Music and History in the making.

 

 Music and History in the making.

There are various ways by which civilizations dispose of the bodies of those who died, and often their artistic images outlast their physical remains. Sometimes the burial monuments are preserved for their artistic value. We form our opinions about past civilizations by studying their art and creating stories around the artifacts. 

Up to mid-eighteen hundreds, only visual art could be preserved, and then humans developed specialized equipment to preserve sound. The Phonograph and soon later the Gramophone were invented. No longer only the high society could enjoy the best musical performances like operas, symphonies, and concerts. A hundred years later I arrived on earth and was part of the first generation of sound consumers using “vinyl” records to reproduce the art of music. A kid like me didn’t need to be born rich to go to operas and concerts. I could save my money and buy a “45” record and listen to the most popular music. Millions of us did.

For the first time in history, we had a way to gauge the effect of music and songs on culture. In 1963 I purchased a recording of The Browns singing the song Three Bells, or as many called it Jimmy Brown.

There’s a village hidden in the valley

among the pine trees half forlorn 

and there on a sunny morning

Little Jimmy Brown was born. (Bells ringing.)

The song goes on describing the second time bells ring for Jimmy Brown when he “meets his love” and a third time when he passed away. “Then the little congregation, Prayed for guidance from above, Lead us not into temptation, Bless this hour of meditation, Guide us with eternal life.” The old system where people were bred to work, reproduce, and die was changing. In Quebec, Canada, the Habitants realized that they were slaves of the rich and refused to slave away for an hour of meditation and promises of eternal love. They demanded equal wages, unionized, and got it. The “quiet revolution replaced the Duplessis era.”

In 1968 I bought another 45 record named “Master Jack” by Four Jacks and a Jill. In 68 the world was going wacky. The US looked almost like a war zone with people fighting in the streets. African countries were gaining freedom from Colonial powers and music was breaking all the old rules. Master Jack was recorded in South Africa where people were fighting against apartheid and started with the words  “It’s a strange, strange world we live in Master Jack.” It thanked Master Jack for teaching but said that “I want to see the world through my own eyes and I will never come back.” It sold millions of copies and the world changed some more. Master Jack, the British Empire, has no more colonies. Humankind was freeing itself from servitude for the privilege of staying alive. 

The ”seventies” were not easy, people worked hard and got rewarded accordingly. Many of us poor people joined the middle class and social programs took care of the most vulnerable. There was an outcry about the costs which proved to be “fake news”. We Canadians were paying much less per capita than our equals next door. Those of us who benefited from higher education worked, innovated, and made our province into what you see today. 

The last 45 vinyl record I remember purchasing was “Don’t cry for me Argentina” from the movie Evita. Here was a beautiful young woman from modest beginnings who made her way to the top. She had friends in high places and used her extraordinary skills in public relations to hand Argentina over to the elite, trusting that she would be able to help her people. She died young, and another took her place, ending up being the first female president of the country. That approach didn’t work. The two beautiful women should have focused on organizing the poor people to use their numbers for gaining rights, freedom, and equality. I have witnessed the power of an attractive young woman telling people to each organize five friends to protest injustice, and it worked. 

The world now is in turmoil, and people have enough of being used. People are scared to lose the world to the greed of a few. A pandemic arrived, miraculously at the right time, to expose how much those who benefit most don’t care about those who give them the wealth. 

For the time being, the governments are using the fear to prevent social action, but it gives the masses time to absorb their situation and plan for the future. 

Here I see our “elected representatives” trying to reduce and demoralize our social medical program. If we lose that the working people will once again be enslaved to their employers who will provide group health insurance that you lose if you don’t have a job.  So far the conflict is less on the streets and more on the internet, but this may change. Young people are aware of what awaits them if they don’t fight for their rights. 

Now music is on electronic devices, carried easily in a pocket, and entering the brain through headphones.  It is not the romantic music that my grandparents so admired and my mother sung to me when I was a baby. The music I hear is disturbingly loud and very emotional. It gives away the mood of the huge number of people who now inhabit the earth.

If you talk to some people, you hear that our big problem is that we have too many people. Yes, we do if we sit back and not act. Poor, uneducated people multiply fast. If you ask the billions of individuals they all want to live out their lives as comfortable as possible. We don’t have too many candidates willing to give up life, so a few greedy people will have more. We must prepare for “post-capitalism” now.    

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