“ Music constitutes a particularly complex area of ​​culture in which sensations, emotions, dimensions of desire and individual and collective imagination, representations of natural and social reality, conceptions of the world and of life are simultaneously expressed .”

This perfect synthesis, proposed by Franco Crespi, introduces the vast field of music and related studies. Being such a unique subject of study, inherently prone to contamination and multidisciplinarity, it's always interesting to propose analyses and identify case studies , so much so that it's very difficult to escape unscathed from potential inter- and post-research fascination. What can and can't be said about music?

Music: Censoring the lyrics

Guitarist and composer Frank Zappa , considered one of the greatest musical geniuses of the twentieth century, represented an anomaly within mass culture, as he despised the culture industry , viewing it as an " artificial and empty mechanism ." He was one of the most authentic figures in the music scene of the time, displaying an original and never banal perspective on any subject.

In 1986, Zappa was a guest on CNN's Crossfire program , which discussed the possibility of marketing music containing explicit or immoral content. This video featured a clash between the musician and ultra-Catholic conservative Washington Post journalist John Lofton, who advocated the creation of something very similar to a censorship agency . It is interesting to note – and infer – that for Zappa, rock music and vulgar or immoral lyrics should not be censored at all, as they are part of our cultural heritage, but above all, " there is no scientific or logical reason why words should be hidden from people ."

The boundaries of what can be said—that is, the boundaries of what can be said in a society without moral repercussions—obviously pass through verbal language , through the choice to use a specific linguistic code, that is, implicit rules established by the groups themselves. Making something sayable, therefore, does not mean supporting an ideology, as it may seem, but accepting that something exists, whether as a factual element (de facto couples, for example) or as an element related to myths and imaginary constructions (the devil, conspiracies, for example). Through music, this process turns out to be as fluid as the medium itself.

From concept to sound

Continuing the question of words, it's interesting to introduce the concept of obsessive repetition by performer Lenny Bruce —here, in the video, played by Dustin Hoffman—that is, the exasperating use of a particular word to weaken it , to eliminate the grip and embarrassment it generates in speech, so that it becomes merely a sound and not a concept . A curious proposal, which in today's hyperconnected social contexts, however, has relatively little effectiveness, except in processes of resilience and linguistic reworking (see negro/nigga, faggot/queer).

Certain taboos, even anthropologically resistant ones such as those concerning incest and paedophilia, become speakable precisely because they are made common in narratives, that is, they are deprived of their exclusivity, made normal through their presence in plausible stories, which can be part of our possible daily lives, literally " it can happen to me and to those around me ".

Some musical examples

The history of music is full of examples of this genre . However, it seemed to recall – both in terms of meaning and the writer's knowledge – some useful songs. The first is Led Zeppelin 's "Black Dog ," whose title refers to a black Labrador retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during the recording of the album. However, the dog has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song, which speak of the desperate longing for a woman's love and the happiness that comes from it. The singer, Jimmy Page, uses lines at one point in the song that evoke the act of intercourse.

The second is "Inside the Fire" by Disturbed , a very particular song that deals with the delicate subject of suicide. Singer David Draiman, at the age of 16, found himself facing the suicide of his girlfriend, and chose to narrate this experience through this song from the point of view of the tempting devil who was beside him when the tragic event occurred, who – as can be perceived in the song – whispers in his ear, " Give me your soul if you want to see your girlfriend again ."

The third song is Aqualung, abject and disinherited protagonist of the most inspired and controversial album of one of the most original British bands, the Jethro TullA homeless man with a sinister, devilish look, abandoned to himself on one of the many park benches, mischievously watches the young girls strolling by, breathing heavily, suggesting, in addition to his status as a social outcast, also potential pedophilia.

Francesco D'Ambrosio

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