

Does anyone here feel that many musicians have lost touch with or never had any grip on reality, and/or take their music a little too seriously? I think it was Sting who I once heard in an interview talking about the sanctity or the integrity of the music or some crap like that, and I almost threw up. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for artists having a social or political conscience and putting positive messages in their music, but it is only music.

Thoughts?

 

[Diemen]

As a musician myself (classical mainly), I can definitely attest to there being a certain sanctity or spirituality to music when you're the performer (at least if you believe in what you're performing), and Ithink a musician wanting to preserve the integrity of the music is a good thing. Think of it - this is their life - what they choose to pursue daily. You'd damn well better believe in it strongly if it's what you do for a living!

I really think that for those groups who have stood the test of time and have put out great music, what it really does come down to is the love of music itself - the glamour, critical acclaim and money are secondary. Like Bono's said before, to take a melody in your head and see it turn into a full fledged song is an amazing thing. To perform music and really touch someone by it, is just incredible. I don't think most (not all, but most) musicians have lost touch or take their music too seriously, they're just passionate about what they do.

Although there are plenty of musicians who have lost touch - Michael Jackson is a prime example. I respect Sting for fighting for his beliefs and for his past musical contributions, but I can't say any music he's released in recent years has gotten me all that excited. Anyway...off on a tangent.

 

[GypsyHeartgirl]

Yes, I do. Don't get me wrong I still love and respect my favorite musicians but I do think when you don't have to live in the real world every day, you lose touch with reality. You may see it on TV or read about it or even visit it for a few days, but they know they can always go home to their great big house and all that financial security. I know some of them really do care, especially Bono, but it's not like having to live with it endlessly. It's not like having to wonder if you're going to be able to pay all your bills next month, or if you'll be able to get your kid what they want for their birthday. When you see your friends losing jobs, getting their utiliities cut off, broken down cars they can't afford to fix, bill collectors calling, people pulling their own teeth with pliers because they don't have dental insurance, (there are millions who can't afford health or dental insurance but aren't low income enough to qualify for welfare) well, those things are reality, and they SUCK! Rich people don't have to deal with it. Even if they did before they got famous, it's all over now.

I hate reality myself. I'd love to be rich and live a fantasy life. I don't blame them, I just wish I was like them. SIGH!

I want to add, if I WERE rich, after seeing all I have and experiecing lows myself, I could never just sit there on multimillion dollars. I'd keep enough for my own financial security and make funds so my kids would never have to work, but I would go out of my way to help the poor, the old, the ones who can't pay their bills, the kids with no toys, and the homeless, abused animals. I wish I was rich!!

 

[JOFO]

I agree with diemen. I'm also a musician, and if you're gonna be professional in one aspect of the idiom or another, (whether it's being in a band like u2 writing original music, or being a music teacher, or being a studio musician playing other people's tunes, or playing the chicken dance at the holiday inn with a wedding band for that matter,) you've got to tske it seriously, because who else is going to?
for example, there are people on this planet working as bankers, secretaries, insurance agents, stock brokers, and a thousand other professions, whose job consists of sitting at a desk using numbers all day long. to me, it's mindless boring crap and I would never imagine myself doing it. but the world NEEDS people to do these things, so hopefully people who do it take it seriously AND get some sort of personal satisfaction from the work itself as well, because a person like me does not take those things seriously, because I've got a completely different mindset.
so, whether it's "just music" or not, taking it seriously is super important. To me, anyway.
as far as the monetary problems of real life, well just because bono and sting have more money doesn't necessarily mean they don't have problems.....in fact, maybe they've got concers about that too.
example: an african bushman doesn't even KNOW what money is, right? he's got to hunt and kill his dinner, support his family, and try to survive as well. he's doing it WITHOUT money, and maybe he's truly happy, because it's the Only reality he knows.
you and I worry about paying the cable bill, buying groceries..etc., because it's a reality we're familiar with.
bono and sting worry about investment returns, where their capital gain are, what kind of profit tour a made compared to tour b, etc. because it's the reality that they know.

 

[GypsyHeartgirl]

I guess because most of my problems, and those of my friends, are money related, it's hard to image anyone rich being as miserable as someone who struggles for basic living. I know the more you have the more you spend, my yuppie brother is always broke. No matter how much you have something will always worry you. I wouldn't know. I hope I win the lottery so I can find out how rich peoples' reality is.

 

[JOFO]

the other day I asked someone what the difference between a land rover and a range rover was, and they said that the land rover is the poor man's range rover.
I said "I wish I was that poor".

 

[verte76]

I recently read an interview with Bono where he said he's lucky as heck and doesn't have any complaints about his life because he doesn't have what he called "day-to-day" worries. Sure these guys are concerned with investment returns and such but it seems like the really smart and conscientious rich at least have a proper perspective on things. In that sense they are very much in touch with reality.

 

[JOFO]

I think there's 2 different subjects here:
1. are some musicians out of touch with reality?
2. what are the monetary concerns of the rich and famous vs. the average person?

look, it's easy to look at the rich and say "well, they're rich and don't live in the real world". It's all reality, just some are different than others.
If you think that the human being is really a spiritual entity with a soul and a conscience, then of course you'd expect someone with alot of money to "help" others not as "fortunate". but you're talking about what each individual person believes is "just", etc.
just because you think the famous people should give their money to help the poor doesn'r mean THEY do. hey, most senators and congressmen and doctors and lawyers and so on make alot of money also, but whose telling them to donate money to charity?
the point is, it's amazing that bono and sting and other musicians actually get off their ass and donate money, raise awareness, and put the time into efforts they feel strongly about. it's not a prerequisite for the job.

now, as far as taking their music so seriously and being out of touch, well, sting can say whatever the hell he wants about his music, because it's certainly more deserving of a term like "sanctity" than 99% of the rest of pop music today.

let sting and bono and eddie vedder and thom yorke be serious about music.
let kid rock and britney say "it's only music".

 

[david]

Michael Jackon is a nut job. I mean, what an ass?! Really, how can he blame his record company for lackluster sales? It's not their fault that peoples taste in music changes, and that his career in the 90's was marred by alegations of sexual molestation, and only putting out a greatest hits album in a span of about ten years. He didn't even do anything remotely interesting for most of the 90's, didn't even bother to try and attain new fans. Hey, maybe if he did what U2 did for ATYCLB, you know tour, go do tv shows, WORK YOUR ASS OFF! Then maybe sales would have been what he expected? He's just turned into a weird celebrity oddity. He belongs with his sideshow freak friends, Liza and CO. You can't sell records on name alone, unless you are The Beatles.

 

[JOFO]

yeah, michael is a freak.
I wonder though how many of us wouldn't have turned out the same way if we were megastars since the age of 8.
I'm not defending him; I couldn't care less.
shame, because the early jackson 5 stuff is great.

 

[flaming june]

but it is only music.

Thoughts?

Consider this. What would our lives be like without music, or art in general? Sometimes music it's the only thing that helps me get though the day... So I'm thankful for all those great musicians that take their jobs seriously, because in their hands something that could be deemed just a simple entertainment becomes so much more.

However, there seriousness should reflect in the music they create and not on the way they talk about it... I don't know if I'm making sense, but anyway...

 

[JOFO]

I hear you. The great ones don't feel the need to stand on a soapbox and tell the world how serious they are.
a person who doesn't recognize the difference between someone like sting and the calling or somthing like that doesn't know the difference between comic books and novels anyway.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

i play guitar in a bandand this is a joke my friends constantly tell me


what is the difference btwn a large pizza and a prf. musician?


a: a large pizza can feed a family of four


but who knows...anything...ANYTHING could happen

 

[verte76]

I agree about Michael. I used to like him but he's just too much of an ass as a person, I'm sorry to say. Those stupid "Sony is racist" allegations are really to cover up his personal issues.......you're right about selling albums by name, probably only the Beatles can do that and even they only can in a certain demographic, the baby-boomers--I would imagine that's so, I can't prove it. He's definitely "out of touch".
I have two uncles who are jazz musicians. They play trombones. Their mother, my grandmother, was a church organist. You'd better believe they take their music seriously. They feel like there's something precious in what they do, and really, that's true of any art or craft. You take pride in what you make. I make theatrical style costumes, and I feel so proud when I finish one. A musician feels so good when they get through writing a song or playing one. It's *your* work, your life's work.

 

[JOFO]

come on, there's certainly better musicain jokes than that. I've heard them all. here's some samples:
what's the difference bewtween a run over violist and a run over frog?
the frog was on his way to a gig.
how do make a guitarist turn down the volume on his amp?
put a chart in front of him.
how can you tell a drummer is knocking at your door?
the knock slows down.
what do you call someone who hangs out with musicians?
a drummer.
of course, you probably need to be a musician to appreciate these, but I think they're funny.
so, so much for musicians taking themselves too seriously.

 

[Bulow]

Musicians are in touch with reality. It just isn't the same reality the average person exists in. And thank goodness, or we've have never progressed beyond "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". We need both people with their feet on the ground AND people with their head in the clouds. Oscar Wilde said, "We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

 

[U2DMfan]

Kurt Cobain once said "there are very few true fans of music in the world, and most of them end up being musicians" Now not all hard core fans of music are musicians, but most of them try, and if you've ever tried to write your own music, and/or listened to others trying to make their own music, then that is VERY real. If you speak from the heart, it's obvious. If you just like U2's music and you don't understand why or what they are trying to say, and you just think it sounds good, that's cool. But to me that's a casual music fan, the type who actually buys CD's and recordings and a few years later ends up getting rid of them, it's also very faddish. If you love music, you'll love themusic that you like to hear and sometimes play, but if you doubt the integrity of the music you listen to, either you are a very casual fan who is not a musician, or you just are listening to some crap music.

 

[Danospano]

I have to agree with the originator of this post. I've known a lot of good musicians in my life and even more bad musicians and one thing they almost ALWAYS have in common is a sense of arrogance and superiority in EVERYTHING.
One of the reasons I admire U2 is because they've maintained something that most musicians have never possessed; a sense of humour.
It is JUST music. A sequence of musical notes that people find solace, love, and relaxation within. I'm not saying music is insignificant, but I tend to believe that anyone who takes themselves too seriously is most likely suffering from low self-esteem. They need to feel important, so they make themselves believe that what they are creating is some sort of "missing link" between reality and the cosmos.
I don't buy it.
What I do buy, is that music can uplift the soul and make people do things they never thought they were capable of accomplishing.
Musicians should exercise 'pride', but should control the size of their egos.

 

[Basstrap]

but it is only music.

this is the saddest thing I've read since I heard Mr.Dressup died

 

[RavenStar]

I agree with most peole in this thread (surprise!). Being a musician myself and having family members with careers in music helps you understand that just because you dont sit behind a desk or get a weekly check doesn't make it any less of a job. All of the musicians are on my mom's side and my dad hates the fact that I want to be a prf. musician. He says I shouldn't be a musician because it is "too risky". He says I wont make much money. I say "Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss you'll land amoung the stars"

 

[JOFO]

I have to agree with the originator of this post. I've known a lot of good musicians in my life and even more bad musicians and one thing they almost ALWAYS have in common is a sense of arrogance and superiority in EVERYTHING.
One of the reasons I admire U2 is because they've maintained something that most musicians have never possessed; a sense of humour.
It is JUST music. A sequence of musical notes that people find solace, love, and relaxation within. I'm not saying music is insignificant, but I tend to believe that anyone who takes themselves too seriously is most likely suffering from low self-esteem. They need to feel important, so they make themselves believe that what they are creating is some sort of "missing link" between reality and the cosmos.
I don't buy it.
What I do buy, is that music can uplift the soul and make people do things they never thought they were capable of accomplishing.
Musicians should exercise 'pride', but should control the size of their egos.

the missing link, to me, between reality and the cosmos IS uplifting the soul.:idea: :attn:

but I agree that musicians should control the size of their egos.
(Bono: "we're the best band in the world")
easy big fella.

 

[RavenStar]

With the amount of money they have, their ego's can get as big as they want.

 

[verte76]

Ah, egos.........I really think that statement of Bono's, the "best band in the world" thing, was more of a statement that they were going to try to do it, as opposed to claiming that they'd achieved it. There's quite a difference there. Of course it's easy to blow up something like that and portray Bono as the Egomaniac From Hell. He'll never win a humility contest, but hell, they don't have humility competitions, do they? Isn't that sort of an oxymoron?

 

[JOFO]

With the amount of money they have, their ego's can get as big as they want.

err, so that means britney and nsync etc. can have big egos too?
because they've done something special for music? like sell a zillion albums and have made an ass load of cash?

sorry, $$$ does not = forgivable ego

 

[JOFO]

Ah, egos.........I really think that statement of Bono's, the "best band in the world" thing, was more of a statement that they were going to try to do it, as opposed to claiming that they'd achieved it. There's quite a difference there. Of course it's easy to blow up something like that and portray Bono as the Egomaniac From Hell. He'll never win a humility contest, but hell, they don't have humility competitions, do they? Isn't that sort of an oxymoron?

mmmm...I don't know....I could not for the life of me figure out WHAT in the hell bono was up to with that remark.
I mean, it's the first thing he's ever said where I was like "what the fuck????"
even if they're my favorite band on the planet, I don't want him walking around saying that shit....because it's not even remotely true.
there's NO SUCH THING as the "best band on the planet"...just whatever your favorite is.

 

[Saracene]

Bono explained later that he basically said it to motivate themselves and piss off people.

 

[RavenStar]

If it wasn't for britney and *NSTYNC who would people make fun of? They are successful. They followed their dreams. Alot of people don't do that. Even if pop stars arent that liked my rock fans they are living the life they want. I have a certain amount of respect for them because of that.

 

[JOFO]

I have to admit you're right about them following their dreams and all.......
it's just that the cheese factor of their product outweighs any consideration of soul searching satisfaction on their part that I cannot say my first statement without a smirk on my face.

just look at joey fatone; an overweight knuclehead with bright red hair singing songs for 12 year old girls.

 

[RavenStar]

Joey seems like a nice guy though. I saw him and Chris on muchmusic with Rick and they are hilarious.

 

[follower]

"We?re lucky, what we do for a living happens to be absolutely the top of the pyramid of experiences. We all aspire to the condition of Music, because it?s the language of the spirit. I don?t know of any other experience like it...other than being in love, because music is a force of love. Even when music is angry and agitaded, if it?s ringing true than it?s a force of love. If somebody is coughing up their real experiences in order to make sense of them, then that?s an amazing thing."

Those are Bono?s words you can find in the booklet of Boston Elevation Tour DVD. I think they are substantive on explaining U2?s point of view concerning music and its real dimension.