I was just thinking of how music still holds the tradition of orality. When listening to a radio or our IPODS we can only hear the story that an artist wants us to hear. Every song is similar to a short 2 to 3 minute story. Unlike books on tape, where the man reading is usually drawl and boring (believe me I've listened to Man in the Iron Mask for 10 straight hours. It was fine until my tape player broke and the boring man's words got more drawn out and his voice got really deep and then it sounded as if Satan was talking to me through Dumas...it was horrible) music uses attitude and expression. Before print stories must have been told with reverence. It is similar to a sermon at church. When the preacher speaks he portrays his mood on the subject he is speaking to the crowd. Anyways, music is the continuation of the oral tradition. Even though I'm going to contradict my previous statement by putting lyrics on my blog, it's worth it because I love these lyrics. They remind me of a new rendition of Hero and Leander or of any other story on the failures of hopeless romantics. Anyways, it's not like the Oral Tradition class doesn't contradict itself when we read books. The print tradition has become so predominant that even music is ruined with the printing of lyrics.
Actually, I change my mind. I'm going to put a link to a youtube video that is just the song. I found one without any distractions to overt the listeners attention from the lyrics. You know, T.S. Eliot says, "Distracted from distraction by distraction filled with fancies and empty meaning tumid apathy with no concentration men and bits of paper," and I have no idea what that means, but it sounds pertty (I spelt that wrong on purpose, P.S.).
The song is called Romeo and Juliet by Matt Nathanson.
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