The hardest thing is rendering a
Moment moving too fast to endure
But you abide and smile wide cause
I want to remember this for sure
You can give me guns and politics and
I’ll just make a mess of it, you know
Give me art and sustenance and
The wiser wider part of me will show
Yeah yeah yeah
A picture says with sight
What we can’t say with words
But you’ve been walking eyes to feet
In dark sunglasses
A picture will survive
So smile and look alive
The camera lens is opening
The wider angle’s yours
Yeah every empty one of us have methods
To quell the madness of this pace
But yours have bled and are running south
Like dollar store mascara down your face
You could take that wait and all that fuss and
They’ll just get the best of us, you know
Give me love not suicide and
The wise wider part of me will show
Yeah yeah
A picture says with sight
What we can’t say with words
But you’ve been walking eyes to feet
In dark sunglasses
A picture will survive
So smile and look alive
The camera lens is opening
The wider angle’s yours!
Look alive, smile
Smile and look alive
Smile, smile and look alive
Yeah woah oh
A picture says with sight
What we can’t say with words
But you’ve been walking eyes to feet
In dark sunglasses
A picture will survive
So smile and look alive
A picture says with sight
What we can’t say with words
But you’ve been walking eyes to feet
In dark sunglasses
A picture will survive
So smile and look alive
The camera lens is opening
The wider angle’s yours
Look alive
Smile, smile and look alive
Yeah, smile and look alive
There are a few musicians in this world who truly know how to manipulate music in such a way that they completely purvey their message to an audience through song. The question arises, is it necessary for these musical heroes to be as immaculate as they are if not everyone fully comprehends the technical detail of what they’re doing? Do they really need to connect the musical ties that bind their music to satiate the sonic appetite of the average listener? People have been inundated with 128 (and recently 256) kbps digital music files to such a degree that, as a whole, we’ve lost sight of what makes music magical in the first place. If we’re missing out on all these aural details, what’s the point of giving the listeners a clean mess to listen to? I claim that these musical delicacies are what makes the musicians truly great, whether or not the majority of listeners realizes it.
The first time I brought this point up was in my 11th grade AP English class. We were discussing E.A. Poe’s ‘The Raven’. The discussion at hand was about why Poe would use such a high degree of poetic mathematics to compose this work, when the majority of readers wouldn’t even catch on to it. Some people thought he was just showing off. Others postulated it was conditioned into him from his long history of writing. I brought up a new point, relating the situation to music. I stated that there are miniscule properties of music that, when utilized, define the line between a good musician and a world class musician.
When I listen to music, whether it be Shostakovich or Incubus, I hear things that others don’t. It’s not magic, I just have a passion for it. This allows me to criticize musicians at a higher degree than those who do not share this passion. It’s not just a passion for music, it’s a desire to understand exactly how the mechanics of it work. It’s probably an engineering thing… Nonetheless, when I listen to a new Coldplay album, I can hear if they have continued progressing musically or if they’ve become lazy. It provides for some unwanted disappointment sometimes (I’m talking to you, Keane), but it’s still a fantastic ability which I wouldn’t trade for anything.
To stop getting off-topic and actually argue my point, let’s get right to it. When artists use their skill to take their product beyond the complete comprehension of the majority of their listeners, they push themselves to world class status. World class status in this sense does not have anything to do with success but more to do with their skill as compared to other musicians. Making sure that articulation combined with perfect dynamic maneuvering produces the musician’s desired effect is what gives music its magic. It’s what causes the fans to be continually perplexed and amazed by the music. It’s what causes the cult-like following of musicians of this upper echelon.
I don’t believe the musicians do this to show off. I also don’t completely believe they do it because of some sort of conditioning that makes it come naturally. I believe that their passion for a complete understanding of the physics of music is what produces this ethereal output. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this topic, but it’s still worth discussing. It’s sometimes frustrating when people don’t understand musical criticism based on these intricate facts, yet it’s comforting to know the root of my thirst for sonic excellence.