when pop music started in a big way in
the 1960s it seemed at times like an
especially silly medium favored by
hormonal school girls and connected up
with delinquent and
tedious and bizarre behavior have you
tried to sneak in a little charm
yes yes we were in a hotel how far did
you get twelve floor
by contrast philosophy had a reputation
for being deeply serious and impressive
the natural home the big ambition to
understand ourselves and transform the
world through ideas but since the 1960's
philosophy has stalled and Pop has
conquered the world it's now the
foremost medium for the articulation of
ideas on a mass scale this explains why
if it's to survive philosophy must study
Pop part of its salvation lies in
understanding Pop's techniques so as to
be able to become in crucial ways a
little more like it there are a host of
critical lessons that philosophy can
learn from pop for a start pop teaches
us about charm the great pop songs are
the witching lis dazzlingly charming in
the manner in which they get their
messages across they know exactly how to
wear away our defenses and enter our
imaginations with grace it's a reminder
that it isn't enough for ideas to be
correct for them to become powerful and
deliver on their promises they need to
know how to win over an audience
pop is the most seductive force the
world has ever known
it has more and more devoted adherents
than all the religions put together it's
more deeply loved more trusted and a
more constant companion in our joys and
sorrows than any other art form
Pop has become powerful in part because
it's cleverly understood the division of
labor those who can sing and hold the
crowd may not be the same as those who
know how to write music or arrange the
instruments pop is unashamed about
uniting talent wherever it finds it so
that the final result combines in this
beautiful face with the finest voice the
best score and the most beguiling
instrumental arrangement pop has
overcome the romantic hang-up about the
unique creator it knows that the most
intimate heartfelt results may be the
outcome of large-scale institutional
collaboration if you want to be
pop teaches us to about compression it
knows our lives are busy and has an
extraordinarily ambitious sense of what
could be achieved in under three minutes
like all other art forms pop is trying
to communicate ideas but it bypasses the
more resistant intellectual parts of the
mind
all the usual obstacles to reaching
another person are stripped away in the
name of visceral intimacy pop achieves
what Pericles Lincoln Dickens and Proust
were attempting and spectacularly
exceeds all of them it provides the
ultimate demonstration of the 19th
century theorist Walter Pater x'
tantalizing assertion that all art
aspires to the condition of music like
religion pop knows that repetition is
key it works its effect through being
heard again and again it would prefer to
grab three minutes from you every day
than three hours every few months like
religious incantation it's interested in
working upon our souls cumulative levels
pop is intelligent in not being afraid
of simplicity it's too wise to be held
back by pedantry or erudition it knows
that our emotional needs are in essence
obvious to be encouraged to be held to
be jolly to be reassured when we're
alone to be told something beautiful and
uplifting it doesn't suffer from high
arts perverse addiction to subtlety it
accepts that the core of our minds may
be astonishing basic in structure
does
pop is ultimately the master of
collective euphoria it possesses what
churches and politicians would like but
are so rarely able to secure it's worked
out how to generate shared moments of
deep emotion about important things in
the stadium the singer functions as a
high priest for whom the flock might be
ready to make major sacrifices they
would in that benign frenzy be willing
to go just about anywhere
that philosophy needs to learn from pop
doesn't preclude that pop leads of
course to learn quite a bit from
philosophy as well
pop currently touches on the big themes
but doesn't as yet properly take up many
of the opportunities that lie its way
it's lacking in ultimate ambitions in
the future we need pop musicians to take
up the challenge of investigating the
deepest truths of getting behind
transformative concepts and of making
these into the things we'll sing about
in front of the bathroom mirror with our
hair brushes so that they become a
background sounds of our inner lives the
world awaits from a redemptive synthesis
between philosophy and pop
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