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louis · 10-01-08

Here’s what Louis thinks: Music is music. Notes are notes. Rhythm is rhythm. Me, and most of my peers, don’t care much about the musical quality of the stuff they listen to but are concerned more with the atmosphere, the “vibe” of it. In keeping with this, contemporary secular (commercial) culture use musical elements as mere tools with which to create a sellable atmosphere. The lyrics/words, in most cases, are incidental and inconsequential to the listener (said with respect to the belief in subconscious/subliminal influence, which I for one don’t share).

Another main element that I’d consider is the perceived “genre” the music appears to come out of. Someone who grew up with Nine Inch Nails will not be captivated by HillSongs, and this is simply based on differences in the inherent qualities of the genres. I expect that some responses to this could be based on “the Newborn Christian is a changed creature, how can you hold onto the old self…”.

Louis rambles on: HillSongs tend to echo emotions that are pure and positive, happy or glad or rejoicing, and they combine these with melody and harmony to create a sound that mostly resonates as major, producing a friendly, optimistic sound.
Nine Inch Nails, to the contrary, echo emotions that strike one as aggression, fear, doubt, anger, sadness, grief, regret, melancholy, etc. Mostly in minor. I speak for myself here of course, but HillSongs’ music simply doesn’t hold any appeal to me. In fact, I find contemporary Christian music of any genre downright irritating, simply because to me it appears contrived. In fact, if it’s not industrial music or at least heavy-hearted classical music, I prefer not to know about it.
I don’t know why, but I suspect it has to do with the general vibe of it – I’ve never liked “happy” or “nice” or “funny” or “pretty” music. Not as a child, and even less now.

How all of this jabbering of mine relates to the musical tastes of a teenager, I cannot tell. All I know is – I’m a happily married parent with two planned kids myself, and despite my (questionable) musical tastes, I am actually a good person and I have a relationship with Christ – as in He controls everything from my major decisions (emigrate or not), to my medium range issues (do I buy this car/house or not) to my more fleeting daily issues (do I manipulate a situation in my favour or do I let His will prevail).

Thanks for letting me confuse the issue completely