After the singer is dead, the song lives on.
Music is one of the most special things in the world. It would be difficult to describe to an alien what exactly music is, and why it works. But everyone I know has a deep connection to their favourite music, a love affair of sorts that can't be described in words, and seems to transverse every age, religion, sex and race. There is no denying that music is something that is fundamental to human existence. It has always been and will always be, in one form or another. The first telephone call was not speech, but the singing of a song. Long before many modern conveniences were deployed in every home, music playback equipment of some variety or another were top on the list of most peoples' priorities. Record stores, online file sharing, street buskers, and bar after bar filled with live music or DJs confirms our love of this strange and wonderful art.
Today I purchased the DVD of last years Rolling Stones in Toronto concert, otherwise known as SARS Fest. I know that in some of those distant helicopter shots, the view of my head makes up a portion of a pixel, blending with those around me to create a unique colour on the screen for a split second. I was there, and so were 490,000 other people. Listening to those songs again and watching up close on the DVD made me think, made me relive the passion and excitement, and made me feel many of the same feelings of joy that I felt the day of the concert. Arguably I wasn't as dehydrated or ill from sun stroke as I was on that very hot July day in 2003, but most of the other, less physically induced feelings were there. I couldn't help but smile with the hugest smile as I watched some of my favourite musicians grace the stage. The performances aren't perfect, and there are many mistakes if you're paying attention to all of that stuff, but it doesn't matter. The energy transmitted by the performers into their instruments and microphones is one that is special, powerful and so hard to describe. If any of them did it alone it wouldn't be the same, and if it weren't for the incredible songs, it would just be a bunch of grown men fooling around without a plan.
The plan, the song. That's what it's all about. The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, or whatever band you care to mention, all have incredible stage presence. They have energy, grace, confidence, musical talent, and whatever else you might want to mention that is an attribute of a great performer. But the one thing that brings them all together and points them all in the right direction is the song. The song, which might have been written last year, or in 1965. The song is the plan, the overview, the path which all the musicians simultaneously take, pointing out things and making comments as they travel. Inserting their own self into the path which was trodden possibly a long time ago. They see things that are old, they act out scenarios that are now obsolete, bringing everyone with them to a place that is perhaps now very distant and unfamiliar.
When I watched Mick Jagger prancing around on the stage, I started to think to myself: "Man, he's OLD!" That sixty year old man still has a lot of energy, but many of the songs that he sings are from a different era, and a different time. They've been played so much that they don't really sound dated, and the players put 2003-oriented musical view into it, but when you listen to the song and what it says, it really is a piece of history, like a photograph capturing a place and time. That's the amazing thing about music. When I hear Mick singing a song that he and Keith wrote thirty-five years ago, I wonder if they even recall why they came up with that song. Although they put their current selves into making that music come alive, the inspiration might be long gone, a distant memory. They might even a play a song written by someone that they never knew, making them even further from the origin of the musical idea. But the song captures so much of the essence of what the writer was thinking at the time, through simple words, tunes and rhythms. Not before or not after the exact moment that the song was written will it be possible for that song to be created again. Had they passed up that opportunity, it would have vanished forever and nobody would be rocking to Jumpin' Jack Flash. It is like a moment where someone forgot to press the shutter release on their camera. That shot is lost forever. Thankfully the Rolling Stones and many other important musicians did act, and did press the musical shutter release when inspiration hit. We can only be glad about the large amount of incredible music that has been born and will never die.
How much longer will the Stones, or countless other older bands keep playing? In ten years will Mick be 70 and still running around on the stage? Will Keith's body last much longer before it falls apart completely? I really hope for the best, but the fact is that eventually everyone dies and their bodies go back to the earth. But people like Mick and Keith leave behind a legacy, hundreds of songs that capture various points in their lives, various experiences and opinions that they wanted to sing about. Those thoughts and feeling are recorded as sounds and videos, and written as sheet music. Copies of all of this material are possessed by millions of people. Unless the earth was destroyed, their legacy can probably never be erased. After the singer dies, the song lives on. Hundred of years from now our descendants might come across some guitar tab, lyrics, or an old recording. And by playing that music, they will put themselves into a time much different than their current one. They will be able to experience situation and feel feelings completely unknown to them, simply by listening to those notes and words, by listening to the chords and rhythms. It's all there, codified in a language that can speak to anyone anywhere. That is the key to our deepest feelings, is able to paint pictures and entangle our insides in a way like nothing else can. When the languages that we use today somehow morph into a futuristic dialect incompatible with our current forms of speech, the music will be able to talk directly to us. There are no walls and no barriers, and we don't even need to learn the language. It is part of us, we are born with it.
Long live the song.
