Sifting

KNOWING that I like songs and music, some friends introduced me to two of our latest singing sensations, Adele and Bruno Mars. This development triggered in me the thought that we need to be most careful and very discerning in the appreciation of today’s music.

When I first heard Adele, my first reaction was negative. She sounded drunk, or a woman wronged, mournful, melancholic. My friends immediately assured me it’s worthwhile to be more patient and to try to grow a certain taste for her style.

True enough, when I heard her “Set fire to the rain,” I started to reconsider. She has a very powerful voice, but more than that, it’s a voice with a great ability to shift tones with rapidity, and to think that she’s only in her early 20s.

That flipping style and her very unusual or, I would even say, erratic way of phrasing seem to sound like the rumblings of a volcano nearing eruption. The pent-up emotions and passions are seeking a hole, or making it, to find urgent release.

Then I started to listen to her other songs. “Someone like you” can really make you cry. Those abrupt and sharp shifts from low to high tones can leave you feeling like you are twisting in the wind. “Chasing pavements,” “Rolling in the deep,” etc., reinforce the lingering impression she has a distinctive style that’s worth taking note of.

I examined the lyrics, and what can I say? They seem to be mainly plaintive, sad, and all that. There’s a king of angst, a sensation of being caught in a corner and not knowing what to do. And with her style, the emotions and sentiments become so transparent and raw they can be easily felt by the listener.

Composers nowadays seem to reflect very well the complicated and confused character of our times. There’s, of course, some merit in that. But I would not allow myself to be taken in by them completely. Caution always helps so as to avoid being swallowed by rampaging emotions. These composers can express the pathos and ethos of the times.

Sometimes, I say, poor Adele. Oh, what she has to go through, and how she is coping with it all! No wonder, Adele is raking in many awards. Must be making a lot of money too.

Then I listened to Bruno Mars and I immediately understood why many people, especially the young, like him. He has such a funny and cheerful style that you like to dance and simply to be carefree. I believe his songs are more of the R and B and reggae types, but he actually blends many genres. That’s versatility for you.

And yet he is also capable of being extremely mushy. His “Talking to the moon” is even haunting. Yes, he has a powerful voice, high-pitched yet solid, and yes, he also knows how to flip not only tones but also in phrasing. What a singer!

I again looked at the lyrics of his songs, mostly if not all composed by him. And again they reflect the temper of the times—complex, a bit confused, playful, mischievous, rebellious, etc.

But there’s no doubt that together with the tune and beat, they are very catchy, and easily accessible, as the Wiki describes them. Just check out his “Lazy song.” I find it funny, but also disturbing. I know it’s not just a song. It is an expression of today’s mind and attitude.

All these considerations bring us to what I feel we need to do—to be careful, to not easily be taken in by the external charms of the songs and music. We need to go deeper into the spirit that animates them—whether they are good, healthy and safe or not. We have to learn to sift the good from the evil, the safe from the dangerous.

Truth is the more engaging or stimulating or absorbing or, worse, addicting, some things like songs and gadgets are to our senses, emotions and mind, the more we have to refer them to God.

They should not be left to tickle us only in those levels and aspects. They need to be related to God, scrutinizing them spiritually, not carnally or emotionally, nor even intellectually alone. Those would not be enough. Those only give us a part of the picture, and can be dangerous if not related to God and not assessed spiritually also.

We have to learn to do this. But I am afraid this need is not yet widely felt. Well, we have challenge before us.