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The Revolution That Wasn’t: The Low-Down on College Music
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The Pop Culture Pill
March 29, 2008 - 12:53pmThe world’s colleges and universities have a reputation for fostering some of the most liberal thinkers in the country. Not only are many students simply open-minded and free-spirited, but, no matter what their passions may be, there is also always a “posse” of others to back them up. But despite this vast array of ideas and innovations that permeate adults aged 18 to 22, the all-inclusive term “college music” still exists.
During the 1960’s and the Vietnam War, college music came to symbolize what it still means today – “I’m young, I’m proud, and I’ve got something to say.” In rallies like the Human Be-In, the Summer of Love, and Woodstock (pardon the cliché), bands like Jefferson Airplane sang about what college-aged kids were dealing with on a day-to-day basis. The band called for young adults to “feed [their] heads,” claiming that “one pill makes you larger/and one pill makes you small/and the ones that mother gives you/don’t do anything at all.” The band really connected with the college world, because Jefferson Airplane, too, was going through the same social strife. Students were dealing with the drug culture of the era, and the music reflected it – it’s all relatively logical.
The first semester of my freshman year, a wise professor of mine said something along the lines of, “The worst movement, edition, or regime of any area of interest is always the one going on right now. We are always in the worst of times…until the next movement, edition, or regime comes out, when we will undoubtedly romanticize and yearn for the previous one.” The 1960s are idealized by today’s culture as a time of political and social movement. They were, but let’s be honest with ourselves: the music reflected the times, which is exactly what today’s music does, too.
It is important to look at every band holistically. It’s impossible to ignore that some of the members of Jefferson Airplane went on to create the band Starship, which released “We Built This City” in 1985. For some reason, though, this band (also a large part of the college music scene) never got the same reputation as Jefferson Airplane, even though its synthesized vocals and keyboards spoke to the babies of the ‘80s. Generation X was looking for something by which to define itself, and Starship said, “Hey! Why not Rock and Roll?” And so the song and the mindset were born.
Further on down the musical timeline, we stumble upon the flannel shirt epidemic that was the 1990s. No, I’m not just talking about Nirvana (that’s far too easy), but those bands that don’t have such great reputations. We all love “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but the band that spawned the song, Deep Blue Something, never got the status it deserved. Let’s face it – the college world in the ‘90s was a little boring. Sure, I love the music, but it’s not surprising that it reflected that same nonchalant, lackadaisical tone exemplified by lackluster guitar solos in songs like Tal Bachman’s “She’s So High” and Mr. Big’s “To Be With You.” Conversely, there were those bands, such as Pearl Jam, that were angry at the complacency of the era, choosing to combat the utter grayness of the time with hard rock. But again, the music, no matter what genre, reflected the attitudes of those who listened to it.
And now moving on to today’s music…On Sunday, April 6th, O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) will grace our fair Barton Hall for its second performance at Cornell, in a celebration of all things collegiate. A peculiar blend of Patty Magee Band-guitar stylings and harsh vocals that resemble those of Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, O.A.R. is your stereotypical college band for this generation.
O.A.R. released its first album in 1997, after coming together at Ohio State University. These guys are “bros,” and it shows; and if they went to a “CEOs and Corporate Hoes” mixer at any Cornell fraternity, I don’t think people would bat an eye (please pardon the rhymes). What I’m getting at is that these guys are normal and probably would be happy to go out drinking with any college kids who invited them. We couldn’t be happier about it.
http://www.ofarevolution.com/
Of A Revolution’s lyrics are just as unsophisticated as your average amateur college band’s. In songs like “I Feel Home,” the band sings, “I feel home/when I see the faces that remember my home/I feel home/when I’m chillin’ outside with the people I know.” If that’s not college mentality for this age demographic, then I just don’t know what is. The lyrics are simple, but it somehow works.
Anyone who has listened to enough O.A.R. cannot help but notice that the band is either very into self-promotion, or just loves its name. In countless songs, the lines “of a revolution” make multiple appearances. In “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker,”perhaps the band’s most famous number, lead singer Marc Roberge screams, “I say of/you say a/I say revolution/and you say Jah!”— only to be repeated in “Someone in the Road” by “I heard the loud/marching sound/of a revolution coming through.” These repetitions speak to the band’s simplicity, making their messages very easy to digest.
Finally, O.A.R. appeals to college students in 2008 because it’s a band full of activists. On the band’s website, Roberge writes in his bio, “We are lucky. Period. It’s September 7, 2005 and I am sitting in my living room watching telethons and thinking how lucky we are. I don’t care when you read this…it could be a year from now…people will need help. Send your money.” With that kind of humility, they’ve got students eating out of the palms of their hands.
The college music scene has certainly changed, but its themes have remained remarkably constant. Bands today won’t be appreciated in full until another generation looks back, with a little more perspective, and wishes they grew up in the beginning of the millennium. So before we start bashing what’s going on right now, I recommend we take a step back, drink in our only chance to be fully immersed in college music (you know, when we’re actually in college), and do what O.A.R. says: “take it slow.”
Your essay brings up many
Your essay brings up many interesting points, but one paragraph tilted your hand a little early...
"It is important to look at every band holistically. It’s impossible to ignore that some of the members of Jefferson Airplane went on to create the band Starship, which released “We Built This City” in 1985. For some reason, though, this band (also a large part of the college music scene) never got the same reputation as Jefferson Airplane, even though its synthesized vocals and keyboards spoke to the babies of the ‘80s. Generation X was looking for something by which to define itself, and Starship said, “Hey! Why not Rock and Roll?” And so the song and the mindset were born."
Actually, no original members of Jefferson Airplane were involved with Starship. Grace Slick was the only Starship member who had been in any configuration of Jefferson Airplane (and she even quit Starship after its second album to rejoin Jefferson Airplane for a reunion album/tour)... Starship was formed from the remnants of Jefferson Starship, and was a break away from Paul Kantner, the last remaining original Airplane member. David Frieberg, a late-era Airplane member, was also dropped along with the "Jefferson"...
That's just a trivia note, more important is the implication that Starship represented what Gen X was looking for. Actually, Starship had the rep of a housewife's band; Baby Boomers in their 30's bought Starship albums.
The 1980's were a very fertile time for college rock, and those who went to college during the era were aware of it. I, like many peers, was attracted to the groovy trappings of the 60's, especially the drugs, free love, and left wing politics (what else does a 20 year old care about?), and was also depressed and demoralized by the cheesy plastic MTV-ready synthpop and hair metal of the era (Starship was somewhere in-between). However, the punk revolution had created a new ethos in rock, and had swept away many of the formal barriers to new music; when I first heard R.E.M. and The Replacements, and Husker Du, and Rain Parade, and Violent Femmes, and the B-52's, I was aware that a new movement was underway, and it was very exciting. It felt very "now", which is all a college kid asks for. It was real music, with real integrity, and real musicians who had only recently been college students themselves (or at least college age).
I bring this up to counter your professor's argument:
“The worst movement, edition, or regime of any area of interest is always the one going on right now. We are always in the worst of times…until the next movement, edition, or regime comes out, when we will undoubtedly romanticize and yearn for the previous one.”
I've heard this many times throughout life... I think it is self-defeating and off... This is what baby Boomers kept telling me in the mid-80's when they were explaining to me why the 60's were better, students more commited, music more meaningful, et. al.
It's hogwash. It's the rose-glasses syndrome of the terminally nostalgic, and it is the surrender cry of the timid college student who doesn't want to get involved in the social/political/artistic cutting edge of the day. It's an escape, an excuse...
Once I realized that, it was like the whole world suddenly went from monochrome to color, in an instant. Here is the world, I am in the now, this is what effects me, and this is the sound of my generation... College became way too small for me then, but until I was out, I fought the good fight, telling those 20 year olds who were stuck in their parent's era to "just say now"
So let's cut to the 90's... I was done with college by the time the 90's started, but it was easily the richest, most varied musical environment since the 60's. Alternative rock, lo-fi, DIY, post-rock, the jam-band scene... An introvert like Beck can make music alone in his garage, and be embraced by a generation... Tal Bachman?? He's the son to the BTO ("Takin' Care of Business") guy, of course he isn't someone to turn to for something fresh...
As for O.A.R., which is the point of the essay in the first place, you may very well be right about them being lame, although a band that released its first album in 1997 is a little old now to be "your stereotypical college band for this generation."
Things are different now, though. Thanks to the DIY'ers of the 90's as well as guys like Hootie, college rock is no longer what is used to be: rock created by young people and popular among young people. Now it is rock created by somewhat older people and targeted at young people. This is because a formula developed, promotion techniques have adapted to the era, and the college circuit has proven to be a lucrative one.
So while I may have dismissed your general thesis through this entire reply, I'll affirm your conclusion; now is the time, young person, to enjoy college music while you're in college. However, just like with Starship in the 80's, I'd be careful about drawing conclusions about the era in which you exist from O.A.R. You would be wise, however, to draw conclusions about the marketing of both, but that's a discussion for another day... I would, however, urge you to take a deep breath, ignore the mainstream and what it tries to push on you as "college", get involved with scenes beyond just the music, and you will discover your milieu, which is a moment of satori everyone needs once in their life...
I enjoyed your essay, that's what compelled me to reply. But broaden the horizons; there really is a whole world out there, just past the quad... America in 2008? I can't think of a time when there have been more issues directly affecting a college person's life, a time when students had more freedom and technology at their disposal, and a time when colleges have been more integrated and diverse... You'll find the "now" out there. But probably not at an O.A.R. show...
Cheers!
90's = Boring?
Maybe you think the college rock scene of the 90's was boring because you don't really know what the college rock scene in the 90's actually was. It definitely was not what you were listening to when you were 8 years old in your mom's minivan on the local Top 40 station. Ever hear of a little band called Pavement?