Monday, October 14, 2013

The Song goes all awry

My dad to date has a strong liking for the evergreen songs between the 1950’s to 1980’s which speak volumes about the music composers in those days and recommends the same to me. And he is not the only person to do that. Every time we hear the songs from that era, a nostalgic feeling arises within ourselves every time we listen to them and why not? They are classics and definitely are priceless gems which will never tarnish and are immortal. Some of my personal favorites:

Times have changed, but not really for good.
Now, my dad doesn't take a liking to the songs which are churned out nowadays (except for a few, of course) and that’s completely justified according to him and I  also agree to it. Each one of you would surely agree to that. Today’s songs are like fast food. You get addicted initially, enjoy it but you’re never be able to savor it properly and you end up getting bored of it after a while. In short, such songs have a very short shelf life. Still not convinced? Check these out!


Both the songs took the whole world by storm but are they still so popular now? No. Why? Because they were dethroned from their so-called No.1 position and soon they were out of public’s mind.
People’s taste for music has changed a lot over the years. We are a part of Gen X who is insanely impatient. We see/hear, love, dump, go for something else and the cycle goes on and on. The songs of today- Hindi, English or of any other language, have totally lost their melody, save for a few but they too aren't anywhere close to those classics which we still adore. One can easily blame it on the amalgamation of music with technology. That shows how rapidly technology is advancing but the real concern is, people are misusing it. And now majority of the tunes aren't generated instrumentally, but electronically as a whole which according to me robs the song of its chastity. And the same goes for the lyrics which are written nowadays. People claim that it is done so that it could fit in with our generation who love cool, funky and sometimes, even vulgar stuff. Some of them make an effort to convey something meaningful but that's rare and most of the lyrics are written keeping in mind how much money it will bring in . Check out these videos and see for yourselves the level to which contemporary music has sunk to-


It’s great to have music of different genres since we all have distinct tastes. Some love pop, some love metal rock (By the way, I despise it) and the list goes on. But the contemporary music could be more enriched if it has more of melody and soul in it. One suggestion could be encouraging folk music which is slowly but steadily happening and in addition also has created a fan base for itself. Less amount of electronically generated music may also be a solution. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it should be used at the right places and should be in sync with the lyrics, not just for the heck of it.   And say no to Song recycling and Plagiarism. That’s something I think is totally stupid and mauls the melody of the original, but some people never seem to learn and end up embarrassing themselves.


Slowly but surely, now people are drawing themselves towards the evergreen melodies and towards new talent who believe in pure music, not cacophony. And when I see others savoring them, I feel that some hope’s still there.
KARTHIK VARDARAJAN

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