Worldly Success:
1.) Jadakiss, "We Gonna Make it," Rap, 2001.
2.) Young Jeezy, "I Got Money," Rap, 2006.
3.) Lil Wayne, "A Milli," Rap, 2008.
4.) Jay-Z, "Success," Rap, 2007.
5.) The Notorious B.I.G., "Juicy," Rap, 1994.
1.) Willie Nelson, "On The Road Again," Country, 1980.
2.) Jay-Z, "99 Problems," Rap, 2004.
3.) Jay-Z, "Dope Man," Rap, 1999.
4.) Red Hot Chili Peppers, "The Zephyr Song," Rock, 2002.
5.) Johnny Cash, "Rusty Cage," Country, 1996.
In my opinion, the more prevalent aim differs depending on whether or not you are looking at it from an American music view or the Hindu view. Obviously for Hinduism, liberation is the ultimate goal, thus making it the more prevalent aim. However, for Americans and especially from the perspective of American music (of which I focused on rap and hip-hop,) worldly success is clearly the more prevalent aim. I had no trouble at all finding (rap) songs about worldly success, it seems that almost every other song I clicked on was about money or women or success in general. Hindus strive to achieve liberation, so the prevalence of that aim for Hindus is not surprising. And we as Americans who have grown up in this materialistic society are obviously going to strive for worldly success. There was little that surprised me while doing this assignment, I had a pretty clear idea and path of what songs and artists I wanted to explore and use, so there wasn't really anything different from what I was expecting. As I stated in last week's post about community service and pleasure, I feel that there isn't much correlation, between American pop music and the Hindu aims. In America, and American music, worldly success is something that is sought after and dreamed about by basically everyone. This seeking of success is typically not to achieve anything else, it is simply a selfish hunt for oneself. While in Hinduism, one aim is used to reach the next, so with the ultimate goal being liberation, worldly success along with the other aims are simply stepping stones to reach that ultimate goal.
I love the Johnny Cash song , great choice. I also made the same point about the importance of the two aims in the different cultures. Worldly possessions seem so impoartant in American culture. Its actually almost a sort of liberation to have all the best toys ie; worldly possessions.
ReplyDeleteYou commented on the fact that the results depended on the view of which we look at it (Hindu or American Song) and it's something I didn't think about. However, I did notice that the rap genre didn't lack in songs of success (regardless of if the artist understands what true success is). Great song selections!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your point about how Hindu society and American society differs in their ultimate goal. America is the land of opportunity where the rags to riches dream is real. For Americans, the ultimate goal is success and not just success but success without boundaries like in the Hindu caste system. In Hindu cultures success is only a part of a single lifetime but moksha is the ultimate goal for a soul with many lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was funny that all of your success songs come from the same genre - Rap! Rap music artists definitely tend to talk about their success a lot; so many songs just talk about their money, their cars or the women they are getting with their money and cars.
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