One of the first bands I
promoted on my own when trying to break into the Washington DC music scene was
the State College, PA-based band The Dirges. Good band, but I still
wonder why a mournful piece of music would be thought of as a clever band
name. What I did not realize at the time is that death will always
be a part of music. My friend Pete recently saw an art film at the Carnegie
Museum of Art that was about Vietnamese funeral music and rituals called "The
Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music."
In 2016 alone, the music industry has lost the influential talents of
Prince, Merle Haggard, Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, Maurice White (of Earth, Wind
& Fire) and David Bowie. And with each passing, the tributes have
been endless.
My friend JJ thought of an
interesting new metric to measure in music. Would bandmates cry at each
other’s funerals? And does that have any connection to the chemistry on
stage during a live show? His experience was recently seeing Aesop
Rock & Rob Sonic and the answer was “yes”. Rob literally
finished Aesop Rock’s sentences when they were rapping together. Aesop
referred to Rob as his "brother" and talked about them both being
genuine fans of each other's work.
Wondering about my own
musical experiences, I immediately thought of the Beastie Boys.
Although I was not there, I can almost guarantee that Mike D
and Ad-Rock did not have dry eyes at MCA’s funeral. Sadly, the
same might not be said for Don Felder at Glen Frey’s funeral. I am sure
there was extreme sorrow upon hearing the news, but knowing that the two were
estranged, makes me think that another Eagles reunion show would not have been
their best concert.
The significance of death and
music can also be seen and heard at a "jazz funeral" or "funeral
with music" which originated in New Orleans, LA, but also has links to
other parts of the world. The organizers
of the funeral hire a brass band as part of the service and the band typically
leads the mourners from the church to the cemetery. Throughout the march,
the band plays somber hymns, but after the hearse leaves the procession, the
music becomes more upbeat, often raucous. There is even a name to
describe those who follow the band, just to enjoy the music on such a somber
day: The Second Line. Second line parades range in size, level of
organization and traditions, but in all cases they can have the spontaneous
energy of a block party, just moving one block at a time.
Reading Arthur C. Brooks' New
York Times article, "To Be Happier, Start Thinking More About Your
Death", I learned that it is believed that “Buddhist monks often
contemplate death”. But puzzlingly this “meditation on death is intended
as a key to better living”. It might make a person ask, “Life is
precious, am I making the most of my time?” Ideally bandmates are
thinking along those lines when creating music either in the studio or
live. But I am not stating that you need to go check out as many of your
favorite musicians as possible. I am thinking more about how as a music
fan, it might be best to enjoy each and every concert if you thought it
might be your last.
Thanks for reading.
