Sincerity is the key?
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:12 pm
Hi gang,
sincerity, or honesty, has been mentioned a few times by different people here as one of necessary features for rebel music. Of course, we can say it doesn't refer to rebel music only and alone, but still. In case of modern "chewing gum" pop, for instance, it may not be that important — you just have to "move to the music" and nobody really cares whether you believe that the performer is honest or not.
The question is, how do you decide for yourself whether the performer (singer, player) is honest or not? Say, why do you believe some John Smith and don't believe some Mike Green? Of course, we can always say "i either feel it or not", and that it's more of intuitive, but as they say, intuition comes with knowledge. We can also say that "if he's of (about) the same age, epoque, gender (?), national/social/cultural background as me, and he sings about something that i've experienced in my own life, i believe him", but is that all? Well, for some that does matter indeed (otherwise there would be no teenagers who throw away music of their fathers because it's "too old" and therefore they "cannot relate", etc), for some it doesn't (otherwise we wouldn't see teenagers listening to "oldies"). And don't you sometimes believe in sincerity of somebody who's telling about something you don't understand/never experienced? Or, did you ever have a moment when you wanted to believe the performer (cause you have — or once had — sympathy for him or whatever) but just couldn't for some reason?
Or — "an old rich person singing about poor teenager's problems cannot be sincere" (or "a well-fed guy singing about hunger", or "an adult American guy singing an impersonation of a small poor kid from Africa", etc). Is that always so or could there be exceptions? What if he [performer] is singing from his memory and re-lives his old emotions again?
So how do you decide whether this or that performer is sincere or not? (Yes, i know that's a silly and boring topic, but still )
As always, all kinds of opinions welcome.
sincerity, or honesty, has been mentioned a few times by different people here as one of necessary features for rebel music. Of course, we can say it doesn't refer to rebel music only and alone, but still. In case of modern "chewing gum" pop, for instance, it may not be that important — you just have to "move to the music" and nobody really cares whether you believe that the performer is honest or not.
The question is, how do you decide for yourself whether the performer (singer, player) is honest or not? Say, why do you believe some John Smith and don't believe some Mike Green? Of course, we can always say "i either feel it or not", and that it's more of intuitive, but as they say, intuition comes with knowledge. We can also say that "if he's of (about) the same age, epoque, gender (?), national/social/cultural background as me, and he sings about something that i've experienced in my own life, i believe him", but is that all? Well, for some that does matter indeed (otherwise there would be no teenagers who throw away music of their fathers because it's "too old" and therefore they "cannot relate", etc), for some it doesn't (otherwise we wouldn't see teenagers listening to "oldies"). And don't you sometimes believe in sincerity of somebody who's telling about something you don't understand/never experienced? Or, did you ever have a moment when you wanted to believe the performer (cause you have — or once had — sympathy for him or whatever) but just couldn't for some reason?
Or — "an old rich person singing about poor teenager's problems cannot be sincere" (or "a well-fed guy singing about hunger", or "an adult American guy singing an impersonation of a small poor kid from Africa", etc). Is that always so or could there be exceptions? What if he [performer] is singing from his memory and re-lives his old emotions again?
So how do you decide whether this or that performer is sincere or not? (Yes, i know that's a silly and boring topic, but still )
As always, all kinds of opinions welcome.