Essays on Lennon, Cobain and Hendrix by Mila Buria (the gingerbread man read aloud TXT) 📖

First chapter - Why Simply music is Simply not enough

WHY SIMPLE MUSIC is SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH

By Mila Strashimirova – Buria

Everybody likes simple music. Nirvana and Beatles have songs with 2 or 3 even 1 chord and they sound ok. You can sing to it, you can memorize the lyrics and sing under the shower, right? Whereas it is difficult to sing the solo of Voodoo Child (although not impossible).

In this text I would like to discuss the qualities of the composers John Lennon and Kurt Cobain in comparison with the music of the guitar genius Jimi Hendrix.

What makes Lennon and Cobain so popular is that their music is combined with social activism – for peace and for mental illness respectively. Lennon repeats the word “Peace” like a parrot, whereas Cobain, similarly to Djani Rodari’s character Duk Tangerine threatens many times he will take his own life, which he eventually does. Their music is not so valuable per se. In other words – everybody could have written those melodies and chords and lyrics. Jimi Hendrix, on the other hand, is a different story. He is a true gem, appeared on the Earth much ahead of his time.

John Lennon and Kurt Cobain are working-class heroes, who have found a heart-shaped music box, which they use to collect some coins on the streets of Time. Jimi is a Space-Roamer that uses Dragon flies to reach his destination.

But enough with the metaphors, let’s get down to business and discuss the three composers in detail.

Lennon

The fine British lad, otherwise known as “The Walrus”, has indeed some lucky shots at nice music. A song which particularly stands out is “Across the Universe”, where both lyrics and melody are on a world-class level, which cannot be said for all of his themes. I refer to pieces of unfinished music such as “Nobody Told Me”, “You are here”, “Dear John”, etc. Another work, which seems to be blessed by the Muse, is “Jealous Guy”. What is special about John Lennon is that he is a prolific composer, and even if you think you know everything, you can always be surprised by something, which you have missed. Also, another precious trait of his is the ability to reinvent himself. He gained some fame with the Beatles, but once they fell apart he managed to come back. With the help of his partner, a woman witch deserves a 4000-word study only to herself, John managed to pull himself together and re-conquer the world.

His last reincarnation – when he is a proper family man, with a son and a wife, is the best. The music from this period is also the most mature, and meaningful. Pieces like “Beautiful Boy”, “Watching the Wheels” , “I’m Your Angel” , etc. prove that.

John Lennon has shown to the world that he is a crafty song-writer. However he is not unique. Like in his anthem “I am a dreamer/ but I’m not the only one”.

His social activism, in my moderate view, is much more significant, than his musical contribution to the civilization. He did it because of his musical legacy, so the two are very interrelated. John Lennon – the Walrus who was slaughtered by the very machine he spent all his life protesting about.

Cobain

Kurt is a different song from John. He was not so much about the social activism. He was self-centered. Everything in his world was a projection of his inner demons. He fought them well and created a great legacy in-between the battles with the Evil Forces. However, he didn’t succeed to stage a good fight and surrendered (heroically).

His songs are simple, rough, down to earth, raunchy.

The best performance, of course, without any doubt, is the MTV Unplugged of Nirvana. But we are not here to discuss performances; we are here to compare composers. What amazes me truly is that real musicians like Kirk Hammet say that Nirvana are one of their idols. How could those simple melodies and less than meaningful texts be idols to one of the greatest guitarists in the history of the world?! This is mind-boggling.

Cobain is tortured by many ghosts and when he can’t really function he’s so full of fear. However the results of this fear are the simple songs he writes, which touch many souls.

He might not be a Beethoven or even Leo Brouwer , but he has created something good. If only for the reason, that the beginner guitarists have what to play, and feel happy and content that they can really play something. It’s too bad the demons got hold of him so early in his life.

Hendrix

Jimi actually was not born in the 20th century. He was born in the 30th century, but by magic he was given to us – by some mysterious superior forces or God himself. He didn’t fight any demons like Kurt. He was a true force of nature. Like a typhoon or a tornado. In my view, he was taken early, so that he doesn’t reveal all the secrets of life and the Universe ahead of time.

Where to start – his legacy is so magnificent and sublime, that it is difficult to write about.

You have to have gypsy eyes, in order to be able to see the castles made of sand, or the wind will cry only Mary to you. He has created a myriad, a plethora of Universes with images, melodies, solos and performances. I can write a whole PhD about him.

I want to apologize in advance to the reader, if he or she is a fan of Lennon and Cobain. My intention was not to diminish the talent of both musicians, but to say that simple music is not enough if it is not combined with activism, otherwise the music has to be complex like Hendrix’ in order for it to be interesting. If music is not interesting, the whole point of it is missing.

 

Imprint

Publication Date: 02-16-2017

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
I dedicate this book to John Lennon, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.