If You're Not interested In Music, Don't Read THis!

OK.  This has nothing to do with marketing, but I just can’t help myself.  

I watched American Idol on Tuesday (big mistake), but the truth is I was taken in by the fact that the contestants were singing songs by Queen.  I’m a big Queen fan.  And the show reaffirmed what I already know--Freddie Mercury was one hell of a vocalist!  

After listening to the “singers” trying to deal with Queen’s outrageous chord progressions, I gained a newfound respect for Mercury’s vocals.  When I heard Brian May basically telling that guy Ace to kiss off because Ace wanted him to make “We Will Rock You” easier for him to sing, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Seriously…the American idol producers should be ashamed of themselves for making the "singers" deal with true rock greatness.  

But I digress…

But what really  got me up in arms was the final singer Paris Bennett when she sang, “The Show Must Go On.”

When she got to the chorus, she was trying to get the audience involved with a “come on, come on”.  

Excuse me?  

Did she or did she not bother to take a look at the lyrics?  

A song about inner heartbreak while keeping a smile on.  And the audience is supposed to be whooping and cheering?  

Give me a break!  

Unfortunately, Paris is not alone.  I am disturbed by what I see as a “disconnect” with music.  

Have you noticed it?

I see so many people clueless when they sing songs—oblivious to the lyrics and cut off from its meaning.  

I still remember reading an article about a high school graduation where they played Everclear’s “Everything” and the article described it as beautiful and moving.  

Did anyone bother to listen to the whole song?  I guess parental fighting is a nice theme for a graduation.  

And classical music (one of my great passions) is not immune to this.

I’ve noticed a trend in classical performance where the tempos get sped up a lot.  It may not seem like a big deal, but there are many dark and somber pieces that were written to be played s-l-o-w-l-y.  

I'm not sure why this is happening, and I'm sure there are a ton of people with theories.  But I won’t be putting forth any of them in this blog space.

But I will say this…

If you think you might be one of these people who is out of touch with the meaning of music, I urge you to listen to your favorite song or piece of music and listen to it--really listen to it, and connect with it.  

You’ve got the weekend.  Take your time and enjoy it.  

I’ll be listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Beethoven's 3rd Symphony--one of my musician friends claimed it was the best of the 9, so I'll listen to it more carefully than I usually do.  

To Your Continued Success,

Carlon Haas
www.carlonhaas.com