Big charts and coffee

[Jeff McCloud <teamccloud at yahoo_com>]

Delurking for a comment on Aaron's comments:

I have to admit, if Ohio did reach the "Big
charts," I
might be a little less than enthused. I kind of
like
my music to be on the unknown side. In fact, when
music I like does hit the big charts, I tend to
back
away. For instance, Sixpence none the richer's
"Kiss
me" was out for nearly a year before it hit the
big
charts. I loved that song, for so many reasons.
But
once it hit the big time, it started losing
meaning.
Perhaps it's because it was literally blared on
every
radio station in the world 25 times a day, or
perhps
it is because I saw droves of teeny boppers
singing
along, just like Leah was Brittany Spears, not
looking
at the melody, not knowing about the poem Matt
Slocum
based the song on.
I just did not want to associate myself with that
song.
I guess what I'm trying to convey (unsucessfully)
is
that reaching the big time is not enough for a
song or
an album. Sure, it is good for the artist's
pocketbooks and egos, but, if the listeners don't
know
what the song is about, if they cannot comprehend
the
music's art (like the teeny boppers who absorbed
"Kiss
Me"), then isn't it all for nill? 
I just heard Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight
Club,
Choke, and Lullaby) say that when he read "The
Great
Gatsby as a teenager for High school, he could
not
understand the art and beauty, but now he is an
adult,
he can. I think this also pertains to good music
that
hit's the big charts.

Any thoughts? Am I just being a synical
iconoclast
(again)?


I say:

My knee-jerk reaction to this has always been:
Good Lord, people, aren't you ever happy?

But that doesn't get a good dialogue going. My
take on this is that bands like Over the Rhine
create outstanding art that is 100 times better
than most of what's on the radio. I feel the same
way -- strongly -- about U2. Their music will
speak to me in ways that many, many other bands
and artists never will -- even when U2 sells 15
million copies of an album. In my mind, that
doesn't detract from the quality of the music.
It's like coffee -- you can get Maxwell House or
you can get Starbucks. One is vastly superior to
the other, in my opinion, and definitely more
satisfying.

As for radio, I started to tire of Top 40 radio
in high school and college when stations kept
playing the same songs over and over and over.
And this simply kills many good songs, making
them so they grate on my nerves. So, to a degree,
I agree with Aaron on this point. At the same
time, isn't this a chance to evangelize a little,
if you will, and tell other people about the rest
of the meaning behind a song such as "Kiss Me"?

Now, unfortunately, I must get back to work and
drink the Maxwell House coffee provided -- free
-- here at my new job.

Jeff McCloud, who will be ordering "Ohio" soon
after getting his check for sitting on the
Elizabethtown Zoning Hearing Board.




=====
Jeff McCloud
226 Arch St.
Elizabethtown, Pa. 17022
Home: (717) 361-8317
Mobile: (717) 468-0306
E-mail: teamccloud at yahoo_com

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/