Is pop music serious? AI has helped The Beatles regroup one last time. Critics hail the "powerful" reunion of Lennon and McCartney on Now and Then. But does the music matter?
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The cheerful moptops that changed our culture
Is pop music serious? AI has helped The Beatles regroup one last time. Critics hail the "powerful" reunion of Lennon and McCartney on Now and Then. But does the music matter?
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"Now and then I miss you," sing The Beatles, 45 years apart. John Lennon on an old cassette and McCartney in the recording studio.1
Ringo Starr is the other surviving member of the 1960s band. The fourth, George Harrison, died in 2001.
They are the best-selling group of all time, shifting 600 million records and were one of the most influential bands of their generation.2
But can we compare them to MozartAn 18th Century classical musician who composed more than 800 works. or ShakespeareAn English playwright and poet who is often called the greatest writer in the English language. ?
Musicologist Simon Frith says pop music is "designed to appeal to everyone" and is "not art."3 Its purpose is to make you feel - not think. And there is evidence it is getting dumber.4
The philosopher Theodor Adorno criticised popular music for sticking to a formula. It comforts "the masses" but does not challenge society or its listeners.5
But what would he have thought of Rubber Soul? The Beatles' rule-breaking and inspirational 1965 album. Expert James Decker wrote that it made listeners "desire and expect" more from music.6
McCartney says they try to "spread love" with their music. The former spy Leslie Woodhead believes the band helped bring down the Soviet UnionOfficially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991. with its "spiritual energy".7 Lennon's Imagine made "catchy pop... utopianImpossibly perfect. The term comes from an ancient Greek phrase meaning "no-place" invented by Henry VIII's chancellor, Sir Thomas More, in 1516, as the name of an imaginary, ideal island. and deeply moral," says expert Phil Zuckerman.8
Popular music may be powerful, but great art communicates truths about human nature.
The Voyage 1 probe is the furthest human-made object from Earth, 15 billion miles away. It contains a "golden record" for aliens to learn about us. Alongside Bach and Beethoven is Chuck Berry's hit Johnny B. Goode.
Critics told astronomist Carl Sagan this "adolescent" music did not belong on this serious mission.9 Sagan replied we want to tell aliens who we are, and "there are a lot of adolescents on the planet".
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Is pop music serious?
Yes: Something does not need to be complex to be serious. The power of pop is its universalityApplies to everyone. . It brings people together in a shared appreciation of music. Only snobs would think that wasn't serious.
No: Pop is mindless rubbish. The music is predictable, and the lyrics are glibSpoken confidently but in an insincere or unserious way. and unimaginative. They are made to stick in our heads at the cost of thinking about anything serious or meaningful.
Or... The Beatles were not serious, and that was the point. They were irreverentLacking respect for things which are normally taken seriously. , silly buffoons who mocked social norms. We cannot always be serious, and we should enjoy the simple pleasures of pop.
Keywords
Mozart - An 18th Century classical musician who composed more than 800 works.
Shakespeare - An English playwright and poet who is often called the greatest writer in the English language.
Soviet Union - Officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991.
Utopian - Impossibly perfect. The term comes from an ancient Greek phrase meaning "no-place" invented by Henry VIII's chancellor, Sir Thomas More, in 1516, as the name of an imaginary, ideal island.
Universality - Applies to everyone.
Glib - Spoken confidently but in an insincere or unserious way.
Irreverent - Lacking respect for things which are normally taken seriously.
The cheerful moptops that changed our culture
Fab four: The Beatles are the most successful act in the history of the US Billboard charts. Glossary
Mozart - An 18th Century classical musician who composed more than 800 works.
Shakespeare - An English playwright and poet who is often called the greatest writer in the English language.
Soviet Union - Officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991.
Utopian - Impossibly perfect. The term comes from an ancient Greek phrase meaning "no-place" invented by Henry VIII's chancellor, Sir Thomas More, in 1516, as the name of an imaginary, ideal island.
Universality - Applies to everyone.
Glib - Spoken confidently but in an insincere or unserious way.
Irreverent - Lacking respect for things which are normally taken seriously.