Personal, political, financial or historical, express those cries for freedom in joy, pain or paradox, all through your choice of songs
This week at the Readers Recommend freehouse it is time to serve up what the great Maya Angelou, who sadly died this week, called "a heady draught. It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing. It is addictive and with each drink you want more." So let's taste some, and then have another. Independence is often an attractive quality in people, and can be a noble pursuit. But it is also double-edged and a potent brew for song. With it comes responsibility, cost, and as history has often shown, disappointment, compromise, suffering and even bloodshed. On all levels, and throughout life, independence is something humans have craved: children from their parents, workers from the shadow of big business, women's rights and freedom from slavery.
And of course, much of this is passionately expressed in music. Songwriters are, by necessity, also often independent-minded. They might fight against record companies or band members, yearn to go it alone, but they also need others to help them reach their goal. They seek to express themselves as individuals, and yet their art often comes to full fruition when their song is sung by a multitude. As Vivian Stanshall put it, less seriously: "Why can't I be different and unusual ... like everybody else?"
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by Peter Kimpton via Electronic music | The Guardian
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