Philosophy
On a listserve I subscribe to concerning the academic study of the Grateful Dead, there's been an interesting conversation around the nature of soul, not in the sense of an immaterial essence that survives the body, but soul in art, specifically, in music. The conversation began as a discussion differentiating the lived experience of people who had attended shows by both the Dead and Phish, many (but not all) of whom saying that while they enjoyed and appreciated the latter, there was something different, a depth, a spirituality, something that didn't quite touch them deep down in the same way.
Hypotheses to account for this difference looked at the subject matter and lyrical qualities of the words of the songs, at the musical influences, at the times from which the bands emerged, and their biographical details.
There seems little doubt that some music "has more soul" than others. A rough necessary, but not sufficient condition for "soul" seems to be the ability to invoke an emotional response through empathy with the performer. If someone is being a jerk and their art is insulting and obnoxious, it may cause strong feelings, but that is not soulful; yet, if the performer is angry or portraying anger towards something in the song and it causes you to experience the same sort of emotion, that would be soulful.
Now the standard cliche is "You have to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues." So is soul something that is more than technique, more than the musical equivalent of method acting? Is it something that itself requires the lived experience of strong emotions? Do you have to have been in dire straits and come out the other side to acquire soul? Is it something like, "Once one has felt emotions in a deep place, it is then possible to communicate emotionally in a different way, but trying to copy someone without having 'been in that place' makes it inauthentic and ineffective"?
The music we tend to associate with being soulful does seem to come overwhelmingly from oppressed minorities. Is this a function of the suffering that social and political alienation and violation bring with them? Is soul the artistic version of post-traumatic stress disorder? Those in the group wielding the most power not only have many fewer opportunities to experience great joy or suffering, but tend to be suspicious of strong emotions since they rock the boat, they are a first step towards challenging the structure that gives them their power. Systemic control and self-control seem related and this would mean that those in control would prefer a music that emphasizes self-control -- technical virtuosity and lyrical cleverness instead of emotional amplification.
And in our two bands, we seem to see something similar. Phish's music was certainly different from that of the Dead exploring tone and tempo in interesting ways that were much different from the Dead. Lyrically also, the Dead tend to come from the folk/bluegrass tradition with songs of betrayal and mortality where Phish's lyrics tended towards the ironic and off-beat. This shouldn't seem odd when the Grateful Dead arose from the Beats into interesting times as the ancient Chinese curse would have it, a period of war, assassination, and the struggle for rights, but also a time when there was a belief that the younger generation could change the world with music, love and chemical substances. The music contained, often mournfully, the residue of the times.
But Phish came out of the Reagan years into the era of irony, from a generation that traded scornful glares with the baby-boomers, a time when naive optimism had frayed and a different ethos was running amok in the suburban world of those drawn to scene. When double-speak became the coin of governance and a love/hate relationship emerged towards complacency. The vague fear of losing the comfortable lifestyle always loomed, but the milquetoast existence also repressed. The key to dealing with this sense of the bifurcated neurotic self was musical dada, controlled chaos, safety in rebellion. But to paraphrase Nietzsche, it was upon these grounds that the mind became interesting. Maybe distance is needed for playfulness. The Latin word "esse" gets translated as both mind and soul, but the two seem to be different.
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Philosophy
The Nature of Soul
On a listserve I subscribe to concerning the academic study of the Grateful Dead, there's been an interesting conversation around the nature of soul, not in the sense of an immaterial essence that survives the body, but soul in art, specifically, in music. The conversation began as a discussion differentiating the lived experience of people who had attended shows by both the Dead and Phish, many (but not all) of whom saying that while they enjoyed and appreciated the latter, there was something different, a depth, a spirituality, something that didn't quite touch them deep down in the same way.
Hypotheses to account for this difference looked at the subject matter and lyrical qualities of the words of the songs, at the musical influences, at the times from which the bands emerged, and their biographical details.
There seems little doubt that some music "has more soul" than others. A rough necessary, but not sufficient condition for "soul" seems to be the ability to invoke an emotional response through empathy with the performer. If someone is being a jerk and their art is insulting and obnoxious, it may cause strong feelings, but that is not soulful; yet, if the performer is angry or portraying anger towards something in the song and it causes you to experience the same sort of emotion, that would be soulful.
Now the standard cliche is "You have to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues." So is soul something that is more than technique, more than the musical equivalent of method acting? Is it something that itself requires the lived experience of strong emotions? Do you have to have been in dire straits and come out the other side to acquire soul? Is it something like, "Once one has felt emotions in a deep place, it is then possible to communicate emotionally in a different way, but trying to copy someone without having 'been in that place' makes it inauthentic and ineffective"?
The music we tend to associate with being soulful does seem to come overwhelmingly from oppressed minorities. Is this a function of the suffering that social and political alienation and violation bring with them? Is soul the artistic version of post-traumatic stress disorder? Those in the group wielding the most power not only have many fewer opportunities to experience great joy or suffering, but tend to be suspicious of strong emotions since they rock the boat, they are a first step towards challenging the structure that gives them their power. Systemic control and self-control seem related and this would mean that those in control would prefer a music that emphasizes self-control -- technical virtuosity and lyrical cleverness instead of emotional amplification.
And in our two bands, we seem to see something similar. Phish's music was certainly different from that of the Dead exploring tone and tempo in interesting ways that were much different from the Dead. Lyrically also, the Dead tend to come from the folk/bluegrass tradition with songs of betrayal and mortality where Phish's lyrics tended towards the ironic and off-beat. This shouldn't seem odd when the Grateful Dead arose from the Beats into interesting times as the ancient Chinese curse would have it, a period of war, assassination, and the struggle for rights, but also a time when there was a belief that the younger generation could change the world with music, love and chemical substances. The music contained, often mournfully, the residue of the times.
But Phish came out of the Reagan years into the era of irony, from a generation that traded scornful glares with the baby-boomers, a time when naive optimism had frayed and a different ethos was running amok in the suburban world of those drawn to scene. When double-speak became the coin of governance and a love/hate relationship emerged towards complacency. The vague fear of losing the comfortable lifestyle always loomed, but the milquetoast existence also repressed. The key to dealing with this sense of the bifurcated neurotic self was musical dada, controlled chaos, safety in rebellion. But to paraphrase Nietzsche, it was upon these grounds that the mind became interesting. Maybe distance is needed for playfulness. The Latin word "esse" gets translated as both mind and soul, but the two seem to be different.
- The Dead: Facsimile Or Reformation?
The Dead just announced a spring tour. Lots of excited chatter on the internets tubes. Then the prices were announced. Around $100 a ticket. Much grumbling ensued. The reason for the exorbitant prices during a recession is that they are afraid. At the...
- Is Getting Your Mind Blown A Religious Experience?
Thinking back over the UMass conference a few months back, Unbroken Chain, one moment still stands out. It was during the first day's panel on the Grateful Dead and religious experience. During the q&a, someone told the story of going to a festival...
- Me And My Uncle: Justice, Irony, And Schadenfreude
One of the pieces in The Grateful Dead and Philosophy that I really love is the one written by own playground playpal Hanno. It's called "Me and My Uncle...and Thomas Hobbes" and examines a question that arises out of the Dead's most performed...
- James Brown, Rip
The Godfather of soul, the hardest working man in show business, soul brother number 1, the one and only Jaaaaaaames Brown has left us. In addition to his own magnificent works, he had a lasting effect on popular music. Brown's work putting the accent...
- Deceased--don Cornelius
Don CorneliusSeptember 27th, 1936 to February 1st, 2012 Not a good way to start Back History Month. Even this "cracker" enjoyed Soul Train."Don Cornelius, ‘Soul Train’ Creator, Is Dead at 75"byJames C. McKinley Jr.February 1st, 2012The New York TimesDon...