My Music: Explorations of Music in Daily Life

Contents

Contents Foreword by George Lipsitz ix Acknowledgments xxi Introduction I Children Heather “I dance to ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady.’ ” 7 Johnnie “ You have to have a lullaby before you sleep.” 8 Carley “ I just play with my songs . . .” 12 Billy “ I was stuck in the snow cave, and I felt like listening to music.” 17 Jennie “ They teach us that so we know what to do with our kids when we grow up.” 23 Molly “I like to look for things that people don't really recognize.” 28 Teenagers Lisa “What would the human car do ... ?” 37 Matthew “ They play weird songs you have to be so old to know.” 42 Connie “ Rap is things you say fast. . .” 49 Edwardo “Sometimes I think about life, and all the problems I have.” 52 May “ I still have my violin from when I was five.” 54 Anita “ I listen to other music and then I go seethe Dead.” 61 Contents / v Young Adults Beth “ It’s the first remedy for trying to get out of my boredom . . .” 69 Mabel “. . . if I were to cuss someone out right after church, what does my singing mean?” 74 Alan "I'm not gonna sit there and worship someone.” 80 Abby “ It’s about aggression.” 85 Rhonda "Roger Waters is really it for me." 90 Gail "It's hard to explain . . . it’s allfeelings and emotions . . .” 94 Victor "They feel it more because theycreated the instrument." 99 Chad "It is not just the making of sound . . . it is how one nation expresses its opinion.” 103 Adults Neil "Music is just part of life, like air." 109 Ralph "It's a kind of critiquing ... an enjoyable critiquing.” 113 Betty ". . . I can’t wait to come home and get back to my Neil Diamond.” 118 Carl "I can't give it up.” 125 Charles "To be the creator of it is to participate directly in that point of coherence of the earth, of the universe, of humanity, of meaning; all else is darkness.” 134 Karen "I like mood tapes, subliminals, and new age music. That really sets me free.” 137 Keith "As I developed from childhood to adulthood, the music developed with me.” 140 Wanda “. . . if I don't think of music in terms of dance, I'll think of it in terms of colors.” 143 Stan “ . . . if I don’t know it perfectly,I won't do it.” 148 Older Adults Richard “ I actually become what I hear.” 155 Stella “. . . country and western is the only . . . adult music.” 159 Sally “ It can make you cry, and then other times it can really perk you up.” 163 Frances “. . . the type of music that sells today is for that age group that really doesn't care about the words.” 167 Contents / vi Violet “. . . if I were home cleaning by myself during the day I might put Pavarotti on and have it shaking to the rafters!” 170 James “ Regardless of what it is, somebody likes it.” 174 Steve “ I would saythirty percent of what I know about life today was gleaned from songs.” 181 Elders Ken “... when I was in the service, when we had the band playing, it instilled a lot of things in you.” 189 Anthony “When you sing, you pray twice.” 194 Elaine “ . . . if anybody wanted to dance at a party I was at the piano.” 198 Helene “ Well, I was beautiful then and, boy, could I dance.” 204 Samuel “ It takes the fear away from you.” 207 Appendix: Music in Daily Life Guidelines by Charles Keil 211 Index 215 Contents / vii This page intentionally left blank ...