What Do We Do Now that Rock Won't Go Away?-Part 6

What Do We Do Now that Rock Won’t Go Away?-Part 6

       The musical performance style can actually belie the truth presented by the text of the music.  So, the juxtaposition of the truth of the Bible, that the musician is trying to present to an audience, with overly tense vocal production above or below the pitch, will actually hinder the textural message.  This is not to say that no truth will get past a faulty performance practice.   However, it seems odd to me that Christian musicians are determined to encumber the gospel message with the vocal performance practice with which they present the music.  To me, it is like removing the lug nuts that hold the tires on your car with a pair of pliers—pliers may help you get your flat tire removed, but they are definitely not the right tool for the job!  Garlock and Woetzel  have concluded the matter quite well, “Having discovered very early in this book that music is not merely a matter of preference and taste, we must now conclude from the evidence that the style is all-important, not in the world’s philosophy of relativism.  The style itself reflects and projects a philosophy.”  Music in the Balance, By Frank Garlock & Kurt Woetzel, pp. 99-100.

       The original history of the terminology “rock and roll”, which is a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse, has been borrowed from jazz’s (originally unwritten) etymological dictionary of pornographic words.  It is of little wonder that this music with a driving incessant propelling directionality has been used as a concomitant to lyric texts that convey a sexual message.  No one that I know of, except Christian musicians, denies that rock music lends itself to being highly sexual.  Secular rock musicians believe that this music sends a strong sexual message and they, of course, do not have any problem with rock’s ability to do so. 

       Religious rock enthusiasts and performers categorically deny that rock has the power to say, represent, convey, transmit, or communicate anything at all.  In order to justify the use of rock music alone or with a sacred text, they must subscribe to the “it is benign” theory.  The benign theory purports that the music part of all rock music is nonthreatening, harmless and neutral in its effect.  It is sort of a kinder, gentler, benevolent, no harm done musical philosophy that leads them to the faulty conclusion that all music is good because it all comes from God.  For those Christian musicians who do not believe the “God made all music” theory, a religious but humanistic approach works best.