1) Drake - "Successful" Hip Hop 2010 (explicit)
2) Birdman, Drake, Lil Wayne - "Money to Blow" Hip Hop 2009 (explicit)
3) Flo Rida - "Money on my Mind" Hip Hop 2009 (explicit)
4) Jay Z ft. Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind" Hip Hop 2009
5) Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars -Billionaire Pop 2010 (explicit)
The song I think conveys the desire of worldly success the most clearly is the very popular song by Travie McCoy called Billionaire:
Liberation:
1) Boys Like Girls - "The Great Escape" Pop/Rock 2007
2) New Boyz - "Tie Me Down" Hip Hop 2009 (explicit)
3) Natasha Bedingfield - "Unwritten" Pop 2005
4) High School Musical - "Breaking Free" Pop 2006
5) The All Time Low - "Weightless" Pop/Rock 2007 (explicit)
The song I think conveys the theme of liberation with the most clairvoyance is Breaking Free, from Disney's The High School Musical:
Like when finding songs related to pleasure and community service, finding songs related to worldly success and liberation revealed a similar trend. In both cases, songs related to materialistic gain or worldly accumulations proved to be the easier of the two to find within the American music industry. Although I do not find this surprising, what I do find surprising is the disparaging proportion of songs related to materialistic gain, and also the insatiable desire to attain materialistic items in comparison to the songs related to goals considered of greater noble intent according to the Hindu mindset, such as the goals of community engagement and ultimately the goal of liberation and moksha.
However, there are still many songs related to liberation and freedom. Yet, these songs are slightly different in their content when compared to the goal of liberation as moksha in Hinduism. The songs about freedom are mostly ones relating to being free from a particular situation, such as from a binding relationship between a girlfriend and boyfriend. Other cases include being free and realizing the free-will to define one’s life and choose the direction of one’s actions. Other songs describe escaping from the situations of life and entering a new, tension-free realm. However, the slight difference between all these songs of liberation is that they convey a sense of “escapism” from their current realm. Rather, the idea behind the Hindu mindset is one of transcendence of the worldly realm, not just an escapism. The transcendence results from the realization that the materialistic desire and accumulation will never be enough, and that the ultimate meaning that is sought after these entities is also transient. Therefore, the pursuit of liberation is the most noble pursuit and is also the most meaningful. It is a sense of transcending the current plane after understanding its limitations, not necessarily doing so in an escapist way.
It would be very interesting to note the trends in some of the artists’ writings and lyrics throughout their music career. I would be interested to see if their original songs and predominant themes relating to materialistic gain and worldly success adapt as their career grows and as they see more of the world. I wonder if, in the later parts of their career, they will adapt a sense of understanding of the world that is geared more towards liberation and moksha in a transcending sense of way, rather than just an escapism from tension or stress.
-Kunal
Hey Kunal. I agree with you in that there were so many more songs about worldly success than there are for liberation. One thing I believe we see completely eye-to-eye with, and worded very similarly, was that liberation in our society is sought after as freedom from a particular suffering or troublesome situation. I loved how you brought up the rivalry between transcendence versus escapism in terms of liberation. I couldn't have said it better myself. Your last paragraph is also something that I thought about pretty much exactly. I figured that certain artists, especially in the hip hop genre, write first about being nothing, then about their rise to fame, proceeded by flaunting their riches, and finally perhaps, in some situations, their new level of understanding. I think Tupac represents that model pretty well. Thanks for the interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI thought your statement on how songs about liberation can have different meanings and that is completely true. I also thought your interpretation on liberations songs convey the sens of escapism. i also thought that most worldly success songs do have materialistic gain. Everything to thing to the artists of todays american pop music is in relation to money, and fame.
ReplyDeleteI have read a few of the posts about the last assignment and most, including mine have had similar arguments. Liberation in lyrics was never defined in the same way as the Hindu's aim of liberation. Freedom was more of a definition than that of an other worldly liberation. I also have to complement you on your final paragraph. I must say I did not think about the transformation of an artist from their first album to their last. As I thought about this I can think of a number of bands and artists that have changed their lyrics from album to album. They start off talking about success in a very materialistic way and then eventually, after they have matured and become used to the fame and fortune they begin to understand and want a more fulfilling life.
ReplyDeleteI recently went to a lecture about the origins of words, and we heavily discussed and compared the meaning of liberty versus freedom. While we often use them together, liberty (or liberation) was thought of more as an abstract idea, whereas freedom was something definite that one could say "I am free" and prove it. I think you do a good job of comparing these two concepts, and I really like how you conveyed your ideas. You're right about how liberation is more of a transcendence, and I think a lot of Americans don't usually aim for this, and instead focus on being free from struggles that are present in their daily lives.
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