Streaming is a very cool way to access tens of millions of songs with a few pokes on your phone…the idea of being able to listen to virtually any song from any era of human history with such ease is something akin to magic…
The downside of streaming is that it doesn’t provide any context to what we’re hearing…a continuous stream of music tells us nothing about the artist or the song…it’s just music, standing alone with nothing to anchor it to anything…
It was different in the old days…if you bought an album, dammit, that was an investment…you paid money for it, which created a fiscal relationship with the artist…that meant you were more likely to stick with an album and get deeper into the artist and the songs…otherwise, you had this nagging feeling you had wasted your money…
Context means so much to the enjoyment of music—which is probably a reason you’re listening to me right now…you want more than the notes that make up a song…
Yeah, sometimes a song is just a song…you know, it’s got a good beat, you can dance to it and maybe sing along…it doesn’t really mean anything more than that…
But some songs are very deep…they actually form some part of a historical record…they tell the story of real people, real events and the things that came after…
That’s where we’re going with this show: everything we’re about to hear is based on fact, on history, on actual events…and you may be shocked by the truth beyond songs that you’ve been digging all your life…this isn’t anything you’re gonna get from a stream…trust me…
Songs in this episode:
The Clash - White Riot
Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Monday's
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
REM - What's the Frequency Kenneth?
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
Nirvana - Polly
The Tragically Hip - Wheat Kings
Filter - Hey Man, Nice Shot!
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Songs Based On Real Events | Ongoing History of New Music podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
