Pleasure
1.) Alabama, "Dixieland Delight," Country, 1983.
2.) Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit," Rock n Roll, 1967.
3.) Snoop Dogg, "Gin and Juice," Hip Hop, 1993. (Explicit)
4.) Styles P, "Good Times," Hip Hop, 2002. (Explicit)
5.) Rick James, "Mary Jane," R&B, 1978.
Community Service
1.) Future, "Spread Love Massive," Rock n Roll/Hip Hop, 2008.
2.) John Lennon, "Give Peace a Chance," Rock n Roll, 1969.
3.) Marty Robbins, "Big Iron," Country, 1959.
4.) Michael Jackson, "Earth Song," Pop, 1995.
5.) Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Power of Equality," Rock n Roll, 1991. (Explicit)
In my opinion, it is hard to say which of these aims is more prevalent. Placing pleasure before community service seems a bit selfish, but at the same time; placing the community before yourself doesn't make a ton of sense to me either. I personally would take the selfish route and say pleasure is the more prevalent aim, because ultimately making yourself happy is what's most important in life. While working on this assignment I was a bit surprised at how hard it was to find songs about community service. There were the obvious choices that seemed to be used on most everyone's list, so I had a somewhat difficult time picking out five different songs. Another observation I made was that almost any song, regardless of its true intentions, can be interpreted as a song about pleasure by one person or another. I feel that the Hindu understanding of the four aims is 100% different than what is expressed in American pop music. In my understanding of Hinduism, one aim is used to achieve the next with the ultimate goal being liberation. Songs about pleasure do have the intention to achieve worldly success, but the ultimate goal isn't liberation. I personally feel there is little to no correlation between the Hindu understanding, and American music.
I think you made a really good point when comparing the aims in Hinduism to the ideas in western culture. You're right, in Hinduism, they use pleasure to get to the next aim, until they reach the ultimate- liberation. But in western culture, we use pleasure just for pleasure, nothing more. Does that mean theres not as much meaning in our pleasure?
ReplyDeleteI really dug the part about how any song can be interpreted as being about pleasure. I feel like the fact that something is being expressed in a song contributes to that because the reason people listen to or sing songs is for pleasure. That could be why it's so easy for some people to get on the case of preachy musicians because it feels as if they're just singing about community service rather than actually doing anything concrete to serve their community.
ReplyDeleteI have to say the same about Hindu understanding. It's more along the line of what you think is right or sounds like a good song and is something you believe in. Also it's not so much as we Americans understand the Hindu Aims, we're not set in those parameters. We just believe in what feels and sounds good and most of the time it makes for great music even if it's about how hard life is or what tomorrow may or may not bring. Good tunes
ReplyDeleteTo add to this conversation, another aspect of the Hindu aims is that pleasure should be sought 'intelligently'. Most current pop songs don't include this provision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about how seeking pleasure may in fact be a bit selfish, but in order to progress to the next aim one must have pleasure. I know that it must be done intelligently, but if they did not feel pleasure was important they would have have made it the first aim that a person must accomplish to progress.
ReplyDelete