Music with screaming.

Mom and Dad

On Facebook, I was discussing fast music with screaming and how my mother's reaction to some of my bands was a result of a clear misunderstanding of the endless possibilities music can have. After listening to Age Sixteen or Surf Nazis, my mother said that she couldn't understand why I can't just play "songs" or "tunes" that you could easily "follow."

I tried to explain to her that just because a shirt might not have sleeves or a collar, it doesn't mean it's not a shirt. It's just a different kind of shirt. Maybe even a kind of shirt that not a vast majority of people would wear. A shirt you usually wear in warm weather, but is worn by many people at any time in any place if they so desire. A shirt that some people would never wear because they are not accustomed to it.

Music with screaming and an abrasive nature should be looked at the same way. It may not be what you grew up on, and you don't even have to enjoy the sound or like it one bit. In fact, you have every right to think that it sounds terrible or silly. But to call it something OTHER than music is disrespectful to the movement and art form.

(I know I am taking this too seriously but it is my nature, as you may have noticed, to single out statements and/or actions so that I can debate and analyze the principle.)

My friend Jeff said "I can see how mindless/pointless screaming and grunting is... stupid. But theres nothing like a scream when it comes from... the depths of your being."

I don't think that screaming and grunting is always pointless or mindless at all. It's art. Some bands that scream 100% of the time during a song can still have it come from the depths of their being. What older [no offense or discrimination intended, the topic of discussion erupted from my late-40's mother's comment] people need to understand is that music is a direct representation of human emotion and experience. Sometimes we feel energetic, angsty, angry, chaotic and violent just as much as we feel other things. Therefore, there is really no difference between country, hip-hop and grindcore as long as the attitude that went into it is honest and genuine.

P.S. I love my mother. She does enjoy the Cranberries a lot, which is awesome.