Thread: Simplicity - Where did it all go?

While strumming through the virtual pages of the internet, I was pleasantly distracted by the sounds of 70's classic rock on a local TV show --it's really the local radio station's TV program. I couldn't help but feel a concurrent feeling of joy and sadness --the joy, because the music was so good --the sadness, again because the music was so good and , moreover, because it very well represented a time when everyday music was so much superior to what is available today. Musicians were expected to have talent and the music wasn't artificial ---it seemed to naturally gush out of a simple environment -- not simplicity of thought or ability but simplicity of means. They didn't use computers, recordings were on tape, and all effort was directed toward the music itself.
I remember in the mid to late 80's, my cousin spent the whole summer with me --it was my junior year in high school and I had just begun playing the guitar and appreciating 70's classic rock. We spent the whole summer driving around in his yellow convertible VW Carmagia --fuel lines fixed with aquarium parts and an engine that would work some days and others not. The radio in the car was simply just a radio and every once in a while we would pick up a song or two from a classic rock station in Alexandria, LA. Those were the best days and I feel sadness for the generations of the future who will never know that joy . Everything is so complex --yet easily obtainable. CD's, MP3 players, - yes nice but I miss those simple days --Where did it all go?

20 years ago people who were the same age as you now had the same feelings. 20 years from now a new generation will feel the same about how music and life in general is just not up to the standards set in the 90's and 00's.

Originally Posted by Scrapyard Ape

20 years ago people who were the same age as you now had the same feelings. 20 years from now a new generation will feel the same about how music and life in general is just not up to the standards set in the 90's and 00's.

Yes this is probably true . But I think the internet --which I enjoy using --brought about a time of instant information, instant everything. ---and with that ,a lack of appreciation for most things. Just the sad musings of one southern boy.

Justin

P.S. It's not the music I'm lamenting about as much as for a simpler time. One where things weren't so easily obtainable but maybe appreciated more.

I was born in 78 so I grew up during the "faster is better, instant gratification" age, but I also understand that good things come to those who wait. being a former musician, you learn to appreciate taking the time to learn new songs, chords, scales and the like and the music from the mid 60's to the late 70's (except disco) shows everyones uniqueness and you dont have that mass-produced, I'm going to do what he did because he went platinum with it sound. The versatility is amazing it that era, and so many genres of music were invented, and we havent seen that kind of exploration since. Being a southern boy as well I can appreciate the simpler things as well, like going to my grandmothers for turnip greens and cornbread instead of the local mickey D's or taking a four wheeler through a wooded trail, even the smile of pine chips at my grandparents sawmill. Now its all fast cooked meals, greed, and no self appreciation unless someone else is around to see it.

Yep, Jeff. I remember when I first started playing the guitar, I taught myself because teaching material wasn't as available. There was no internet. You either got in your car (which might not work) and traveled to a bigger city to find lessons on audio tape or you found something in the back of a magazine ---and the choses were not so great. I remember recording music by using a simple tape recorder and dubbing over and over. Now, I have a computer with 24 + tracks and I don't appreciate it ---something's missing. Things are too damn easy -- how can you appreciate anything when it's given to you -- pre-everythinged to hell. Things were harder mostly but simpler as well.
I think most humans yearn for things that make them feel more natural , not contrived , and well more human --- we're analog creatures to the bone.

if you ever want to learn how to really work for something, buy a wolf hybrid. I did a couple of years ago, and a male to boot. By the time they are 6 months old they challenge you everyday for the alpha male spot, until you put them in their place. Make great companions and friends for life due to the social structure, but every now and then they will make a challenge for the boss role. Its not like getting a normal dog, you have to be ready for it. My boy Anubis ate a train set and my clothes iron one time because I left him alone for an hour. Big Baby.

Hell of a dog, Jeff. I think you understand what I'm getting at. You've gained more from owning him than you ever would from owning 100 normal dogs. You can't become a good swimmer by swimming down stream ---you have to go against the current. And , I'm not talking about going against the current because it's a fad or cool thing to do but because that is the only way to gain anything ---whether it's muscle, brain , ability, or character.

JUstin

P.S. --People here, using a straight razor aren't doing it because it is easy or common.
It is both simpler and harder and much more appreciated.

I don't know, guys. Whenever I think of simplicity, I always think of the (Chopin, I think) quote:

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

I like to think of it as an analogy for life - keeps me optimistic, anyway, as I wade through what appears to be the interminable amount of sophistication thrust upon us day after day. Life's a learning experience, and maybe feeling overwhelmed at times is a necessary part of it - stick it out and do our best, and we end up with clarity and simplicity.

Then again, maybe not.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I don't know, guys. Whenever I think of simplicity, I always think of the (Chopin, I think) quote:

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

James.

Maybe it is the human responsibility to take any era one lives in and pass it through a filter. Hopefully, what you have left is a worthwhile jewel ---a simple appreciation for the time you live in ---it just seems, more and more needs to be filtered out to get back to that simple human experience. But anyway,

You, can take any time and scrutinize all the same but all I know is what I know and what I miss. My version of the Western Cowboy/gunslinger who sighs as he sees the train tracks arrive with the telegraph lines and knows an era has past. Thanks for the memories .....,

Later,

Justin (feeling quite nostalgic lately, but Ces't la vie)

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

I am glad Mozart never learned this lesson. He might have died nuts and poor, but what a virtuoso.