The origins of storytelling are oral. Songs passed from one generation to another. Songs that shared a culture’s histories, their beliefs, and the myths at the heart of their world. Yet songs are so much more than simply the words and the stories. There is a beauty to the music, the rhythms, to how the words are spoken.
Even after written language became common, music still remained an essential part of our society. The stories we tell now in our music are different. Instead of the history of a people, songs are often based off the history of one person (the singer/songwriter). Music is still as common in society as it was before the printing press.
To me, music is very much like writing poetry. Do we need poetry? Do we need music? Although neither is required as a means to save our history, both contain layers of elements we need in our everyday lives. Passion. Emotion. Connection to events that we were not a part of, but we share.
Why do you think music (and poetry) persists even though it is no longer necessary to convey a people’s history to the next generation?
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