Let me open this informal essay by quoting one of the great minds of all of civilization, Confucius, who, sadly is now seen as more of a source for comedy than the brilliant, insightful man of spirituality and genius that he certainly was:
"In order to determine if a society is well-ordered (healthy*) one need only examine its music."
That such a man could place this much import to what we now use (and abuse) as a simple accompaniment to images generally of a vulgar or immature nature, is puzzling, perhaps, at first. Let us on our own consider the purpose and meaning of this statement.
I would like to follow this with a comment by Brooks Atkinson, after he had seen a performance of a Broadway show in which Al Jolson performed:
"Sometimes people speak with condescension of Tim Pan Alley songwriters and the singers of songs In view of the bathos that comes out of both places, that is not surprising. But the value of the service singers of songs frequently perform should not be underestimated. For a popular song, sung with skill and sincerity, can be something of a dispensation. The songs we love bind us together more securely than the principles we live by. They are the nations freest currency. They communicate the ecstasy of living.* "
The songs he speaks of are those of the standard repertoire of American popular music known collectively now at the Great American Songbook, those lovely tunes and lyrics by such people as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern among many others.
Mr. Atkinson gives us more fodder to chew and re-chew, test, ponder and analyze.
***
That we are observing the death of Western Civilization can no longer be in doubt, nor can it be stopped or avoided. Although this may be seen throughout all areas of human endeavor (particularly politics and the reportage of the news) we can also see it in the perversion of what was originally rather benign liberal policies of human equality and reason. We can see it in the absurdities of the "Politically Correct,"; we can see it most clearly in our art.
More on this in the coming weeks.
