Worm
Taste the diffidence
Re: Does your knowledge of an artists politics affect your appreciation of thier musi
As I understand your statement, it would be sort of like putting political questions to an audience in a way that is political without also being partisan?
Well, what I meant by "conned" is that the writer uses his wiles to sway you toward his way of thinking. Sophistry, in a word. It isn't a simple, direct use of unadorned reason to connect with your purely rational mind. Plato attacked poetry because the poet bewitched his audience. Even if his teachings were salutary, they were inherently corrupt because of the poet's use of his subrational arts to influence his audience. Today, music often repeats the "magic" of the epic poets in pre-Socratic Greece. How many times have we seen audiences swayed by music to adopt some kind of political position which, in the sober light of day, is silly and illogical, or at the very least poorly thought out? (U2 comes to mind.)
For that matter, isn't there something intrinsically flawed even in the case of a sound, logical political position expressed in music, precisely because it is transmitted in a rock song?
Also, if you appreciate the way artists approach familiar issues from unexpected angles, how come you don't appreciate Billy Bragg more? Or is that your point, that you appreciate the unexpected angle, even if you ultimately decide it's silly? I suppose the two viewpoints aren't mutually exclusive.
Perhaps, in some sense, but my point here was lyrics who manage to put political questions to you in such a way that agreeing or disagreeing with the writer’s political orientation seems to be beside the point.
As I understand your statement, it would be sort of like putting political questions to an audience in a way that is political without also being partisan?
Well, isn’t that a basic characteristic of all great writing? That it speaks to you while failing to fit comfortably and wholly into whatever preconceived categories you’re equipped with? It doesn’t make me feel conned, it makes me feel rewarded by the effort of listening. We are all already familiar with the conventional arguments against whatever political creed we subscribe to, and generally profit little from their restatement. It’s most useful to have familiar issues approached from unexpected angles. I don’t see it as conning. Anyway, if it is, and I’m unable to suss it, it’s a fair cop.
Well, what I meant by "conned" is that the writer uses his wiles to sway you toward his way of thinking. Sophistry, in a word. It isn't a simple, direct use of unadorned reason to connect with your purely rational mind. Plato attacked poetry because the poet bewitched his audience. Even if his teachings were salutary, they were inherently corrupt because of the poet's use of his subrational arts to influence his audience. Today, music often repeats the "magic" of the epic poets in pre-Socratic Greece. How many times have we seen audiences swayed by music to adopt some kind of political position which, in the sober light of day, is silly and illogical, or at the very least poorly thought out? (U2 comes to mind.)
For that matter, isn't there something intrinsically flawed even in the case of a sound, logical political position expressed in music, precisely because it is transmitted in a rock song?
Also, if you appreciate the way artists approach familiar issues from unexpected angles, how come you don't appreciate Billy Bragg more? Or is that your point, that you appreciate the unexpected angle, even if you ultimately decide it's silly? I suppose the two viewpoints aren't mutually exclusive.
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