Is this the Second Folk Music Wave?
Aug 19, 2004 8:58:20 GMT -5
Post by Ragin on Aug 19, 2004 8:58:20 GMT -5
Folk Music. We think of the pioneers as being Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, and Peter Paul and Mary. There were many more during that time though, The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, and the list goes on and on.
Folk Music always existed though. It was a music that told a story with the songs, one that lyrical content was more important than that perfect vocal. An ageless music that was passed down through centuries of story telling and song.
Folk Music as we think of it, got it's boon during the anti-Vietnam War era. Protest songs, and a country full of youth that yearned for something intellectual in a sea of nonsensical blatherings coming from all directions not just in music, but in the news, and everywhere they turned. Folk Music was their savior, through Dylan and others they could find a voice for their opinion, and appreciate poetry in a new way.
Although Folk Music survived, the 80's all but killed the commercial success of any folk artists out there. In a time of looking to new hopes, the depressing lyrics of folk music were not wanted.
In the last few years it appears that a new dawn has appeared for Folk Music. The Iraq war may have something to do with it, but I think it's interesting how the youth are once again turning toward lyrical content and meaning in songs, and finding it once again, in folk music. The artists have changed, and they aren't all acoustic, but the similarities are there, none the less. As I listened to my Gary Jules CD today, I was struck by how much one of the songs reminded me of an old folk tune by Peter Paul and Mary. Then I thought about the artists like Gary Jules, Damien Rice, Pete Yorn, and the list goes on.
A second wave of folk music? Cool, I'm all for that, but understand I never had to dust off my Simon and Garfunkel records, because I listened to them all along.
Folk Music always existed though. It was a music that told a story with the songs, one that lyrical content was more important than that perfect vocal. An ageless music that was passed down through centuries of story telling and song.
Folk Music as we think of it, got it's boon during the anti-Vietnam War era. Protest songs, and a country full of youth that yearned for something intellectual in a sea of nonsensical blatherings coming from all directions not just in music, but in the news, and everywhere they turned. Folk Music was their savior, through Dylan and others they could find a voice for their opinion, and appreciate poetry in a new way.
Although Folk Music survived, the 80's all but killed the commercial success of any folk artists out there. In a time of looking to new hopes, the depressing lyrics of folk music were not wanted.
In the last few years it appears that a new dawn has appeared for Folk Music. The Iraq war may have something to do with it, but I think it's interesting how the youth are once again turning toward lyrical content and meaning in songs, and finding it once again, in folk music. The artists have changed, and they aren't all acoustic, but the similarities are there, none the less. As I listened to my Gary Jules CD today, I was struck by how much one of the songs reminded me of an old folk tune by Peter Paul and Mary. Then I thought about the artists like Gary Jules, Damien Rice, Pete Yorn, and the list goes on.
A second wave of folk music? Cool, I'm all for that, but understand I never had to dust off my Simon and Garfunkel records, because I listened to them all along.
