You know, I've been pretty critical of SMTF and am obviously not a big fan of it. That said I am and always will be a big fan of Jason, his live show and who is he is and what he says as a person and a performer. this passage in particularly really struck me:
Jason Isbell wrote:I just look at who I was the first year that I played in a rock 'n' roll band, and I ask, "Would I have thought that was bullshit back then?" And usually if I would have then, I still will now. The context—why you play music in the first place—I want to keep that as intact as possible. When I joined the Truckers, I was 21 and riding in the van with guys who were a generation older than me. And we spent a lot of time talking about what was bullshit, what was not real. And I don't believe all music is okay. I don't believe all music is good. I believe some music is bad for people to listen to. I think it makes their taste worse, I think it makes their lives worse, I think it makes them worse people. Some things you have to refuse not because of other people's image of you, but because it will gradually erode you until you are making music that's not good for people and you're not challenging listeners and you're not challenging yourself. I believe that and I will always believe that if I have my way.
Right on.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
Jason Isbell wrote:And I don't believe all music is okay. I don't believe all music is good. I believe some music is bad for people to listen to. I think it makes their taste worse, I think it makes their lives worse, I think it makes them worse people..
[/quote]
Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I once would've preached something of that nature, but now I find that attitude more than a little patronizing.
Jason Isbell wrote:And I don't believe all music is okay. I don't believe all music is good. I believe some music is bad for people to listen to. I think it makes their taste worse, I think it makes their lives worse, I think it makes them worse people..
Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I once would've preached something of that nature, but now I find that attitude more than a little patronizing.[/quote]
I think i agree with you, but I do enjoy Jason Isbell's constant honesty in interviews.
Here is Chris Stapleton's take from the same magazine, I like what he says.
I think the division is a very weird thing. I don't think anybody wants some kind of good-and-evil scenario with music. I don't. I think that's something that's fed to us a little bit. To me, we need all of it. If there's one kind of music that makes somebody happy, how is that a bad thing? And if there's another kind that makes somebody else happy, how is that a bad thing? I don't get why anybody cares about what they don't like so much. You know what I'm saying? If you don't like sushi, you don't go around all day telling everybody how much you hate sushi, and telling everybody who likes sushi to hate sushi. It's goofy. Why would you do that? Why would you want to dictate somebody else's taste or happiness? Music is supposed to be joyful and move people, and however that gets accomplished for different people, it's all good. I can't get into a battle
I'd say yes and no to both of them. Though I've never really thought about if music can make someone a worse person, etc., I do think music and other arts can make someone a better person, make their taste better, make them more open and considerate and appreciative all the other things art can do, so I'm open to the idea that it can go both ways. So Stapleton comparing art to sushi makes no sense to me. The best sushi can't make someone a better person, but the best art can, so the analogy is not such a good one. But the problem comes in when someone tries to specify for all which music is good and which is not good, or makes people's taste worse or their lives worse, and that's something Jason has been guilty of in the past, and it is patronizing, though he really seems like a different person sober than he was back in his drinking and fighting days. It's kind of like I believe religion can make a person better and religion can make a person worse, and I have some opinions about which forms of religion do each, but outside of perhaps some real extremes that nearly everyone probably agrees on, my opinions about it are just that and really hold no weight for anyone else but myself.
I don't think Stapleton's "sushi" analogy is that off base. I think for the average non-obsessive listener, especially those predisposed to like the kind of music that we would likely call bad, music isn't much more than sound dressing, a commodity. They're not going to have a life anting moment listening to Blonde on Blonde and if that itself sounds patronizing then ask your average CMT viewer how likely that is. I also don't believe there's anything wrong with that; there are other forms of art media that I don't "get" at all.
I also know music can have a positive influence on a person's life; I also think it can have a negative affect, but not necessarily worsen someone's worth. Jason's quote seems harmful to me. Thats not far removed from the attitude that led to the demonization of Marilyn Manson and gangsta rap.
Last edited by Smitty on Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
While I'm not sure that listening to bad music makes you bad, I generally think that less thoughtful people are the ones listenig to it. I've referred to it as music for people who don't like music in the past. In my experience most of these people ar more close minded, less empathetic and more self centered. Of course like in all things that is a gross oversimplification and I probably don't believe it as strongly as I once did but I still think it holds some truth. For me what Jason is talking about us the marganilization of music and the harm that holds but he's only able to say that through the lens of his own experience. The difference between what is real and what is bullshit is a subject I can relate to as I've spent an inordinate amount of time on the subject myself.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
I've been told that I have poor musical taste due to several artists' I like from DBT's to Jimmy Buffett. So, who is it decides what's good or bad and does it really matter? What matters most to me is what I like.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:I've been told that I have poor musical taste due to several artists' I like from DBT's to Jimmy Buffett. So, who is it decides what's good or bad and does it really matter? What matters most to me is what I like.
For me it's less what you listen to than it is why you listen to it. Admittedly I used to be much more militant about the what. I once told someone that didn't like Bob Dylan that all folks who didn't like Dylan should be forced to take course on his work until they did. That was very, very childish. These days I don't care if you listen to the Beatles or opera but I do tend to trust people who truly love music in whatever form it takes to them from show tunes to free form jazz more than people who might own three albums and listen to pop radio in the car. Is it elitist? Most likely but like Popeye I am what I am.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:I've been told that I have poor musical taste due to several artists' I like from DBT's to Jimmy Buffett. So, who is it decides what's good or bad and does it really matter? What matters most to me is what I like.
For me it's less what you listen to than it is why you listen to it. Admittedly I used to be much more militant about the what. I once told someone that didn't like Bob Dylan that all folks who didn't like Dylan should be forced to take course on his work until they did. That was very, very childish. These days I don't care if you listen to the Beatles or opera but I do tend to trust people who truly love music in whatever form it takes to them from show tunes to free form jazz more than people who might own three albums and listen to pop radio in the car. Is it elitist? Most likely but like Popeye I am what I am.
We've covered this topic countless times before, not that it can't be covered again but I'm no more likely to stop listening to what I enjoy because someone disapproves than someone that likes Kenny Chesney is going to pick up a Truckers album just because I recommended it.
BTW, I'm not sure if you're on the Cult of the Record Bar page on FB but there's a thread on there about this article where one fella refers to Isbell as a "snob" while another says "Decoration Day" is "crap". So far, I've managed to stay out of the conversation despite the fact that I'd probably put Something More Than Free in my top 5 if I were to compile a list of favorite albums from 2015. Then again, Ryan Adams' 1989 would probably be in there as well (the overall list, not top 5) which I was taken to task for enjoying on this board. Bottom line is, listen to what you enjoy and fuck the naysayers.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:I've been told that I have poor musical taste due to several artists' I like from DBT's to Jimmy Buffett. So, who is it decides what's good or bad and does it really matter? What matters most to me is what I like.
Yeah, but I think that's a different conversation than this one, which isn't really about musical taste but about if some music can be harmful. I would say that music that incites people to degrade the worth of others based on sexism or racism could be harmful. Like the version of "these boots are made for walking" by the white supremacists who change it to "the boots are gonna walk all over Jews." Lyrics that incite violence or hatred could make people worse. Music that degrades women can make people worse. I don't support censorship as a reaction to that, but I can get on board with personal opinions that some music is bad for people.
To go back to the original context of the question, Jason was asked not to judge others but
what guidelines does he use for himself, and he says this in response, that he doesn't want to make music that is bad for people or degrading. So it seems like he's just being honest about how he approaches his own work.
For some reason I remembered this tweet from years back, an easy google search let me find it.
@JasonIsbell
There should be no guilty pleasures. Feel guilty about not enjoying things. Enjoy everything you can.
2:42 AM - 1 Oct 2011
This seems to contradict his opinions from GQ. Maybe he was drunk when he posted it.
really surprised to read that gq quote. all his tweets and prior interviews made me think he was mature/open minded enough to reject that kind of elitist nonsense.
Enjoyment v. art. They're not the same thing. There can be bad art, and holy shit, there's a lot of it out there. There is surely plenty of alleged entertainment that one doesn't enjoy. But can there be bad entertainment, as in bad for you? I don't know. Does listening to Judas Priest make you commit suicide? Does listening to GnR make you attack gays? What did you do after you saw Clockwork Orange for the first time?
Speaking of the sushi analogy, we've all been in this place: A close family friend just became vegan. She's obsessive on the topic and hectoring, boring and annoying as hell. That's really not much different from your parents telling you that what you're listening to is just noise and will rot your brain. So, I guess people do go around telling other people what to eat. And what to listen to. And it's all as boring and annoying as hell. Even if the food I eat may be bad for me, I really don't need to hear about it yet again from "you" (whoever "you" may be in a given moment). I find it hard to believe that any of the music I listen to is bad for me and certainly don't want to listen to anyone lecture me about it.
What's it all mean? Damned if I know.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
I find this entire argument to be rather silly. Music and art is subjective, it always has been and always will be. I don't give a shit what others listen to and I don't give a shit what others think of the music I listen to.
I think Jason's statement is ridiculous. It's similar to many of his tweets on his Twitter feed. He sometimes comes off as a condescending dick. With that being said, I still like him and most of his music and he seemed like a pretty nice guy the few times I've talked to him.
Turn you demons into walls of goddamned noise and sound.
