Entertainment, Electronics + Spectacle

My staff shared with me a few songs from some popular artists topping the charts today: Calvin Harris, Justin Bieber, Rita Ora, and The Wanted. I tend to avoid modern pop stations, so it was an enlightening, if predictable, experience. On the one hand, I would be lying if I were to say I was impressed. And yet, it was instructive.

I was reminded that modern pop music is missing a crucial element that earlier generations took for granted: authenticity. I grew up listening to The Beatles, Elvis, Cat Stevens, Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, and other icons from an earlier era. They were singers and songwriters, capable of experiencing great love and great loss—and expressing it with vocal colors, textures, and genuine emotional depth.

What set these singers apart was their frame of reference: they viewed life through the filter of their everyday experiences without relying heavily on technology. In those days, a singer-songwriter might have been inspired sitting on the dock overlooking a pond or brushing past a stranger on a streetcar. Previous generations were simply more connected to flesh and blood human beings and the natural world.

Certainly, these generations relied on technology to an extent; radio and television were widespread during that time without a doubt. Indeed, it was by virtue of these mediums that singer-songwriters were able to gain exposure and connect with their fans.

Younger generations, in contrast, rely on technology to a much greater degree—to the point that they are detached from many natural experiences. Today, we cannot escape the entertainment, electronics, and spectacle that mark our everyday interactions. We are overwhelmed—even overpowered at times—by digital media’s overblown artificial images.

Our digital footprint has come to define our humanity. Contrary to previous times, today’s popular music seems to reflect a culture suffering from an identity crisis: We are lost in a virtual reality created by our avatars, cell phones, and laptops. It’s as if we are viewing our lives through 3D glasses; we are one step removed—one solid frame—from real experience.

Genuine inspiration can only come when we are in contact with what is real, what is true, and what is natural. If we can begin to understand this, we may someday achieve surprising levels of creativity and meaning we never knew were possible.

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