Ted Nugent - wikimedia commons[/caption]Carol Forsloff --Elvis Presley was asked about his political opinions and reminded people of his status as a musician whose goal was to entertain, as a troubadour who crossed the political and social barriers to unite folks with his music. Unlike many entertainers today, he underlined his role as an entertainer. So what is the function of music and how does it relate to Presley's view?
Presley was asked the question: “You were in the Army and were drafted. What is your opinion of war protesters? And would you today refuse to be drafted?”
Elvis: “Honey, I’d just soon to keep my own personal opinions about that to myself? Cause I’m just an entertainer and I’d rather not say.”
It is that function of being an entertainer that most musicians translate with their music, and when that function is not held as an ideal, society in some ways withers and divides even further as a result as the safe harbor of the arts becomes instead a way for the musician to target more than an issue but the personality of the politician he or she may not like, as Ted Nugent did at the NRA convention.
In North Louisiana, like much of the rest of the state, politics is a hot button issue. Everyone has an argument, including some that echo the struggles of a war that divided America north and south, resulting in civil war. But Louisiana is also the cradle that in many ways birthed some of the music geniuses, like Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Tony Jo White and others.
The music of Louisiana, across most of the State, continues to reflect much of the unity that occurs when people put aside their politics and reflect on what unites rather than divides people. Most of Louisiana's best musicians are part of multiracial, multi-religious groups. Whether one is Republican or Democrat has no place on stage when musicians translate for us the message that we are all creatures finding our way in a world that is sometimes dark and hurtful.
Music is known to have a healing effect, to bring the old and the sick to a higher state of consciousness and health. That's why music is played in hospitals, nursing homes, and places of healing. Harp musicians often sit by the bedside of those who are dying, as they have done throughout history, taking the beauty of music's harmonies to help in the process of death.
Musicians were some of the world's original historians, those troubadours who traveled from one region to another singing songs about the death of a king, the execution of someone who betrayed a lover or the kingdom. Musicians followed the armies as they marched into battle. The battle harp is part of that history, as it was taken into war. Music was to give relief, offer emotional strength, so that men could handle their pain, fears and loneliness.
The value of music remains, as most musicians have a common purpose, to share that part of the soul that can unite with others on a stream of melody and lyrics that bypasses prejudices and politics. While some might stumble into quagmires of controversy, given the struggles folks have as they are tempted by the social issues of the day, most folks who play music know there is something that unites us. They recognize the spirit that evolves from an open heart from which music comes and reminds us of our humanity and of the wonders of life itself.
Artists struggle to achieve, to support themselves, to be noticed so they can share what they create. In a world where music is discarded as easily as the napkins used to wipe our chins, we listen and leave, not remembering the great effort and time that is often put into an artist's work. For the lifetime artist, musician it is often when the life has ended, or one has grown old beyond the practice of the craft, that there is that discovery made. Stephen Foster, for example, died drunk and virtually penniless, even as he advocated for the rights of others, especially the poor. He was appreciated during his era but the pennies were few for the work he had done. Now he is considered by many historians as the father of American music.
This article honors those artists, those painters of great art, writers who form words into quotations and phrases that inspire, and to the musicians who give us all a respite from our grief and help us focus instead on something that offers a glimpse of our capacity for beauty and for love. It is that higher purpose that is "The Dreamer's Dance," inspired from what can makes us all truly divine.