Oldposts
10th July 2005, 03:17 PM
Topic started by Vishvesh Obla (ovishvesh@hotmail.com) (@ www.gltg.com) on Thu Nov 2 11:06:21 .
John Denver seems to me to be one of the rare musical personalities. In today's musical scenario, the expressions of a musician mostly haven't got anything related to his 'inner' experiences. Music has kind of become an organized sound, if not noise, popularized by the media and also by the insipidity of the declining taste and lack of discrimination of our modern generations. Denver seems to be a class apart in such a world of music.
When we look into the unique-ness of his songs, we find that they express his passion towards nature and certain human values. An artist is capable of 'inward' experiences which he can express too through his medium. Denver had a very fine perception of the 'country' ways of living ,the beauty of the outdoor world, and much more, the charm of the passionate life it is associated with. He found his first note of expressing it in his popular song "Take me home, country roads...". You must see him singing live ; the passion glows in his face. Why do it, if you are a guitarist, you can yourself feel the throb of life as you sing the soul-stirring tune accompanied by the lively rhythm. We find a series of experiments of musical expressions of a very original nature after the great hit of that song. His personal life was going through a turmoil too and this combines with his great passion for nature creating a unique genre of songs, which is so 'country' like, but still do not fall into the monotony of that genre of music. (One has to listen to him along with Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Alabama, and most of the hyped-up modern country bands like Dixie Chicks to know what 'originality' means. He is so different even from the great country singers like Jim Reeves, Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and Kenny Rogers who contributed so much to this genre of music). If there is a thumbing rhythm so typical of country life in songs like "Sweet Melinda", "DownHill Stuff" and "Thank God I am a country boy", there is the moody experience of the pathos of life in songs like "I'm sorry" and "Like a sad song", there is his passion for nature is songs like "Coutry Roads", "Garden song" and "Shanghai Breezes" ; they are not just popular songs which the multitude listens to without any discrimination, but the deeper expressions of a sensitive soul. He has the ability to create and convey too various states of musical experiences to his audience. The experiences that one could feel on a walk along the colorado river walled by the rugged cliffs of the stretch of Grand Canyons, the picturesque scenery around the serene lakes of the Yellowstone National parks at Wyoming could bring one memories of such musical experiences (which did produce the music too, for Denver was very fond these places).
John Denver, to sum up, is an "experience" to listen to...
John Denver seems to me to be one of the rare musical personalities. In today's musical scenario, the expressions of a musician mostly haven't got anything related to his 'inner' experiences. Music has kind of become an organized sound, if not noise, popularized by the media and also by the insipidity of the declining taste and lack of discrimination of our modern generations. Denver seems to be a class apart in such a world of music.
When we look into the unique-ness of his songs, we find that they express his passion towards nature and certain human values. An artist is capable of 'inward' experiences which he can express too through his medium. Denver had a very fine perception of the 'country' ways of living ,the beauty of the outdoor world, and much more, the charm of the passionate life it is associated with. He found his first note of expressing it in his popular song "Take me home, country roads...". You must see him singing live ; the passion glows in his face. Why do it, if you are a guitarist, you can yourself feel the throb of life as you sing the soul-stirring tune accompanied by the lively rhythm. We find a series of experiments of musical expressions of a very original nature after the great hit of that song. His personal life was going through a turmoil too and this combines with his great passion for nature creating a unique genre of songs, which is so 'country' like, but still do not fall into the monotony of that genre of music. (One has to listen to him along with Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Alabama, and most of the hyped-up modern country bands like Dixie Chicks to know what 'originality' means. He is so different even from the great country singers like Jim Reeves, Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and Kenny Rogers who contributed so much to this genre of music). If there is a thumbing rhythm so typical of country life in songs like "Sweet Melinda", "DownHill Stuff" and "Thank God I am a country boy", there is the moody experience of the pathos of life in songs like "I'm sorry" and "Like a sad song", there is his passion for nature is songs like "Coutry Roads", "Garden song" and "Shanghai Breezes" ; they are not just popular songs which the multitude listens to without any discrimination, but the deeper expressions of a sensitive soul. He has the ability to create and convey too various states of musical experiences to his audience. The experiences that one could feel on a walk along the colorado river walled by the rugged cliffs of the stretch of Grand Canyons, the picturesque scenery around the serene lakes of the Yellowstone National parks at Wyoming could bring one memories of such musical experiences (which did produce the music too, for Denver was very fond these places).
John Denver, to sum up, is an "experience" to listen to...