Different Perspectives Of Music Research Paper

Joshua Shelley
7/25/12
Addressing different perspectives

In this paper, I will be covering the different perspectives people may have on certain music.
Perspective One: Perspective of Metal fan.
For example, I would find myself listening mostly louder music, such as Metal, Hard Rock, Nu Metal, Death Metal etc. The type of Metal I listen to is reflected by my mood and what I am doing at the time. I find it exhilarating and enjoyable to listen to whilst doing everyday activities. I find it speeds up my pace. The music I listen would also reflect the way I dress and the kind of people I look for to befriend and hang out with. I feel more relaxed around the people whose taste in music is similar to my own. Modern Pop music, however, is
not for me. I find it lacks melody and rhythm and is very repetitive.
I cannot stand it when the voice of the singer is pitched or deepened artificially to ‘work better’ with the music, which itself is mainly computerized. This way, when the songs is finished and edited, the singer’s voice (mostly) is used merely as a template to build up on and add effects to and comes out sounding almost nothing like the singer’s original voice (when heard ‘live’). At least a singer in Metal would change the tone of their voice naturally, and to do so they require lots of practice and talent. I also admire the lyrics that go with metal music. Mostly, the lyrics used in Metal or Heavy Metal songs have a deep meaning or many meanings that would usually tell about past experiences of the lyricist and how they deal with that experience on an emotional level. In Metal, the music adds to the drama and seriousness to the story being told by the lyrics. This story is usually cryptic, and requires a lot of thought to unravel and understand. One’s understanding of the lyrics will sometimes also depend on their past experiences, and whether they have experienced something similar to whatever the lyrics of the song are telling about. The lyrics in pop music are much different, and usually, much less effort is put into them. Even if they are telling a story, the story
is often not explained well at all in the rush to quickly get to the ‘catchy chorus’ (which is usually repeated many times in most songs). Thus, much less talent is required to write lyrics for a pop song. Unlike in metal music, where the lyrics are usually written by a member of the band or someone with deep involvement in the band, in pop music, they are many times written by a hired lyricist or composer and the singer is then only tasked to sing the song (which is then edited) and with minimal effort finishes a recording session, whilst a Metal band would spend hours practicing, recording and editing their songs.
An example of these comparisons would be:
Metallica -- Britney Spears
Perspective Two: Perspective of a Pop fan.
I would find myself listening to mostly Pop music, whose type is also reflected by my mood and by what I am doing at the time. For example, I would listen to something catchy and joyous, with a good beat whilst working at home or jogging. But then, when I’m trying to fall asleep, or relaxing with a book, I would listen to something more peaceful with a calm melody and a slow beat, so that it relaxes me.
I agree that some Pop artists such as Britney Spears (who are really just given the lyrics to sing, and have their voices completely edited once the song is recorded) are a bit over the top and dumb, but even then they manage to deliver catchy tunes. There exists, however, a few Pop artists who produce truly beautiful high quality music, without the need of computerized editing or ‘auto-tune’ as they call it. One such artist would, for example, is Adele. She truly puts her soul and emotion into the lyrics she writes. These lyrics also have a deep meaning and reflect on the lyricist past experiences, without the need of being cryptic. While producing songs with a catchy melody, some of her songs truly deserve to be amongst the endless classics of the 80’s and 90’s, which are still being played daily by many successful Radio Stations. I believe that the lyrics for Metal music do not do their job well, when it comes to having a ‘deep meaning’ and ‘making you think about it’ since you can barely understand what the singer is saying, due
to all the shouting and playing with the sounds of certain words. When I listen to most Metal songs, I am filled with an aggressive and negative energy which does not go well with my life style. I am immediately in a bad mood and feel my heart beating faster, and that is a feeling that I do not like.