Saturday, September 27, 2003
WARNING: A VERY LONG ENTRY BELOW. MAY CONTAINS OFFENSIVE MATERIALS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Dashboard Confessional
>> I found this channel at EFNet that serves emo mp3s a few day ago, and I was like, "whoaaa...this is what I've been looking for!". Yeah, I've been into emo since the past couple of years (thanks to RidOne of For A Good Reason who had introduced me to emo). I love emo because...it's.....so me! Bands like Dashboard Confessional, FINCH, A New Found Glory, Saves The Day, Thursday, The Used, The Get Up Kids , etc have always been on my winamp playlist for about 2 years! I listen to FINCH - Letters to You at least once everyday. Well okay, I know some punk people out there may not agree about some bands being called 'emo' or doesn't even like the word 'emo' itself (how bout you Punkish? hehe..), but let's keep that aside...and let's just feel the emotion and feelings shared by their songs ok? ^_^v
I was just browsing around, and I found this article of self opinion about Christian emo, and Christian music in general...for you who are Christians, I urge you to read on!
Emo is all about emotion and passion. Music, in its true form is a self expression of emotion, pain, frustration...that's what emo is, streight-up, unveiled human experiences. Music and art and any other form of self expression should be pure and raw and i think it's sad that music like that is just a genre and not the norm. How far has the mainstream culture strayed from true music? When record lables limit what a band can do (case and point Relient K of late) not only does the music suffer (to say the least) but it lowers the standard. Kids today are being raised on heartless music (if its like most christian, and if its not, total crap). That could be the reason that worship music (the genre) is so prevelient, because people aren't listening to worship music (the lifestyle). There is a million and one bands out there, of which CCM is the best example of, that have no emotion, no power, and, in my opion, no point. I agree that christians have the biggest reason to be emotional, so why is it that when you listen to a lot of christian music the only thing you can feel is the bass (and sometimes you can't even feel that).
I guess the music i play, weather "worship" or original, is emo. Not because i try for it to be, but because i play songs that i feel, and i feel song that i play. I've written one song (my first one) that didn't have any emotion that you can feel. because of that i havent played it in over a year. All my other songs have emotion because i wrote them not about an abstract idea, but about personal strugles and hardships. I think one of the unfortunate side effects of emo is that the lyrics of a emo band can be inspired by a certin event that happened in the author's life and no one else's, effectively leaving the audience to try to put the peices together. I know that some of the songs that ive written that, looking back, are emo, only i can understand what the song is about. Its not that i was criptic, i was just expressing how i felt. But i think its far better to have a song with emotion that may puzzle people, than to have a song that everyone can understand, that makes people wonder if your talking akout youurself or a complete stranger. In wrapping up i, also, would encourage, no plead, for all of you to make music, no matter what genre, emo. Make everything you sing or play emotion filled. And most of all, make every thing you do, worship. - more
I don't agree about the definition of emo written in the article above, because it's beeing overextended...yes I get the point, but still we need to look at the original history before we state such definition. But that's not what I'm trying to talk about...I'm not gonna talk about genres, categories and how you call a certain kind of music. I want to talk about the music itself (and some christian issues).
I don't know how much of you out there who really cares about music that sometimes you might even get a headache just because you're overthinking about it. I'm one of those people. If you guys read my hates-list then the articles above just explain why I hate Britney Spears and all the popdisco things, F4 and all of the boysbands empire, PINK, Element, T5, Neo and most of the products of MTV (I'm walking out on Avril too now)! If Britney's doing music because she loves the music itself, then she wouldn't have to sell hiss boops and butt. Like TATU that sells lesbianism (though they're NOT lesbians). Avril with that punk look and tie trying to be the punkest girl in the world yet her music is even poppier than Michelle Branch. Not to mention PINK and her muscles, trying to tell everyone that she's not a girl anymore - yeah, we know you're NOT a girl...you don't even LOOK like a girl! - And all that boysbands that sell their cutey-gay face and whinny expression when they even don't know how to sing or play guitar! Bunch of disgusting puppets! For them music is just merely a tool of making money and that makes me SICK! Music is all about honesty! It's about being true to yourself! It's about creating something that comes from your heart! It's about expressing your emotion! It's about doing something that you love! And I DON'T see that in MTV...
And you know what makes me sad even more? The christian music industry is like that too...I hate to say it, and I know lots of christians out there would disagree with me...but it's the truth. It's sick, but it's real. Christian musicians (Indonesians especially) never really put their heart out in their songs. They're not being honest to themselves. What they do is just to fulfill their own target of making records...like, oh I have to make an album this year otherwise people will think that I'm no longer creative. Geez...Let me show you an example, you compare the lyrics of LIFEHOUSE to Giving My Best. You can see that the lyrics of LIFEHOUSE is a result of deep thoughts and hours of thinking and searching for the right words to express the right feelings. But GMB's lyrics are shallow. No depth and just telling the story of GOD's love (or our love to GOD) in a very predictable way. There's almost no differences (in general) between one song and the others. I can make lyrics for the entire album like that in about 2 hours. (Probably that's the amount of time Sidney Mohede actually needs to write lyrics for the album...I dunno). Well I know I can't really compare LIFEHOUSE to GMB, let's take a local band for example DEWA or Sheila On Seven...the lyrics are well written, so poetic and people can easily relate those lyrics to themselves. Musically, GMB ROCK! Lyrically, they suck. But I don't blame them...every Indonesian christian musician is doing the same exact thing (sucks at lyrics) but people still buy their records, so why do they have to be different anyway, right? Oh my GOD, Indonesian christian music is now at a very pathetic level....
When it comes to major christian lables, than of course we're gonna talk about Hillsong and Hosana Integrity. But these people are no better than MTV. They sell christian songs like products, instead of expressions of feelings to GOD. Hillsong this Hillsong that...go to every christian bookstore and you can see thousands of Hillsong's record - whenever there is demand there is supply - but none of them has the quality of a christian music should be lyrically. You can have 3 different Hillsong albums but it still have the same songs inside - Shout To The Lord this version, Shout To The Lord that version etc - what do you call things like that? Uncreative? Opportunist? Money oriented? Whatever...but I like to say they suck!
As christians, we believe that our GOD is the the Ultimate Creator...doesn't that make Him the Ultimate Creative being in universe? and as His children, aren't we suppose to be creative as well? Christians are the ones that should be creative enough to create cool things...cool musics, cool lyrics, cool designs, cool shows and everything else. But these days, christians become the imitator instead of the initiator. We never create such great shows like MTV, all we do is imitating them and still we judge MTV brings negative impacts on youths. Geez...taking their creativity and yet talking bad behind them, what's that makes us christians? Hypocrites! There's no christian rapper as talented as EMINEM, but rather than focusing on how we can make a great rap that can match equally to EMINEM (in a positive way) what christians do is telling everyone that EMINEM is going to hell because he uses the F*** word too much. Blah!
We believe that JESUS died for us, so aren't we suppose to be so emotional about it? Aren't we suppose to put all of our feelings and emotions in every music that we write, we sing, and we play? To tell you the truth, I can't feel any emotions in any Indonesian christian songs...simply plain. But when I hear Dashboard Confessional - Several Ways To Die (from their new album A Mark. A Mission. A Brand. A Scar) two days ago...I broke down and cried! The song is so emotional. the lyrics is so personal. Spiritually, I was rejuvenated! And I wasn't even trying to search for christian values in the lyrics. For about 15 minutes I cried my heart out, letting go all my burdens with the music and singing the lyrics to GOD from my heart. That was an amazing experience (happens to me several times) and I obviously would never get such experiences if I listen to Franky Sihombing or One Way or Hilllsong. Dashboard Confessional is not a christian band. It's just a band with christians as the member of the band (get the point?).
I hope you guys get what I'm trying to say. Stay true to your heart. Stay true to your music.
Okay I think this entry is long enough to make you sick...so I'll cut it out now. I dunno if anybody would ever read this selfish entry anyway, but I'm ready to get flamed, so spit your thoughts. Any thoughts at all...
Dashboard Confessional
>> I found this channel at EFNet that serves emo mp3s a few day ago, and I was like, "whoaaa...this is what I've been looking for!". Yeah, I've been into emo since the past couple of years (thanks to RidOne of For A Good Reason who had introduced me to emo). I love emo because...it's.....so me! Bands like Dashboard Confessional, FINCH, A New Found Glory, Saves The Day, Thursday, The Used, The Get Up Kids , etc have always been on my winamp playlist for about 2 years! I listen to FINCH - Letters to You at least once everyday. Well okay, I know some punk people out there may not agree about some bands being called 'emo' or doesn't even like the word 'emo' itself (how bout you Punkish? hehe..), but let's keep that aside...and let's just feel the emotion and feelings shared by their songs ok? ^_^v
I was just browsing around, and I found this article of self opinion about Christian emo, and Christian music in general...for you who are Christians, I urge you to read on!
Emo is all about emotion and passion. Music, in its true form is a self expression of emotion, pain, frustration...that's what emo is, streight-up, unveiled human experiences. Music and art and any other form of self expression should be pure and raw and i think it's sad that music like that is just a genre and not the norm. How far has the mainstream culture strayed from true music? When record lables limit what a band can do (case and point Relient K of late) not only does the music suffer (to say the least) but it lowers the standard. Kids today are being raised on heartless music (if its like most christian, and if its not, total crap). That could be the reason that worship music (the genre) is so prevelient, because people aren't listening to worship music (the lifestyle). There is a million and one bands out there, of which CCM is the best example of, that have no emotion, no power, and, in my opion, no point. I agree that christians have the biggest reason to be emotional, so why is it that when you listen to a lot of christian music the only thing you can feel is the bass (and sometimes you can't even feel that).
I guess the music i play, weather "worship" or original, is emo. Not because i try for it to be, but because i play songs that i feel, and i feel song that i play. I've written one song (my first one) that didn't have any emotion that you can feel. because of that i havent played it in over a year. All my other songs have emotion because i wrote them not about an abstract idea, but about personal strugles and hardships. I think one of the unfortunate side effects of emo is that the lyrics of a emo band can be inspired by a certin event that happened in the author's life and no one else's, effectively leaving the audience to try to put the peices together. I know that some of the songs that ive written that, looking back, are emo, only i can understand what the song is about. Its not that i was criptic, i was just expressing how i felt. But i think its far better to have a song with emotion that may puzzle people, than to have a song that everyone can understand, that makes people wonder if your talking akout youurself or a complete stranger. In wrapping up i, also, would encourage, no plead, for all of you to make music, no matter what genre, emo. Make everything you sing or play emotion filled. And most of all, make every thing you do, worship. - more
I don't agree about the definition of emo written in the article above, because it's beeing overextended...yes I get the point, but still we need to look at the original history before we state such definition. But that's not what I'm trying to talk about...I'm not gonna talk about genres, categories and how you call a certain kind of music. I want to talk about the music itself (and some christian issues).
I don't know how much of you out there who really cares about music that sometimes you might even get a headache just because you're overthinking about it. I'm one of those people. If you guys read my hates-list then the articles above just explain why I hate Britney Spears and all the popdisco things, F4 and all of the boysbands empire, PINK, Element, T5, Neo and most of the products of MTV (I'm walking out on Avril too now)! If Britney's doing music because she loves the music itself, then she wouldn't have to sell hiss boops and butt. Like TATU that sells lesbianism (though they're NOT lesbians). Avril with that punk look and tie trying to be the punkest girl in the world yet her music is even poppier than Michelle Branch. Not to mention PINK and her muscles, trying to tell everyone that she's not a girl anymore - yeah, we know you're NOT a girl...you don't even LOOK like a girl! - And all that boysbands that sell their cutey-gay face and whinny expression when they even don't know how to sing or play guitar! Bunch of disgusting puppets! For them music is just merely a tool of making money and that makes me SICK! Music is all about honesty! It's about being true to yourself! It's about creating something that comes from your heart! It's about expressing your emotion! It's about doing something that you love! And I DON'T see that in MTV...
And you know what makes me sad even more? The christian music industry is like that too...I hate to say it, and I know lots of christians out there would disagree with me...but it's the truth. It's sick, but it's real. Christian musicians (Indonesians especially) never really put their heart out in their songs. They're not being honest to themselves. What they do is just to fulfill their own target of making records...like, oh I have to make an album this year otherwise people will think that I'm no longer creative. Geez...Let me show you an example, you compare the lyrics of LIFEHOUSE to Giving My Best. You can see that the lyrics of LIFEHOUSE is a result of deep thoughts and hours of thinking and searching for the right words to express the right feelings. But GMB's lyrics are shallow. No depth and just telling the story of GOD's love (or our love to GOD) in a very predictable way. There's almost no differences (in general) between one song and the others. I can make lyrics for the entire album like that in about 2 hours. (Probably that's the amount of time Sidney Mohede actually needs to write lyrics for the album...I dunno). Well I know I can't really compare LIFEHOUSE to GMB, let's take a local band for example DEWA or Sheila On Seven...the lyrics are well written, so poetic and people can easily relate those lyrics to themselves. Musically, GMB ROCK! Lyrically, they suck. But I don't blame them...every Indonesian christian musician is doing the same exact thing (sucks at lyrics) but people still buy their records, so why do they have to be different anyway, right? Oh my GOD, Indonesian christian music is now at a very pathetic level....
When it comes to major christian lables, than of course we're gonna talk about Hillsong and Hosana Integrity. But these people are no better than MTV. They sell christian songs like products, instead of expressions of feelings to GOD. Hillsong this Hillsong that...go to every christian bookstore and you can see thousands of Hillsong's record - whenever there is demand there is supply - but none of them has the quality of a christian music should be lyrically. You can have 3 different Hillsong albums but it still have the same songs inside - Shout To The Lord this version, Shout To The Lord that version etc - what do you call things like that? Uncreative? Opportunist? Money oriented? Whatever...but I like to say they suck!
As christians, we believe that our GOD is the the Ultimate Creator...doesn't that make Him the Ultimate Creative being in universe? and as His children, aren't we suppose to be creative as well? Christians are the ones that should be creative enough to create cool things...cool musics, cool lyrics, cool designs, cool shows and everything else. But these days, christians become the imitator instead of the initiator. We never create such great shows like MTV, all we do is imitating them and still we judge MTV brings negative impacts on youths. Geez...taking their creativity and yet talking bad behind them, what's that makes us christians? Hypocrites! There's no christian rapper as talented as EMINEM, but rather than focusing on how we can make a great rap that can match equally to EMINEM (in a positive way) what christians do is telling everyone that EMINEM is going to hell because he uses the F*** word too much. Blah!
We believe that JESUS died for us, so aren't we suppose to be so emotional about it? Aren't we suppose to put all of our feelings and emotions in every music that we write, we sing, and we play? To tell you the truth, I can't feel any emotions in any Indonesian christian songs...simply plain. But when I hear Dashboard Confessional - Several Ways To Die (from their new album A Mark. A Mission. A Brand. A Scar) two days ago...I broke down and cried! The song is so emotional. the lyrics is so personal. Spiritually, I was rejuvenated! And I wasn't even trying to search for christian values in the lyrics. For about 15 minutes I cried my heart out, letting go all my burdens with the music and singing the lyrics to GOD from my heart. That was an amazing experience (happens to me several times) and I obviously would never get such experiences if I listen to Franky Sihombing or One Way or Hilllsong. Dashboard Confessional is not a christian band. It's just a band with christians as the member of the band (get the point?).
I hope you guys get what I'm trying to say. Stay true to your heart. Stay true to your music.
Okay I think this entry is long enough to make you sick...so I'll cut it out now. I dunno if anybody would ever read this selfish entry anyway, but I'm ready to get flamed, so spit your thoughts. Any thoughts at all...