Music

Regenerative Culture Music, Art & Creativity
#1

On second look, this was posted on the wrong board. Mods please move to Music/creativity board.

Ai have thought long and hard about what kind of music ai want for my future children, grandchildren, etc. to know and create, but ai cant come to any difinitive decision. Ai thought about just making things up, but what style could ai use? Ai thought of using the tunes of the oldest european music ai could and just making new words for them, since ai figure most old songs are just adaptations of their old indigenous music, like the blues is to west African music. The oldest ai found was rennaisance folk songs via http://www.owainphyfe.com/ . Other than that, ai dont know.
Anyone else dealing with this? Any suggestions?

#2

Hi Chase,

I’ve thought about this a number of times in the past. Music is something that will never cease being important to me.

I feel that wherever you find a culture that inspires you to rewild, the music can be an appropriate soundtrack.

I love classic rock… it’s not “old” music but its roots run deep. I bring my love of Hendrix, Dylan, the Who, etc to rewilding. I have faith that those musical influences could gracefully work their way into a rewilding culture that I might one day be a part of.

#3

For me, any authentic musical grieving speaks to my rewilding. I’ve noticed a pattern that “roots” music, and indigenous music-making, very commonly express grieving. Whether flamenco, scottish bagpipe, appalachian a cappella, blues, saami singing, lakota sweat lodge songs. they all cry, cry, cry. oh, the wind and the rain! indigenous instruments often have a moaning, wailling, weeping sound to them.

I read in one of Martin Prechtel’s books that his tzutujil people have one word, for both singing and weeping.

a lot of modern music “fakes” this dark emotional quality, I think. I believe we lost the ability to grieve musically, as a culture, when we crossed that line into colonizers. Hence the awe people in our culture feel, to folks who can actually grieve musically (usually recently un- or recently-colonized peoples!), and to the idea of “soul” music.

Modern (often white) people feel like they have no soul, so they have a hard time expressing their own soul music. I think they only need to learn how to weep into a song to reclaim it.

I think about this a lot, as you can tell.

#4

More thoughts:

My friend Lisa would call this kind of thing, “duende”, after the flamenco tradition of possession by a wild, dark, almost demonic natural spirit while singing. For me, any art that doesn’t put its heart on the chopping block, doesn’t stick its neck out, that doesn’t strip itself naked, to save and affirm life…well, it mostly doesn’t interest me, and it certainly doesn’t feel wild to me.

#5

I recently discovered the Raconteurs (a classic rock revival band…in a GOOD way). MAN OH MAN have they got soul. Grief makes up a good part of their lyrics–they have inspired me to cry. I’m going to post some lyrics over in that topic right now. :smiley: