Now that I am in my sixties, I am surprised that I still listen passionately and reverently to the music of my youth. Surprised because throughout my life I’ve also listened to other types of music that were clearly superior on a technical level.
Yet I still find myself drawn to rock music because its beautiful elements are well, timeless.
Rock is the ultimate refuge for musical castaways.
Let me explain.
When I first heard the pulsating rhythms of rock and simple (often melodramatic) melodies and hooks, I was captivated and even inspired. I felt welcome because I did not have to know music or technique or even taste.
I was instantly at home in a musical world that appealed to my emotions but did not demand any musical knowledge per se. And I could participate and play and sing or just rock out as a consumer of the genre.
Don’t have perfect pitch? There is room for you in rock. Can’t understand time signatures, notation and musical nuances? Rock doesn’t care. Only know 4.5 chords? That is all you really need. Can’t sing harmony to save your life? Who cares — just turn up the volume and feel the vibrations deep in your soul!
Rock music invites an “imperfect you” to make noise alongside others and simply celebrate the fact that you are alive. Feel the blood in your veins, the air in your lungs, the power of your limbs, the sexiness of your body!
Simply put, there is room for everyone in rock and roll.
Rock music accepts the downtrodden and wounded. It gives you shelter from life’s storms. When everyone hates and rejects you, rock music extends the hand of friendship and welcomes you.
That, my friends, is the ultimate “musical democracy.” *
It is also the secret behind rock’s longevity.
Precision and perfection be damned. There will always be a place for spontaneity and verve in the world of rock and roll.
My favourite rock lyric from Chuck Berry?
“Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news!”
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*Sure, there are narcissistic, musical snobs in rock too, but at its very core rock is earthy and inclusive. The ultimate community art form!