The aim pleasure, in the Hindu religion, suggests anything material that clearly brings what could be short term happiness. Ranging from drugs, alcohol, or sex, pleasure has a range of many attributes. I believe the more prevalent aim was absolutely pleasure. It can be seen in almost anything, except for the bare essentials(water, shelter, and food...though they too find a way of advertising those to bring extreme pleasure also). Some may argue of what is actual for "pleasure", but close to many of the things we do are for pleasure, or to meet some standard that ultimately brings pleasure. In many modern day advertisements and most of the popular music, pleasure is the skeleton to most of the purposes. One example is attempting to convince the common driver to pull over to the nearest fast food restaurant through billboards that almost convince you that you "need" the experience. And I don't think you can listen to the radio without coming across a handful of songs that cover the topic of pleasure. That is why I think this aim was most prevalent, due to its constant exposure to the naked eye. Though community service is also quite popular, I think that pleasure overrides its popularity. To being with, this is my favorite love song (and I wanted to introduce pleasure!) My Sweet Lord, by George Harrison (who in fact was definitely interested in the Hindu religion)
While doing this assignment I was surprise at how many songs that I thought were about pleasure, but after reading the lyrics I quickly realized that they were not exactly what I was looking for. Also, I was also suprised to find the handful of songs that were about pleasure and community service (mostly coming from the 60s, 70s, and some modern day music). In fact, it was actually hard to decipher between all of the songs and pick the top best 5. This just goes to prove even more that pleasure is almost anywhere and everywhere that we look.
As the times have changed, the ideas that Hinduism had in mind with these aims are obviously different from our interpretation through modern day music. I believe the amount of material things that can produce pleasure have increased dramatically over the times with technology and the freedoms that we have received. American pop music definitely covers the aims, but in their own modern way. Perhaps, without even knowing that they had the hindu view in mind.
The songs that I have chosen for this are as follows:
Pleasure:
1. The Beatles, "Yes It Is" 1965
2. Led Zeppelin, "Thank You," 1969
3. Donovan, "Turquoise," 1965
4. The Platters, "My Prayer," 1954
and the one with the best video is!!.....
5. Bert Sommer, "Jennifer," 1969
Community Service/Duty:
1. Bob Marley, "Redemption Songs," 1980
2. The Beatles, "Revolution," 1968
3. John Lennon, "Imagine" 1971
4. Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth," 1967
5. Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are-A Changing," 1965(no original version on youtube, this is a cover by Joan Baez)
and the best video for this one is!....
I think it is very interesting that your "pleasure" songs are actually older than the "coomunity service" songs you chose. I noticed that for most people, the opposite was true. However, this confirms a point I brought up in my blog, that pleasure was the main subject of music even before the cultural shift in the 1960s-1970s. I also like the point you made about reading lyrics to songs that you thought were about pleasure and then discovering that they weren't. Maybe many songs that people take to be solely about pleasure are actually about something more? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting that your pleasure songs weren't current. Additionally, your comment that modern day advertising is contributing to our culture being more focused on pleasure is exactly right. The need for material things and the need for immediacy has placed more significance on pleasure as opposed to giving back. Even though Hinduism places pleasure in high regard, modern-day American culture has placed a higher significance to the idea, and expanded the ways it can be sought.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you said Pleasure is the skeleton to most of the purposes. I also like how you have older songs, when I think of the sixties and seventies, I think of hippies, music shows, sex, and drugs. Everyone was just out to have a good time and seeking pleasure all the time.
ReplyDelete