Schopenhauer

https://youtu.be/IzkAwCs5bnI

"Now, if every action of my body is an appearance or phenomenon of an act of will in which my will itself in general and as a whole, and hence my character, again expresses itself under given motives, then phenomenon or appearance of the will must also be the indispensable condition and presupposition of every action" - This sounds similar to the idea that you cannot separate the doer and the deed, the object and the subject. They presuppose each other, and, if they must be understood in the form of cause and effect, must be understood in terms of Will. Love's abstract illusionary song seems to represent this in a sense; all of these objects that seem randomized and perhaps "misunderstood" by its naive definition, but not in the least unfelt.

"By virtue of which these pictures or images do not march past us strange and meaningless, as they would otherwise inevitably do, but speak to us directly, are understood, and acquire an interest that engrosses our whole nature" 

Schopenhauer

“When clouds move, the figures they form are not essential, but indifferent to them. But that as elastic vapor they are pressed together, driven off, spread out, and torn apart by the force of the wind, this is their nature, this is the essence of the forces that are objectified in them, this is the Idea. The figures in each case are only for the individual observer. […] the trees and flowers formed by the ice on the windowpane are inessential, and exist only for us.” (83-84)

Essentially, any perceived details are purely phenomenal and dependent on individual perception to have meaning. Otherwise, potentially meaningful details are simply byproducts of the Idea’s energy, and are left for us as humans to be interpreted. I choose "Fragment VIII" by Library Tapes because I feel that there is a general energy that swells and gains minute details, especially contrasting clicks and open, warm reverb - all left to be interpreted by each individual. The individual listener is effected subtly by the variety of sounds that enter, and the experience is uniuqe depending on what each listener focuses on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXEv7IUQ5WA

Schopenhauer: J Cole - Runaway

In life we all want to feel purpose, our desires sculpting the lives that we seek to live. Schopenhauer would call our urge to achieving these desires the human "will". Although will is what propels us in life, the effort we sometimes put to fulfill these desires comes at a price. Schopenhauer says that mankind finds all its suffering in its desires. And in this idea I find the relation between Schopenhauer and the artist J. Cole in his song Runaway (2013).

In the song runaway we are presented with an opening dialouge, the comedian Mike Epps raises the question, "Married men act totally different when they're by themselves, don't they?" The married man when he's around his wife talks to his friend politely, "Hey man how's everything going?... God bless you." , but as soon as he is alone that same man asks his friend, "Where the b****s at?" The duality presented in the opening dialogues is not just representational of man, but of all humans and their underlying desires. J. Cole argues that it is not good to pursue all desires, because just as Schopenhauer states, desire is where we find suffer. 

"Lord ain't enough time to chase all these dreams. I mean I got no time to wait." The life of a young rapper is an ambitious one. Trying to find what it means to be successful, while at the same time dealing with the challenges and distractions of the entertainment world. How does one stay true to himself? The temptations of other woman, greed, and the memories of hardships that he once endured. During the song's hook we hear J. Cole singing in a somber tone, "run away, run away, runway... I'm holding on desperately." Status nor material possessions bring us happiness with bad decisions, but the past is written in pen and the actions we take can never be undone. Instead the repercussions of our actions have to be faced wether we are ready or not.

J. Cole's Runaway is a cautionary tale of the effects of pursing all of our desires. Although we feel the need to strive for more. Sometimes in the process of wanting more, we lose sight of what truly makes us happy and the decisions we made led us down a path of mistakes, regret, and ultimately suffer. "When it's all said and done everybody dies. In this life ain't no happy endings... the chains still concealed in our thoughts, if I follow my heart to save myself could I still run away from $50 mill?"

http://youtu.be/qvgO9Gp_rTE

Schopenhauer - "a beautiful exit" by Miguel

Schopenhauer - “The Artist and the Sublime”

"a beautiful exit" by Miguel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEhm4KS2M7o

“The pleasure of everything beautiful, the consolation afforded by art, the enthusiasm of the artist which enables him to forget the cares of life, this one advantage of the genius over other men alone compensating him for the suffering that is heightened in proportion to the clearness of consciousness, and for the desert loneliness among a different race of men, all this is due to the fact that, as we shall see later on, the in-itself of life, the will, the existence itself is a constant suffering, and is partly woeful, partly fearful.  The same thing, on the other hand, as representation alone, purely contemplated, or repeated through art, free from pain, presents us with a significant spectacle. This purely knowable side of the world and its repetition in any art is the element of the artist.” (pg. 267)

Schopenhauer speaks of the consolation the artist is afforded in life through the ability granted him to make everything beautiful by his artwork.  In this way, the artist’s genius compensates him through his finding of beauty in congruity to whatever his measure of suffering caused by the clearness of contemplation in his own artwork.  This beauty and meaning isn’t afforded other men who live without any individual productions of art.  The artist sings of flying through red lights as if he’s uninhibited by the normalities and confines allocated most humans constrained by their limiting phenomena rather than the liberation found amongst the phenomena of the artist.  Instead of seeing death as a morbid and troublesome thought, he imagines a “beautiful exit” and romanticizes dying young.

Just as Schopenhauer claims the artist sees the world in ways other men are not afforded, the lyrics speak of ignoring what society expects because “the muted world doesn’t come in colors.”  In this same way, the artist is illustrating that the colorful and beautiful are only found within the “colors”  both literally and figuratively found in art.  Those not within this way of viewing the world are also literally and figuratively muted.  The artists are the “wildhearts” that can’t be broken, the ones whose spirits thrive amidst destruction because they find beauty in the ashes and create the diamond in the rough.  Their ability to find this beauty is their payment for living a life more burdensome than that of one who is able to go throughout their days content without contemplation.

The artist goes on to say, “sleep may be your only chance to rule yourself,” which also aligns with Schopenhauer’s view that every occurrence in life is due to the universal Will that presides over the lesser individual human will.  The song closes out,  “Gonna continue, really have no other choice but to just keep riding…”  We are under the presumption that he cognizant he is being carried and floating on Schopenhauer’s Universal Will that reigns over the vicissitudes of his own life. 

Therefore, his only choice is to be carried by the wave of the Universal.

Lyrics referenced above:

(full lyrics also listed further below)

Speeding through all of these red lights, fast life

Dreaming a beautiful exit

We’re gonna die young

…

Ignore the planned conventions of society

The muted world doesn’t come in colors

…

Wildhearts can’t be broken

…

Sleep may be your only chance to rule yourself

You’re here for a reason, you know

Gonna continue, really have no other choice than to just keep riding  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We begin with breaking news here at 5 O' clock of...

Don't ever sell yourself short, sell your sad things

Accept the new, don't mingle on the past

Believe yourself, trust your intuition

You're here for a reason, you know

Speeding through all of these red lights, fast life

Dreaming a beautiful exit

We're gonna die young

Speeding through all of these red lights, fast life

Dreaming a beautiful exit

We're gonna die young

Ignore the planned conventions of society

The muted world, doesn't dream in colors

No fear, no shame, wildhearts can't be broken

You're here for a reason, you know

Speeding through all of these red lights, fast life

Dreaming a beautiful exit

We're gonna die young

Speeding through all of these red lights, fast life

Dreaming a beautiful exit

We're gonna die young, we're gonna die young

We're gonna die young, we're gonna die young

We're gonna die young

All our problems were so extra small to astronauts

You can ditch the tangled patterns known by your parents

Sleep make me your only chance to rule yourself

You're here for a reason, you know

Gonna continue, really has no other choice but to just keep riding

This song reminds me that "the best art simply answers the question, 'What is life?'" (Lecture, 26/January) There is a sweet melancholy to it, a combination that always reminds me of the beautiful irony of life. There is sorrow and hope, light and darkness that complement each other and express what words cannot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYIfiQlfaas

After receiving clarification on the Will and the will, and playing with the idea that music provides a road from the latter to the first, I remember wondering in class which song has managed to transport me, or at least take me away from the weight of the current surroundings and situations. Wordless music, our writer tells us.
I immediately thought with warmth to Debussy's Claire De Lune. I can listen to it and regardless of where, when or how I find myself, it will make me smile and teach me so much. It helps me remember how short life is because it makes me reflect on the personality of time.
I honestly believe it helps me get rid of will (from which anxiety, pain, a hunger for pleasure comes) and helps me get a bird's eye view of what I perceive is the world. I love it when that happens. When I learned about the will and the Will, this song came to mind because it achieves for me what I think Schopenhauer is talking about.

https://youtu.be/LlvUepMa31o

Schopenhauer's Acts of Will in Chocolate Milk

Schopenhauer's ideas in "World as Will" reminds me most of the 1975 song, "Action Speak Louder Than Words" by the Afro-American group Chocolate Milk. While Schopenhauer focuses his attention on the power, understanding, and limitations of an individual's will, this song by Chocolate Milk is related to Schopenhauer's idea of the will because actions are inspired by the will. Schopenhauer says that the will "proclaims itself first of all in the voluntary movements of this body"(73). In this song, the lyrics suggest that voluntarily acting one way is better than speaking about acting one way. In speaking about doing something we may recognize the motives which enable to will to act, but only through our actions do others believe (as well as ourselves) that the will to do X action is truly engaged.

Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgoZUHO4uMc

Schopenhauer's texts remind me of My Body by Young The Giant. I chose this song because Schopenhauer discusses knowing the will through manifestations of it, such as movement, action and the body (66). The song plays on the notion that our bodies attempt to communicate with us things it wants us to do, yet we have the agency to ignore or refute this bodily desire and do what we want instead. Schopenhauer would argue that we are at once determined by certain laws of nature and free to do as we will. Since this song mentions the body explicitly, it reminded me of how Schopenhauer describes the will as the body as it exists in this phenomenal world. By reducing us to our bodies and our desires, this song also plays on the notion that when we "devote the whole power of our mind to perception, [we] sink completely therein, and let our whole consciousness be filled by the calm contemplation of the natural object actually present" (80), in this case the song. While this song maybe isn't musically of merit, it does allow us to "lose ourselves entirely in the object.... forget our individuality, our will, and continue to exist only as pure subject, as clear mirror of the object, so that it is as thought the object alone existed without anyone to perceive it, and thus we are no longer able to separate the perceiver from the perception, but the two have become one, since the entire consciousness is filled and occupied by a single image of perception" (80). Hope you enjoy!

Brian Eno – Another Green World: "Big Ship"

“The force by virtue of which a stone falls to the ground, or one body repels another, is, in its nature, just as strange and mysterious as that which produces the movements and growth of an animal.” (62)

Just another green world floating in unexplainable mystery. Enjoy the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCCJc_V8_MQ

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Pachuco Cadaver

https://youtu.be/Bf1oUkOHFtk

"For it plucks the object of its contemplation from the stream of the world's course, and holds it isolated before it. This particular thing, which in that stream was an infinitesimal part, becomes for art a representative of the whole, and equivalent of the infinitely many in space and time." (87)

The piece selected is the first movement of Mozart's 40th Symphony, composed in 1788. Although one of Mozart's more famous works, it is easy to see how it embodies Schopenhauer's understanding of music. For Schopenhauer, art was the only escape from the mundane "wills" that humans could have access to. Music was an art to trump all arts; its wordless sounds bring about rapture and quietude, releasing our mortal souls from our never-ending craving and desire.  Music, in Schopenhauer's eyes, was the only means to catch a glimpse of the Will, that irrational, sublime driving force which is the instigator of all existences in the universe. Mozart's first symphony entices, seduces, and sweeps the listener away into an oblivion where only the tranquil resonance of his music exists. The first symphony has not lost its power to reach our souls as humans, even after hundreds of years. The wonderful harmony of his music puts our hearts at rest and for a moment, or however long the piece lasts, we can forget our mundane desires and be fully intoxicated by the blend of sounds.

(Shopenhauer) Tool - Parabol/Parabola

So familiar and overwhelmingly warm
This one, this form I hold now.
Embracing you, this reality here,
This one, this form I hold now, so
Wide eyed and hopeful.
Wide eyed and hopefully wild.

We barely remember what came before this precious moment,
Choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside...
This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in
This body makes me feel eternal. All this pain is an illusion. 

*I chose this song specifically in reference to this quote from Schopenhauer's, "The World as Will, "We want to know the significance of those representations; we ask whether this world is nothing more than representation." (p. 64) The artist speaks about pain being an illusion, which seems synonymous to representation in Schopenhauer's context. Additionally he speaks of being in "one form" while he is perceiving the world as an illusion.* 

Schopenhauer - Tim Hecker - AMPS, DRUGS, MELLOTRON

Tim Hecker - AMPS, DRUGS, MELLOTRON

This song demonstrates what I understand of Schopenhauer's argument, which is that to understand the meaning of life in a nihilist phantasmagoria of representation we must attend to the perceptual realm. (Knowledge of the Idea, 80) This means we must see the beauty to be found when the subject's sense becomes purely objectified in music. Listening to "AMPS, DRUGS, MELLOTRON" is a simple but singular auditory experience. The production uses several instruments that will draw a familiar sense of beauty to Westerners, but one must listen well in order to hear the beauty of the entire piece.  The many instruments, like the pizzicato strings, and samples, like the stormy thunder, that lie dormant and only pop up at certain moments also demonstrate the capacity for things to hide in our own perception when we don't attend to the act of listening. One must listen to hear. One might attend to its form, but this piece will sweep this listener along with its beauty, which is music's form. To attend to form, which this piece invites, is to attend to its beauty. The beauty here does not inspire reflection on anything except its own beauty, and thus justifies its own existence by being its own meaning, its singular beauty.

Schopenhauer - Andrew Bird, Danse Caribe

"He therefore draws nature into himself, so that he feels it to be only an accident of his own being. In this sense Byron says: Are not the mountains, waves, and skies, a part / Of me and my soul, as I of them?" (83)

What draws me to Andrew Bird is a very particular combination, namely, the complexity of the music and the simplicity of my reaction. Listening to his work, especially this song, involves a type of suspension that I suspect is similar to the contemplation that Schopenhauer speaks of. I chose the passage above because of how well it captures how I feel when I listen to this song. I find that I often drop whatever it is I am doing, when this song begins to play. In Schopenhauer's terms, human will and desire both cease, leaving a kind of universality and oneness.

(Schopenhauer) "Violin" by Amos Lees

To my own understanding of Schopenhauer and his idea about Will and will, I believe that this song encompasses the essence of Will being in itself its own priority. In this song, Amos Lee is focusing on his own outcome and his owns needs, but the Will, or God whom he speaks to, has been neglecting him "hanging out in that old violin while I've been waiting for you to pull me through." He is being neglected and from the tone in his voice during the song he is pleading for something that he cannot obtain. However, Will is not concerned with our own desires, but it is something in itself and could survive without us. In Amos Lee's own will there is pain in his voice but it is devoid of pleasure .

Schopenhauer - Through the Eyes of Love

This interpretation of Through the Eyes of Love reminds me of Schopenhauer's idea of self will because the song presents itself with loosely-felt rhythms and notes. The stylistic choices that Steinmeyer incorporates into his interpretation feel like the interpretation is actually Steinmeyer's reflection and not simply a perception. Additionally, while Through the Eyes of Love is known for having lyrics and vocals in most of its interpretations, this interpretation is without words, which means it is supposed to be a genuine form of representation.

An Exercise in Listening: Carole King

Carole King - So Far Away

I chose this song because it is a classic and has been frequently referred to (at least within my immediate family) as "timeless".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkqEFVNNz3I

Schopenhauer -- "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" by the Beatles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwTbQylg7Q


This song reminded me of Schopenhauer's idea of human will and reveals how dominating desire can be. It's interesting because music to Schopenhauer is the only thing that can quiet our desires and insatiable need to feel satisfied while this song, this music concerns itself so much with the feeling of yearning. So, I chose this song because I think it offers at least a superficial paradox following the perspective of Schopenhauer. However, I then come to realize that while the song concerns itself with expressing this desire for another particular being, that doesn't mean that it doesn't still create this transcendental moment where it is rather the idea of companionship created by Will that the listener then experiences. If that makes sense. In writing this, I now also question whether or not Schopenhauer in his work referring to the effect of music is referring to the experience of listening to music, of creating music or most probably music in of in itself.

Brian WIlson's Smile- "Our Prayer/Gee"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAnxGIH37kA "Only in reflection are willing and acting different;in reality they are one. Every true, genuine, immediate act of the will is also at once an impression

Scuttle Buttin

When I read Schopenhauer I was most interested in how he describes the relationship between the  will and the body. He says "The body is the condition of knowledge of my will." I have been on a Stevie Ray Vaughan kick since the semester started, but it still seemed appropriate given how physically taxing his guitar playing can be, to relate his music to this reading. Musicians use their body to play, and great ones often feel like their instruments are an extension of their bodies. This song is so fast and involves plenty of movement around the fretboard. I wonder if the song produced by manipulation of the body could be considered an expression of his will, expecially in a song like this where every note seems perfectly planned and executed.

Lush Life - Zara Larsson
3:21min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MysKegBRtaA

Schopenhauer: Me, Myself, and I - G-Eazy

"Every true act of his will is also at once and inevitably a movement of his body; he cannot actually will the act without at the same time being aware that it appears as a movement of the body."

This song is about self-dependency. As a person grows famous, successful, and rich, that person starts losing real connections with other people because they can no longer differentiate who is being truthful and who is fake. After a certain point, their perception is warped to where they think everyone who interacts with them only wants to befriend them for their wealth. This person willed himself/herself to rely only on themselves, and in turn cutting ties with other people until there's no one left

Schopenhauer

https://youtu.be/BjLBB-TMa84

 Jamie xx's song "I Know There's Gonna be (Good Times), featuring Young Thug and Popcaan, reminded me of Schopenhauer's argument regarding the artistic "genius" in relation to aesthetic contemplation. Jamie xx is a Dj, who typically produces music without lyrics. While the titles of his productions often convey a mood, the sounds in and of themselves possess no meaning. This particular instrumental track conveyed a happy mood, but beyond this willed objectification, the musical arrangement is a "noumenal" result of the universal will. I believe that Jamie xx's brand of music displays the aesthetic contemplation of an artistic "genius," as described by Schopenhauer. Further, the addition of Young Thug's lyrics demonstrate Schopenhauer's argument regarding the human inability to understand the "noumenal object" in and of itself, and a seemingly automatic inclination of attaching a object to a subject.

Eric Whitacre "Sleep"

https://youtu.be/bxjWNJU8rNE

Since I am just adding the blog, here is my song from last week. I chose the song titled "Sleep," composed by Eric Whitacre. The song was supposed to be set to Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" but Frost prohibited usage of the song. Whitacre then had a piece without lyrics. Years later, Whitacre's friend, Charles Anthony Silvestri, would right a poem for the setting, finally completing the piece.

Song re Shopenhauer's The World as Will - I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen

"If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to. And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you. If you want a partner, take my hand. Or if you want to strike me down in anger, Here I stand. I'm your man. If you want a boxer, I will step into the ring for you. And if you want a doctor, I'll examine every inch of you. If you want a driver, climb inside. Or if you want to take me for a ride, You know you can. I'm your man."

This song is about a lover's absolute will to be whatever his partner desires. Therefore, his character, appearance, body, reflects this will at any given moment. 

“Therefore this body itself must be phenomenon of the will, and must be related to my will as a whole, that is to say, to my intelligible character, the phenomenon of which in time is my empirical character, in the same way as the particular action of the body is to the particular act of the will. Therefore the whole body must be nothing by my will become visible, must be my will itself…” (The World as Will 74).

“This whole animal life, thus developing itself, is phenomenon of the will” (75).

Schopenhauer lays forth how everything is merely a reflection of that thing's will; and in the continued piece of "Knowledge of the Idea" it is the person's encounter with those reflections that constitutes their knowledge of it. So my knowledge of this lover would only go so far as which reflection of his will I was in contact with, i.e. the boxer, doctor, lover, etc., but seeing past those reflections as merely representations of his will, to the Idea behind it, e.g, his love and desire to be whatever his lover needs, would reveal to me true knowledge. 

Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede

Hooked on a Feeling

Schopenhauerian Music

When I was thinking about Schopenhauer's 'unity of will' it reminded me of Benjamin Britten's Guide to the Orchestra, where the same theme is played by each different instrument in the orchestra:

We're All We Need by Above & Beyond
This is a little late, but here's my song I listened to 10 times for our exercise in listening. Hope you enjoy!

Bjork - Where is the Line

For our first assignment, I chose Bjork's "Where is the Line," from her album Medulla. I have been very into Bjork lately, and Medulla is probably one of the more interesting pieces formally, but for all music listeners and especially those who love the singer/songwriter format, Vulnicura, last year's album, is a true treat and piece of genius! Check it out. Hope this is a fun song for everyone.

There is also a music video, but I did not watch it until after I completed the assignment, and I totally missed the potential for this song, and Medulla, to explicate the themes of the video. Enjoy it, it's posted below.

https://youtu.be/cfvRdARPhFs

Guqin rendition of Li Sao aka The Lament. Li Sao tells the lament of the poet Qu Yuan as he thinks of his country falling into ruin and his powerlessness to change this. I listened to the 5 min version for the assignment.

"Listening Man"- The Bees on Octopus

Assignment 1: The Books - "The Future, Wouldn't That Be Nice"

The Books - "The Future, Wouldn't That Be Nice" (from the album "The Lemon of Pink")


Pay no mind to the video; I couldn't link one without it.

-Dylan Medlock

"Baptize" by RKCB

Waxing Moon by Rayons

Waxing Moon by Rayons

Stay by Kygo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUWYDaVp92I

I Heard Love is Blind -- Amy Winehouse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHUBkPb0ytQ

Listening Exercise: Adore by Savages

Assignment 1

Listening Exercise 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjtG5fXJzM0

Martin Creed: 1-100

The Danish Girl - Alexandre Desplat

Here is The Danish Girl by Alexandre Desplat. Hope you will like it!

Anthem - Emancipator HD

I chose "Anthem" by  Emancipator. Enjoy!

Hallelujah, originally by Leonard Cohen and covered by Jeff Buckley.

Jeff Buckley version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4
Leonard Cohen version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k

Listening Exercise (Eckstrom, January 21)

I chose the second movement (Assez vif, très rhythmé) of Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F Major, M. 35.

The Spotify version below is performed by Quatuor Parisii:



The YouTube version is performed by Musicians from Malboro:

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