Over the years, music has been one thing that a person could count on to be there for their entertainment. Music has been a part of culture as early as the Sama Veda of India and has evolved over the years to what can be heard today. Music has been used to soothe, to sell a message, to sell a product, but it has also been used to show the differences between the cultures of each genre of music.
Music, while it has continued to grow and change, has always told a story. Music has told stories of war, stories of celebration, and even stories of sheer entertainment. Some music tells it’s stories through lyrics, but some music tells it’s story without a single word, just with it’s melody. As time changes, so do the stories that are told with the melody and lyrics.
Looking at the songs from the early 1900’s, one will find a lot of songs that lean towards love and romance. Songs like “Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine” or “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home”. However, that is not all one will find, there were songs that are propaganda songs, such as “Pomp And Circumstance” and “Yankee Doodle Boy”. These songs, despite their different usages, all are similar in the fact that their lyrics the listener a story or sell them the idea or product buried in the lyrics.
If one were to delve into the songs of the current era, they will find much the same. They will find songs of love and romance, such as “Dontcha” or “Be My Baby Tonight”. Then there are also songs that are purely propaganda for either a person or a product, such as “Air Force Ones” or “Grillz. These songs, much like the songs of the early 1900’s, also tell a story or sell their message in the form of music.
Where the songs of today differ from the songs of the early 1900’s, propaganda is much more blatant. They sell a specific brand, product or idea, such as selling a specific brand of alcohol to drink. They plant an idea into the listener’s head, giving the listener an idea of what they should buy or what they should think in a more direct manner. The lyricists of today aren’t afraid to write songs that promote things that once would get them in trouble. They aren’t afraid of naming names or naming brands in their lyrics, unafraid of facing whatever trouble they could face from their choice of lyrics.
Where the songs of today find their similarities with the songs of the early 1900’s is in the fact that they all tell stories, they fit into a niche and give the listener something to enjoy other than random words or notes stuck together. They have a point and a purpose to them, even if that point and purpose isn’t easily found when one listens to the song the first time through. It does bring the listener back for more, which is how it should be.
If one were to look at the words of a song, such as “Tell Laura I Love Her”, it tells the story of a man who wants to get a message to the love of his life. Tommy wanted to give his love, Laura everything she wanted, but didn’t have much money. So, while trying to come up with some money, he sees an advertisement for a stock car in the local paper. He purges on to purchase the car and prepare for a race. Before leaving, he asks his mother to tell Laura that he loves her. He heads off to the race and enters it, but somewhere during the race, something went wrong and Tommy was in a wreck. His dying words were, again, a message to his love, Laura, to tell her that he loves her. Songs like this show the love and hurt that can come from it.
Then in contrast, one can look at a song like “Hate Me”, where the story is one of having to block someone out of the singer’s life in order to find peace and solace. The story tells of how this person has helped them in small ways, yet hurt them as well. The singer tells the person to hate them for the things that they were unable to do for the person. The singer and the person being sung about, however, are never able to make peace. The singer finally is able to say goodbye, let go of the past, when the person that is being sung about has passed on. Songs like this tell the story of hurt and betrayal, songs of real happenings that affect life today.
Songs, while changing over time to style and genre, still do the same thing as they did when music was first discovered. Songs tell us a story to entertain us in some way, as they were always meant to. From the earliest recorded notes of the Sama Veda to the newest song recorded today.
