I believe that the more prevalent aim of the two was definitely worldly success. I think so many songs are about money, in both modern and older songs. I don't think it was hard to come across more than enough songs about money, especially in the rap/hip hop department. However, liberation was a bit on the harder side..though the songs that I did find seemed to fit the category perfectly. One of my favorite lines in "Ten Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin is "then as it was, then again it will be." I think that lyric itself engulfs the Hindu belief in becoming part of the "glowing cosmic ocean" after liberation. Another surprising point that I came across while doing this assignment (more so while listening in class) is how much the beatles (especially George Harrison) songs were of Hindu sorts. Two of my liberation songs are from the Beatles and they basically outline what we've been talking about in class! In "Inner Light" by the Beatles, one of the lines is "Arrive without traveling, See all without looking, Do all without doing." Those lines definitely express the idea of looking within rather than what is around you to find liberation. I think the songs about success were a bit easier to spot, whereas the songs about liberation were a bit harder to look into. One of the songs I chose was by Bob Marley and the Wailers, called Concrete Jungle. What drew me to this song was when he said "no chains around my feet, but I'm not free." I believe that statement is so powerful and encompasses the idea of not being completely free until liberation after life. Though the times have changed and modern day music engulfs a different sense of success in comparison to the Hindus ideas about success, I think the songs about liberation seem to expedite the same idea about liberation.
I think it's interesting that you were able to use a mix of older and newer songs for success and had to use older songs for liberation, songs from a bygone era, as it were, when it was easier to sing about such esoteric topics and be commercially viable.
Obviously you are aware of the link between the Beatles and Hindu thought, but I think it's worth noting that the Beatles very public following of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi led to an explosion in Eastern-influenced pop-religion movements here in the west, and definitely put Transcendental meditation on the map here in America.
I am a fellow Led Zeppelin fan, and I can't believe I didn't use that song. What a great example for liberation. I also really like the lyrics "though the course will change sometimes, rivers always reach the sea". I've always sort of connected with this thought, and it parallels with Hinduism very well.
I agree with you entirely. America's viewpoint is one of optimal wealth and success, while hinduism is one of a single point of success through liberation. I think that worldy success was much easier to fin than songs of liberation, without changing the meaning.
I completely agree with your post about the Bob Marley song Concrete Jungle. Thats a great line and I believe he is trying to imply that although he is not physically chained, he is still mentally. And I agree that he is speaking of liberation outside of just being enslaved. I just hope that people one day see that there is a difference and people are still enslaved mentally in this world.
I really enjoyed the fact that you went into depth using lyrics in your post. Reading the lyrics gave me a whole new perspective on America vs. Hindu ideas of success and liberation, and how they are similar. Great job!
I think it's interesting that you were able to use a mix of older and newer songs for success and had to use older songs for liberation, songs from a bygone era, as it were, when it was easier to sing about such esoteric topics and be commercially viable.
ReplyDeleteObviously you are aware of the link between the Beatles and Hindu thought, but I think it's worth noting that the Beatles very public following of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi led to an explosion in Eastern-influenced pop-religion movements here in the west, and definitely put Transcendental meditation on the map here in America.
I am a fellow Led Zeppelin fan, and I can't believe I didn't use that song. What a great example for liberation. I also really like the lyrics "though the course will change sometimes, rivers always reach the sea". I've always sort of connected with this thought, and it parallels with Hinduism very well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you entirely. America's viewpoint is one of optimal wealth and success, while hinduism is one of a single point of success through liberation. I think that worldy success was much easier to fin than songs of liberation, without changing the meaning.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your post about the Bob Marley song Concrete Jungle. Thats a great line and I believe he is trying to imply that although he is not physically chained, he is still mentally. And I agree that he is speaking of liberation outside of just being enslaved. I just hope that people one day see that there is a difference and people are still enslaved mentally in this world.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the fact that you went into depth using lyrics in your post. Reading the lyrics gave me a whole new perspective on America vs. Hindu ideas of success and liberation, and how they are similar. Great job!
ReplyDelete