Page 121 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

9

Music

with Brett Ingram

When we talk about films, television shows, books, or politics, we often

ask if they “ make sense ” : whether or not they fulfill our expectations of
what is reasonable, likely, or possible based on what we know of how life
works. We measure these things according to a standard of realism – how
much they approximate or accurately represent the world as we know it,
our reality. When we discuss music, on the other hand, we tend to use
impressionistic language that refers to experiences of sight (Goth music
is “ dark ” ), smell (blues music is “ funky ” ), taste (sentimental ballads are
“ saccharine ” ), or touch (rock is either “ hard ” or “ soft ” ). We may still ques-
tion if music “ makes sense, ” but our use of the term draws our attention
more directly to what it makes us feel and what it makes our bodies do,
rather than what it makes us think. At its best, music seems to circumvent
rational thought and transport us to a realm of sensual, pre - verbal exist-
ence. Our reaction is almost primal, or spiritual, and the conventional
wisdom suggests that to think too much about music is to rob it of some
of its pleasure. As the Eminem song suggests, you have to “ lose yourself in
the music ” in order to achieve this state of transcendence. This is a theme
echoed in many pop lyrics. In her 1980s hit “ Get into The Groove, ”
Madonna encourages the listener to do that very thing, and to “ let the
music set you free ” ; AC/DC ’ s classic “ For Those About to Rock (We Salute
You) ” turns the name of a genre into a verb, as does Justin Timberlake ’ s
single “ Rock Your Body, ” something he proposes doing “ until the break
of day. ” In all of these examples, and in many other pop songs, the words
that accompany the music point self - referentially back to the sensory
experience of embodiment, affect, and immediacy rather than to some
external reality of clearly defined people, places, and things that the music

represents or seeks to approximate. Music occupies a vaguely defi ned ter-
ritory which blurs the distinction between mind and body, conscious and