Skip to main content

The Libertines - Anthem For Doomed Youth

The blues points to a critical question for every person, What do we do with our sadness, pain, and disappointment? Do we use them to see more meaning in things and people? Do we use them to be kinder? Or do we use them to feel the whole world is bad, and to retreat from or lash out at other people? This, Aesthetic Realism explains, is the central fight in the mind of every person between the desire to like and respect the world, and the desire for contempt, which Eli Siegel defined as the disposition in every person to think we will be for ourselves by making less of the outside world. Contempt is as ordinary as a son not giving full attention to his mother, thinking, I know what she’s going to say. But it is the cause of all unkindness, including racism and economic injustice, which so many African American blues artists suffered from, and people suffer from right now. But no one can like themselves for having contempt.

Years ago, while I could act cheerful and make people laugh, I often felt very low. I hoped to make it as a jazz pianist, but I felt I never got the breaks. I hoped for love, but I felt, Why doesn’t someone appreciate me? And while I’d call myself names, essentially I blamed the world for my unhappiness. What I didn’t know and was to learn from Aesthetic Realism is that I had a hope to be displeased, and to feel distinguished in my misery, deeper and more sensitive than other people, and too good for the world. This was contempt, and it was the reason I didn’t like myself and often felt depressed.

The blues as musical form is against depression, even as the lyrics may describe that depressed feeling... I have looked at some of the ways the blues, because it makes a one of opposites, is beautiful, moves us, thrills us and meets our deep hope to put opposites together. I conclude with this, which comments importantly on the meaning and value of the blues.


The Libertines - Anthem For Doomed Youth
  • Released on: Sep 11, 2015
  • Genre: Rock, Indie Rock
  • Released on: Anthems for Doomed Youth album

"The Libertines led by vocalists/guitarists Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, updates the traditions of British rock, which helped reinvigorate British indie. The pair formed the band with their neighbor Steve Bedlow, initially known as the Strand."

See previous Song of the Day

Labels:
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jackson Browne - Kisses Sweeter than Wine

Europe has a rich history of embracing blues and jazz music. In the early 20th century, American jazz musicians began touring Europe, introducing the continent to a new sound that was unlike anything they had ever heard before. Jazz became an instant hit among European audiences, and many European musicians began incorporating jazz elements into their music. Today, jazz festivals are held all over Europe, attracting thousands of fans from all over the world. In addition, many European cities have thriving blues scenes, with local bands and musicians performing regularly. Blues and jazz have also made their way to Asia, where they have found a devoted fan base. Japan, in particular, has a thriving jazz scene, with many Japanese musicians achieving international recognition. In addition, China has also seen a rise in the popularity of jazz music in recent years. Jazz festivals are now held in major Asian cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, attracting jazz lovers from all over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Veronica Swift - A Little Taste

There has always been an uncomfortable tension between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, a cyclical influence that vacillates between inspiration, appropriation and separation. Popular music has broken off into categories of rock, pop, country, and R&B, each with their own origin stories. But R&B and rock, usually codified as vastly different, Black and white styles, have long been intertwined in ways our historical memory may have us forget.  Despite the innovation that comes from separation, rock and R&B always find their way back to each other. In recent years, rock veterans have turned to the genre’s classics for inspiration. Queens of the Stone Age veered from their typical hard rock with 2017’s Villains, a dance y album inspired by frontman Josh Homme’s love of 1920s jazz and swing, other Black genres that laid the groundwork for the popular music of today. The whitewashing of rock’s history has oversimplified music’s malleability and silenced the voices of Amer...
Post a Comment
Read more

Moondog - Behold

The history of jazz has been one of fusion. Its musicians and composers have continually drawn upon a huge range of different musics to create the rich and diverse tapestry that is world jazz today. Jazz is an evolving tradition of music making. And how often, in the life stories of individual jazz musicians, do we see these same patterns operating at microcosm? The richness of Turkish music and culture sometimes seems at odds with its turbulent and cruel history. In 1979... the country suffered its third military take over in thirty years... Every kind of music was in Turkey at that point. But it was not appreciated. To understand the culture of the country, with those three military takeovers, Turkey could not go anywhere. Musically, it was very difficult. But things were beginning to happen. Traditional Turkish music is essentially monophonic, rich in melody and rhythm but with little by way of harmony. The contrast with western music, with its beautiful harmonies but rhythmic weakn...
Post a Comment
Read more