Sitting here alone in my nice comfortable easy chair with no TV, no radio, no sounds other than the incidental sounds of the kitchen clock, a small hum from the refrigerator, and an occasional squeak from the rocking of my chair I started to ponder music. Nothing new about that for me, but one thought lead to another and I started to think about opera. I readily admit that I have not much cared for opera since, well, since I can remember. Frankly, it's boring to me. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most operas are in languages that I don't understand or speak. But, that is not the only reason. Truth be told there is hardly anything more distasteful, musically speaking, than to hear opera in English.
Well, all this thinking lead me to wonder why opera has endured and still thrives in certain circles. I came up with the answer quite by accident. Doo-Wop. Yep, that's the answer. I'll try to explain my thinking on this. First, Doo-Wop is in a crude way nothing more than opera only it is far more fun to listen to and by and large you can understand what is being said even if the words are made-up words that sound rather silly. Case in point = "Dip dip dip dip dip doom doom doom doom Get a Job!"
Or perhaps the more well known "Sha-na-na-na sha-na-na-na-na-na bah oom". Doo-Wop songs also by and large tell a story just like opera does. True, it was mostly boy meets girl - loses girl - gets girl back kind of thing, but hey it is Doo-Wop. Who hasn't been there and done that?
Secondly, opera was originally experienced by the contemporary audiences first and then as a new generation discovered it that generation took it as their own. The same can be said for Doo-Wop. New generations are still loving "Grease" and such today. Doo-Wop just hasn't been around as long as opera yet.
Finally, my hypothesis is that opera was nothing more than a very popular fad or musical phase that is now basically an "oldie but goodie" to those who love it. Most of us don't go to the opera or buy opera Cd's etc. Well, most of us don't buy Doo-Wop (I don't because I believe I already own ALL of them anyway!), but some of us do and some of us listen to the music a lot. Or, if Doo-Wop isn't your thing, then maybe it's 60's Flower Power music, or Disco from the 70's, or Rap (yuck) or even the current "thing" which is a sort of really screwed-up hybrid of Pop/Hip-Hop/Rap. The point is that for me I have finally uncovered the mystery behind why opera still endures. I freely admit that I don't get it and that I don't want to get it, but it has fascinated me that some people still like it. The reason is it's their Doo-Wop or what have you.
Well, as messed-up as that all may seem to you, that's the way I see it and in the end that's pretty much all that matters as I sit here now with Hope, my 12 year-old cat, begging for attention and trying hard to stop me from writing this. Oh, and for what it's worth, Hope likes Jazz. Yea, she's one cool cat.
Later
No comments:
Post a Comment