R & R Music

[CDONALDSON@USC-ECLB.ARPA]

             ROCK MUSIC MAY BE ANTI-EDUCATIONAL

    Such a headline, by no means uncommon throughout its history, is 
perhaps so trite that it can considered as the standard "party-line" of the 
Right or any PTA organization in America; nonetheless, this remark greets
the reader of last Sunday's NY TIME Art & Leisure section. In a most
amusing and entertaining essay Donal Hehahn writes of this thesis as
espoused by Dennis O'Brien, the President of the University of Rochester.
What follows is some especially noteworthy passages:
 
    " [R]ock music is 'counter-educational' - not merely passive in the
      face of traditional, rational education but actively engaged in
      subverting it."

    " Mr. O'Brien contends that we should take seriously the idea, fre-
      quently alluded to in pop lyrics, that much rock music is "other-
      worldly in effect ... "
 
    " [M]odern music [is a] manifestation of our longing for angels. "
 
    " The rock concert also has parallels in the kinky rituals that
      establishmentarian Greeks such as Plato viewed as reversions
      to barbarism and threats to civility, intelligence and the 
      Republic."
 
    " Education is often, if not always, delayed gratification.
      Rock, however, demands fulfillment now."

 
I believe that Mr. O'Brien's thesis is clearly *FLAWED*. It can be
said that *all* artistic and philosophical endeavors are a "manifestation
of our longing to be angels." The popularity of Dynasty, Dallas, and
other soap opera provides testement to the belief that we enjoy
living vicariously through the lives of the "rich and powerful".
Besides the liberal arts, when considering politics it can be argued that
the popularity of R. Reagan reflects the public's need for immediately
" fullfillment ". 

           ... well it is obvious that you can argue this endlessly,
but to conclude, I believe that it is an inherent trait of the human psyche
to "long to be angels" and to "demand fulfillment". Rock music provides
us but with one of *many* means to this end.

                                     
                                          Gerry