The Core Rocks!!
Although at times COR 202 (Human Nature and the Social Order) might strike one as cruel and unusual punishment, the impact of these texts extends well beyond classroom discussions and assignments. Indeed, they present principles that have structured the politics and institutions of our times. Moreover, they contain ideas about the human condition that are not just relegated to abstruse philosophy texts but find expression in everyday life, including contemporary music.
To substantiate this claim, I suggest that you listen to and consider a variety of contemporary music ('contemporary' = spanning approximately the past 50 years or so). Within the lyrics of those songs you hum along to is, sometimes, some pretty deep philosophical stuff. I submit for your consideration a list of songs that I think contain elements of ideas expressed by Core authors we’re reading this semester, including: Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, C. Wright Mills, and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Ţ IMPORTANT CAVEAT: I am not saying that the writers and performers of the following songs are Marxists, Weberians, Smithians and the like. Chances are that they're not. Rather, I'm saying that the ideas expressed in the songs ‘can’--with some interpretive finesse and imagination--be used to illustrate points and observations of these theorists.
The Initial List--to be revised as the semester progresses. Also as time, energy, initiative, suggestions, ability allow.
NOTE A: the below songs represent my attempt to mix things up--theories and musical genres.
NOTE B: a CD of the following songs is on reserve at the Oglethorpe Library.
NOTE C: lyrics are available through a variety of on-line sources.
One good place to get lyrics, as well as (usually inane) discussion of the lyrics’ meaning is at: www.songmeanings.net
Spring 2006 COR-sters proposed the following songs for Core Rocks, Vol. II. Are they true to the ideals of the philosophers? Check it out!
Track 1: West Side Story's Gee Officer Krupke
So you’re messed up. Is the problem human nature or the social order?
Track 2: Janice Ian At Seventeen
Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments
Approbation goes to those with traits we can readily see and admire (wealth, power, beauty) rather than to better but less visible traits (such as wisdom and virtue). Note the calculating nature of this universe “payment due exceeds accounts received.”
Track 3: Weezer Beverly Hills
Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations
The poor man’s son envies the rich man but comes to the precocious realization, a) that ambition won’t get him happiness and that b) ranks are far more fixed than he initially imagined. Of course, Weezer’s wisdom, if followed by all, would bring Smith’s moral and opulent society crashing down…..But then again, as Smith reminds us,
In what constitutes the real happiness of human life, they are in no respect inferior to those who would seem so much above them. In ease of body and peace of mind, all the different ranks of life are nearly upon a level, and the beggar, who suns himself by the side of the highway, possesses that security which kings are fighting for... (ToMS 123)
or for the WoN take:
...it may be true, perhaps, that the accommodation of an European prince does not always so much exceed that of an industrious and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of the latter exceeds that of many an African king, the absolute mast of the lives and liberties of ten thousand naked savages. (p. 168)
Track 4: Casting Crowns American Dream
Tocqueville: Democracy in America
Ah, materialism, restiveness, isolation….so American
Track 5: Tears for Fears Mad World
Durkheim: Suicide
Question: what form of suicide is this individual contemplating: egoistic, altruistic or anomic?
For a truly depressing version, check out Gary Jules' take on the song.
Track 6: REM Everybody Hurts
Durkheim: Suicide
Both the problem and the solution (“no, no, no, you’re not alone!”).
Track 7: Johnny Cash Sixteen Tons
Marx:
When the song originally came out, the writer/performer was charged with being a commie, a charge he vehemently denied. As a convenient segueway into the next selection, I was intrigued to see the song lyrics come up on a website discussing race & class in America....: http://www.nathanielturner.com/sharifinterviewsliljoe.htm
Track 8: Stevie Wonder Living for the City
Marx
Contemporary Marxists often claim that one means to divide the proletariat is through ideological ploys like racism and nationalism. What better way to keep the proletariat down than to have them struggle against each other, rather than to unite against the bourgeoisie....
Track 9: Nine Inch Nails Head Like a Hole
Marx: see "The Meaning of Human Requirements" and "The Power of Money in Bourgeois Society"
A peek into the psyche of the Bourgeoisie? Money makes sycophants of us all yet we'll crush any and all that try to stop our getting it.
"Private property does not know how to change crude need into human need. Its idealism is fantasy, caprice and whim; and no eunuch flatters his despot more basely or uses more despicable means to stimulate his dulled capacity for pleasure in order to sneak a favour for himself than does the industrial eunuch....every need is an opportunity to approach one's neighbour under the guise of the utmost amiability and say to him: Dear friend, I give you what you need, but you know the conditio sine qua non; you know the ink in which you have to sign yourself over to me; in providing for your pleasure, I fleece you." (p. 93-4)
Track 10: Judy Collins Both Sides Now
Weber: Economy and Society, 'Definitions of Sociology and Social Action'
In understanding and explaining society, materialist explanations do not suffice. It's not 'clouds' per se that are important, but rather the meaning a human imparts to clouds. The significance of clouds / love / life differs over time and over space (within an individual's life, over the history of a society, across societies) depending on the particular beliefs they hold about the significance of clouds / love / life.....
Track 11: The Monkees Pleasant Valley Sunday
Weber: Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
A common theme in contemporary rock music (and even appearing in jazz works of an earlier era): the horrors of suburbia. What's wrong with suburbia? Well, the Monkees suggest some features, including mindless uniformity, where once people might have been driven by some sense of calling, now roses and t.v.s are points of pride in 'status symbol land.' No wonder that "creature comfort goals / they only numb my soul / and make it hard for me to see / my thoughts all seem to stray / to places far away / I need a change of scenery." That far away place: might it be a time prior to or far away from 'the shell as hard as steel'.....?
Track 12: Incubus Megalomaniac
Weber: "The Types of Legitimate Domination"
Authority ultimately depends on the belief of others. A charismatic leader who is not believed to be charismatic by potential followers would not be charismatic; they'd just be another megalomaniac....
Track 13: Green Day American Idiot
Mills
Track 14: India Arie Video
Mills