“Everlong” by David Grohl vs “Wildest Dreams”
by Taylor Swift, Max Martin and Shellback
Introduction
A battle
has erupted in the current era within the music industry between art and
entertainment. On one side, a man who stayed true to the artistic process and
on the other a group of men and women who create art for the sake of making
money and the next number one hit. Through the exploration of criteria for both
art and entertainment as well as contrasting and comparing two songs, it will
be proven that “Everlong” is art and “Wildest Dreams” is entertainment. Art, in
a couple of its forms, has been discussed at length by both Igor Stravinsky and
Scott McCloud and will aid in the definition of the criteria of what constitutes
art.
Criteria: What is Art?
According
to Igor Stravinsky an artist must have gone through an apprenticeship phase,
learn to creatively invent and then master the craft. The creative process is
done with intention. To him, people are not just born artists. Artists, are
made through hard work under the tutelage of someone who has walked the
creative path to mastery.
Further, he
says that in the composition of lyrics are not part of the artistic process of
making music and are not necessary to the rest of the song. They are just
poetry set to music. The instruments are what gives the music its substance.
Dissonance creates the drama that is needed to spark change within the creative
process of music. Each of these components are the lesser parts to music and
need to come together in a specific order for a composition to be truly
complete. His beliefs are further augmented by Scott McCloud.
Scott
McCloud’s “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art”, explains that there are
six steps to the creation of art. Skipping even one of the steps will not lead
to someone becoming an artist. As McCloud says, ““Pure” art is essentially tied
to the question of PURPOSE – of deciding what you want out of art.” He goes on
to say “the creation of ANY work in ANY medium will follow a certain PATH.” McCloud’s
observations may be specific to comic books, but can be applied to any form of
art, including music composition.
Between
Stravinsky and McCloud, a clear methodology and process of how to create art,
have been defined. Art is created by someone who has learned the craft and has
completed the process with creative intent and pure purpose.
Criteria: What is Entertainment?
Any piece
of music which was not organically created, but was manufactured in a musical
sausage factory is to be considered entertainment. There are usually many
people involved throughout the creative process, but no one person was inspired
out of the blue to sit down and plunk out a few cords here and write a few
words there. It is conceived on a boardroom table and wrapped around a pretty
frame.
That is not
to say that there is no art in the non-organic creative process, there is.
There has to be. However, the purest form of art comes from one person or band
who are inspired, rather than those who are working within the confines of a
corporate image and under a deadline.
Much of
today’s music has been manufactured in a cookie cutter process. The melody has
to be catchy. The beat needs to be good, but not too fast or slow. The harmony
needs to be pleasant and keep the listener from hitting next on their music
player or changing channels on the radio. But, above all, it must sell.
The Battle of the Songs
David Grohl
composed “Everlong” with creative intent; without regard for monetary gain or notoriety.
In an interview in 2006 he explains the song came from a riff he had been
playing with, which he thought was from a song by Sonic Youth. He goes on to
say that the song is about “a girl that I had fallen in love with and it
was basically about being connected to someone so much, that not only do you
love them physically and spiritually, but when you sing along with them you
harmonize perfectly.” The fundamental process of music creation was at work
from the conception of this song.
Grohl composed
a fundamentally natural song; it was not digitally synthesized. Swift’s production
entourage have so heavily synthesized the instruments; they are no longer
discernable in their individual components. While a synthesizer may be an art
form to some, it is not a musical instrument from a classical perspective. It
can be run through computer software and the learning process is not the same
as learning to play music on an actual musical instrument.
“Wildest
Dreams” looks to have been created with the intent to sell a number one hit.
The ultimate message that it is conveying is appealing to a broad audience. “The
guy is bad and this relationship is doomed from the get go”; the usual message
in a Taylor Swift song. “Everlong” is also similar in that it is about a
relationship, but with raw lyrics and message that has to be explored on a
deeper level, rather than being spoon fed to the listener. “Everlong” is about
someone, “Wildest Dreams” is about an easy to follow fantasy that the masses
like to chase.
There is no
auditory dissonance in “Wildest Dreams”. Instead, it is a compilation of
pleasant noise. “Everlong” with the pounding beat of the drums in combination
with electric guitars and bass form a level of dissonance that is less pleasant
to listen to than its counterpart, but still enjoyable to the listener. The
lack of dissonance in “Wildest Dreams” gives a broad appeal, but lacks a rich substance
that is required in good musical composition.
The lyrics
of each song put their message across in ways which are common in poetry and
are linguistically dissimilar in their respective messages. The poetry in
“Wildest Dreams” has a complex rhyming scheme. “Everlong” is purely free verse
with no rhyming. The title of “Wildest Dreams” is repeated over and over to
ensure that the point of the song comes across to an audience of fans who need
to be reminded of what they are listening to. The word everlong is used once; the
purpose of the title is not the substance of the entire song.
Conclusion
“Everlong”
is art in a pure form, from a compositional perspective as well as the sound
achieved through the use of actual instruments, played by actual people. It
came from the imagination of one person with an unadulterated intention, not a
collaboration of people looking for their next paycheque. “Wildest Dreams” is
pure entertainment. From the opening synthesized strains of the instruments which
have been distorted into an unnatural sound, to its weak poetry, it cannot be
considered art. “Everlong” fits into the messy package of creativity described
by Stravinsky and McCloud. “Wildest Dreams” fits into a neat box with a pretty
bow, but lacks the substance of a traditional art piece.
Dave Grohl
1, Taylor Swift, et al 0.
Citation
Grohl, David. “Everlong”. The Colour and the Shape. Capitol
Records. 1997. iTunes.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Swift, Taylor. Martin, Max.
Shellback. “Wildest Dreams”. 1989.
Big Machine Records. 2015. iTunes.
Stravinsky, Igor. Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons.
Cambridge. Harvard University Press, 2003. Print.
“How Dave Grohl Will Light Up Your
Summer – How to Write a Rock Anthem”. FooArchive.
June 2006. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
