Give me my music raw

I don’t know why, maybe I’m being punished for something horrible that I’ve done, but I have “The Power of Love” trapped in a never-ending loop in my brain.  Not Huey Lewis’ Power of Love. No, that would be just fine. No, I have Celine Dion’s power trapped there.  Please God, I’m sorry for whatever it was, just let it go away.

So, I decided to face it head on and listen to the song right through. I went on You Tube and found a couple of versions and watched them with all the lights and drums and spangles.  And every time she hit the line, “The power of love” I heard overlaid – “The Circle of Life”.   It’s the same musical phrase. Honest.

And then I realized it’s the same song.  Okay, the tune is different, and the words are different, and, hello, the subject is different. But think of the feelings they both create.  They start slow and soft, almost a whisper, gradually building to that crescendo of pounding drums and wailing voice. You can see Celine’s arms thrown wide to express the size of the emotion, and the baby lion held up for all to see. Yeah, it’s the same song.

And it’s the manipulation of feelings that bothers me in both songs. I am deliberately being led to feel this swell of emotion whether I want to or not.

Okay, all music makes us feel stuff:  blues can make you cry and heavy metal makes you angry and lullabies put you to sleep.  But there is a difference with real music that’s written to be music, not written to be popular and sell records. And I resent being manipulated.

Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote some of the best music ever on Tumbleweed Connection.  Amoreena makes me shiver:

 “I can see you sitting eating apples in the evening
The fruit juice flowing slowly, slowly, slowly
Down the bronze of your body
Living like a lusty flower, running through the grass for hours
Rolling through the hay like a puppy child”

That doesn’t touch me deeply because it was meant to move me. It touches me because it touched the song writer and he shared it with me.

So, for all of Elton’s success with Circle of Life and Candle in the Wind – I am disappointed in him.  They were written to sell, not written because his soul needed to write them.

And, anything Celine sings seems to fit into the Power of Love genre of music. I’m sorry to say that I have fallen in love with “Une Colombe”, a beautiful song of peace about a dove that flies around the world creating peace. Yeah, it too starts slowly and builds and manipulates, but it’s in French and it’s an important message, so, nevermind. I admit I’m not 100% rational in it all.

But, if I am going to be moved to tears, I feel much cleaner and more real when it’s by Hallelujah by Cohen sung by KD Lang. It’s less polished, it’s less manipulative. I cry because it’s raw and real and honest. Yeah.

Okay, now I’ll take a never ending loop of Hallelujah, or Song of Bernadette. That suits me fine.