Hearts and Minds and Music
As I was listening to Loreena McKennitt tonight, I was struck with a thought that has been in and around my head for quite some time, regarding our current inchoate conflict (War in Iraq? Against Terror? Against Evil? Against Religious Extremism? Against Whatever This Week?).
Music, as many people from the time will tell you, played a large part in turning the younger generation (of the time) against the Vietnam War. It served as a form of underground discussion; heavy-handed counter attempts (The Ballad of the Green Berets, for example) were usually ridiculed or parodied, but rarely effective, at least as they were intended.
A similar musical discussion has been going on over the past 9 (yes, nine) years, but on a subtle level, at least comparatively. Listen. Do you here that? A doumbek. A zill. An oud. A qawwli chanter. Middle Eastern rhythms have come to infuse a lot of popular music, especially amongst the "fringe elements" of society. In Hip Hop, in House, in Trance, in Club, in Steampunk, in Dark Cabaret you will find these gatherings of such musical elements, establishing a dialogue with the "enemy", with the Other Culture, and finding something admirable there.
And this has primarily slipped under the radar of many people in this country ... even many of the people who have incorporated those tropes into their own tunes. The bridging of cultural bounds leads to understanding, thus less ability to see "The Other", but rather "another person/culture", a neutral-to-positive view instead of an automatic negative one, the view that is often so necessary in a war if it is to be carried forward.
These ideas are obviously still formative, but there is something here...
Music, as many people from the time will tell you, played a large part in turning the younger generation (of the time) against the Vietnam War. It served as a form of underground discussion; heavy-handed counter attempts (The Ballad of the Green Berets, for example) were usually ridiculed or parodied, but rarely effective, at least as they were intended.
A similar musical discussion has been going on over the past 9 (yes, nine) years, but on a subtle level, at least comparatively. Listen. Do you here that? A doumbek. A zill. An oud. A qawwli chanter. Middle Eastern rhythms have come to infuse a lot of popular music, especially amongst the "fringe elements" of society. In Hip Hop, in House, in Trance, in Club, in Steampunk, in Dark Cabaret you will find these gatherings of such musical elements, establishing a dialogue with the "enemy", with the Other Culture, and finding something admirable there.
And this has primarily slipped under the radar of many people in this country ... even many of the people who have incorporated those tropes into their own tunes. The bridging of cultural bounds leads to understanding, thus less ability to see "The Other", but rather "another person/culture", a neutral-to-positive view instead of an automatic negative one, the view that is often so necessary in a war if it is to be carried forward.
These ideas are obviously still formative, but there is something here...