An Essay on Style


Todd recently sent me a tape of two of his songs, and he wanted me to
critique and comment on them in the "Refiner's Fire" list. While that's a
great idea, I feel strongly that I need to talk about them in the main list
because for me, listening to the songs, particularly the song about the
temple took me back to my feelings when we had some discussions about
musical appropriateness a few months ago. Listening to these songs, even in
their unfinished demo form, has inspired me to put these thoughts onto
"paper" so that we all can understand them and discuss them further.

I know that it's a very emotionally charged issue, and I know that many of
us have strong beliefs in what we're saying. I also know that these things
that I'm expressing are MY opinions and as such are NOT necessarily revealed
truth! :-) Others in the group have divergent opinions that can be just as
valid as mine, and my opinions are subject to change as I learn from you
all.

But before I get into the "issues", I do want to comment on the songs
themselves, very briefly. I like them both very much as songs. I love the
riff in the temple song. It has a cool sort of "Offspring-y" feel to it,
just on the verge of being punk, but not hard-core. The melody and the
guitar work in the second song is very tasty!

So, the big question is: Can a song about the temple be done in a hard rock
style? What about in a hard-core twangy country sound? What about by a
rapper? A fiddle jig by a bluegrass band? A bombastic symphony or opera?

Ultimately, what we're asking is this: What is the role of style in
conveying meaning?

I believe that music is emotion and thought communicated by sounds. As
composers and producers, there are a lot of sounds available to us in our
palette to paint with. As Julia D A pointed out in a quote by Lex DeA, a
sound is not, in and of itself, evil or good. Ecclesiastes points out that
there is a time and season for everything (turn, turn, turn... :-) ). The
thing that we need to remember is that sounds, by association, communicate
emotion to listeners. They hear a sound, and associate it with an
experience in their past and that creates an emotional response. Part of
the problem is that many people have had many different experiences with
many different sounds, so it's difficult to match them up in everyone.

Still, there are certain emotions that seem to be generally associated with
certain styles of music. Because of my own long-term association with the
rock sound and genre, I can speak quite clearly for it. I'd welcome people
with experiences in other genres to do a similar thing for country and
bluegrass, and folk, and... etc...

Rock music, particularly harder rock, in my mind, communicates the following
emotions really well (in no particular order of importance):

Power
Strength
Anger
Frustration
Exhilaration
Excitement
Sadness, loss
Fear
Fun and enjoyment
Indignation (righteous or not)
Some ways of expressing love's power and exhilaration
Thoughtfulness

And unfortunately, many have used it to convey spiritually destructive
emotions like quick thrills and lust.

This is, by no means, a comprehensive list. I'll probably think of more
before I close up this essay.

Some things that Rock, particularly hard rock doesn't handle as well are:

Peace
Tranquility
Other ways of expressing love's calm beauty
Relaxation
Contemplation

This is not to say that some hard rock bands don't on occasion do songs that
are peaceful, tranquil, even gentle love songs. But those songs usually are
not hard rock in sound.

So, let's get back to my original question: Can a song about the temple be
done in a hard rock style? (or any of those other styles I mentioned).

The answer, in my mind is: Yes, with a very big IF.

That should probably be spelled, "IIIIFFFF".


And that if is: IF the treatment of the emotion is correct. Let me draw
from two opposite examples of my own life.

ONE: Before I married, I wrote a song about temple marriage called,
"Promises, Promises". It dealt with the fact that we make strong promises
to each other binding ourselves together in the sealing covenant. It was
written with a rock, even a bit of a hard, rock beat.

The song didn't work. Why? I think a lot of it was that when I wrote it, I
had never been through a sealing ceremony, and I had no idea what it was
like or about. Yes, the ceremony is powerful, which if you check my list,
is there in the rock list, but it's a more contemplative kind of power.
Every time I participate in a sealing, either by proxy, or as a watcher, or
even in my own wedding, I have come away with a beautiful, uplifting sort of
calm, and an expanded mind. The song was kind of up-tempo and energetic.
It doesn't fit the emotional treatment of the experience. The result? That
song has been permanently mothballed.

TWO: Many times when I do a session in the temple, I come away with the
feeling that I have been "quickened by the Spirit." To me, that's an
excitement, an exhilaration that grabs me and makes me want to go out and DO
something GREAT! It moves my feet and my soul at the same time. For a
brief moment in time, the Lord gives me a glimpse of the total awe of the
universe.

I can remember once at the MTC, as we came out of our usual P-Day temple
session, I was feeling this way, possibly for the fist time. The song in my
head as I walked the clouds back to our dorm at the MTC and immersed myself
in the work was the ending of "Supper's Ready" by Genesis/Peter Gabriel.
It's a huge, slow sound, full of guitars and keyboards and drums in a loud
climax of volume. The words, excerpted:

"Can't you feel our souls ignite
Sparking ever changing colors
In the darkness of the fading night...

"...There's an angel standing in the sun
And he's crying in a loud voice,
'This is the supper of the mighty one
Lord of Lords
King of Kings
Has returned to lead His children home
To take them to their New Jerusalem'"

And it matched perfectly the emotion I was feeling. That song helped carry
me through the day, and still inspires me even now.

So, my point is, that IF the subject treatment matches the music's emotional
message, then the song works. And that's regardless of the style, and
regardless of the topic.

For example: A hard rock song about the peace of the temple doesn't work.
But-A hard rock song about the frustrating struggle to get one's life
cleaned up to be temple worthy DOES work, and they're both about the temple.

Another example: A bluegrass jig about a temple wedding and the deep
covenants made there, doesn't work. BUT-A bluegrass jig about the family
joy and celebration that comes when a family member is worthily sealed to
another, joining two families together, starting a third, in an eternal
connection, WORKS.

I could go on and on about all this. Prayer, Faith, Enduring, Priesthood,
all are topics that can be treated in any style, IF the emotional treatment
matches the style chosen.

I should add another "IF". The song has to be written from a perspective of
respect. If I were to write a song mocking the temple, it wouldn't matter
what style the song were, it wouldn't work, and ultimately would lead to my
condemnation.

It has sure helped me to clarify my thoughts on the subject as I've written
this, and I hope it helps many others understand the possibilities that lay
open to us in artistic expression.

MRKH







+++++

Mark Hansen

+++++

LDS inspirational rock music live! Performances by Mark Hansen for
firesides, youth activities. Free song!
http://markhansenmusic.com

Song downloads:
http://www.mp3.com/ajoyfulnoise





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