The above quote is from a certain Ludwig Van Beethoven, in case you were wondering and is one which resonates strongly with me. However, Beethoven would have hardly been the first to deny that music is also a powerful tool in the ever changing shape of the world. Originally his Third Symphony had been dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, then still, in Beethoven's mind, a heroic figure of the French Revolution and a champion of Enlightment ideals. However, when he heard of Napolean's declaration of himself as Emperor in 1804, Beethoven, to quote his assistant Ferdinand Ries, "broke into a rage and exclaimed, 'So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!' Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page had to be re-copied and it was only now that the symphony received the title "Sinfonia eroica." Beethoven knew of power of music and of its influence on the material world. It was also a clear example of how the ideals of the composer are inevitably intertwined with the music he makes and time he makes it in.
Nearly everything I know about protest, socialism, racism, feminism, sexism, liberalism, progressiveness, rebellion, war, revolution, communism, trade unionism, monarchism, pacifism, worker's rights and all these other global institutions of human society, has had its origins and basis in songs. You may call this shallow or ignorant if you want, but to say that is actually an expression of your own ignorance in the importance of music and its connection to the world. Music runs parallel with human history and is often its greatest and purest expression - it requires no money to produce, takes no education and can be produced on any rung of the social ladder. Songs of protest and insurrection have been written by everyone from the likes of "Le Marsellaise", written by French Army Captain, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle to the likes of "Go Down Moses", composed by African-American slaves.
From my investigation of "The Cutty Wren", I have learned about the 1391 Peasant's Revolt, from "Ye Jacobites by Name" I have learned about the Scottish 18th-century Jacobite Rebellions from "L'International" I have learned about the 1871 Paris Commune, from the Negro Spirituals I have learned about African-American slavery, from the songs of Joe Hill I have learned about the IWW and the International Labour Movement, from the Trinidadian Calypsonians I have learnt about British Imperialism in the Carribea and from the songs of Pete Seeger I have learnt about the 1960's Civil Rights movement. And so on. Not to say that I didn't know about these things before hand, but the songs anchor these things in something physical, beyond banal reproduction of facts. To quote Egon, "Print is dead".
Music is the greatest tool in the progression of mankind. It overrules cynicism and pessimism and instills understanding and a sense of importance and significance in the ideals for which the singer stands for. In all the great artistic and social forms, music supercedes all others. It connects all mankind in musical harmony. And I will use it as my own personal method for promoting my own views of pacifism, socialism, feminism and racial equality...
Music will save the world.
To lead us out, here is Irish folk legend Luke Kelly singing poet, socialist and songwriter Hamish Henderson's 1960 utopian ballad, "Freedom Come All Ye"...
