Manly Music
In a society today of pop music with its female idols and boy-bands, what kind of music can we call manly? Classical music is catered to the elite, Rock music is catered to rebels, Country music is catered to heartland Americans, Jazz music is catered to night clubbers, and the list goes on and on for every genre.
I feel as though there isn't any music out there that real men can appreciate, something that feels generally masculine. Being a musician by profession, I've seen and heard basically most of what mainstream music has to offer and am very dissatisfied. Right now when I think of music for gentlemen I think the great American songbook, or classical music. Yet, it just doesn't feel completely manly. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very manly music pieces and songs in every genre, but there isn't really a genre that men can call fully manly. The most popular music (pop music) today is catered towards young girls obviously.
So what is there for young boys? What is music is there for them that they can look up to: to put them on the path of manliness? What genre of music can we men call our own?
I feel as though there isn't any music out there that real men can appreciate, something that feels generally masculine. Being a musician by profession, I've seen and heard basically most of what mainstream music has to offer and am very dissatisfied. Right now when I think of music for gentlemen I think the great American songbook, or classical music. Yet, it just doesn't feel completely manly. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very manly music pieces and songs in every genre, but there isn't really a genre that men can call fully manly. The most popular music (pop music) today is catered towards young girls obviously.
So what is there for young boys? What is music is there for them that they can look up to: to put them on the path of manliness? What genre of music can we men call our own?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liam D. Kingsley on -
I'm not sure if any genre of music could ever really be defined strictly as a man's genre. If it was anything though, I would say folk music, of whichever country you connect with. I don't mean just by what nation you are loyal too, but ones you might have deep ties to through blood. Folk music, perhaps more than most other genres, can speak of the oldest, more original spirit of that country. It can have ties to the countries past, its jubilees and tribulations.
That's more an opinion off the top of my head than anything else really, but there's my two cents.
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Permalink Reply by John Sherrill on -
I agree wholeheartedly with this. Folk music deals with everything that I think should be important to a man. Faith, family, justice, community, hard work, loss, etc.
More specifically from the Folk genre, I love Bluegrass. I think the Bluegrass community celebrates true musicianship without the Rock idol attitude. It also values the passing on of traditions.
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Permalink Reply by Yankee Cowboy Bob on -
FWIW, there are streaming Bluegrass stations on the Web. The best one shut down, but you should still get some at Live365 and similar places.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on -
I hated bluegrass when I was young. I think it was mainly to rebel against my dad and his country bumpkin family, but a few years back I grabbed my guitar and went with my grandmother to a thing called "cabin fever" and absolutely fell in love with it. It was a huge jam session where anyone can play with anyone young and old and everyone was teaching everyone else. It was a blast. Since then I'm a die-hard bluegrass fan and listen to a lot of Chris Thile, Ricky Skaggs, and Iron Horse. Tradition is entrenched in the music but perhaps the best part is that it's made to hear live and bring people together. When the bands start playing people just want to dance. It's a very positive atmosphere.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Mcfarland on -
Bluegrass is just SpeedMetal without the distortion and drums. Them boys can play.
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Permalink Reply by Jack Donovan on -
Examples off the top of my head:
Old sailor shanties
And I think these songs have manly themes and a particularly emotional connection for men. Or maybe just me. I'm a sucker for any song where a hero dies.
Jimmy Dean - "Big John"
Kenny Rogers - "The Gambler"
and...
Bob Seger - "Like a Rock"
There's a reason why Chevy used it for years. They may even still.
It says all the right things. All. The. Right. Things.
Strength. Moral certainty. Fortitude. Courage.
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Permalink Reply by Leo Doom Occulta on -
"I'm not sure if any genre of music could ever really be defined strictly as a man's genre."
Deathmetal. Not too many female fans. No female bands that I know of - there probably are a handful, but they don't pack the necessary vocal chord length for proper growling.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Gamboa on -
Amen.
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Permalink Reply by Jack Donovan on
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Agreed. Absolutely.
Also: Holst's "Mars", Parts of the Wagner's Ring Cycle
These two, specifically, seem to be reference points for the people (almost always men, BTW) who score action movies. I hear Sigfried's funeral echoed in The Dark Knight. I've been known to work out to a combination of Hans Zimmer (Gladiator and everything else awesome) and Brian Tyler (300) stuff...with a bit of...oh...I dunno...the original Conan soundtrack and maybe some Last of the Mohichans tossed in.
Modern classical music isn't elitist. It's populist. The modern equivalent of classical scores our films and even video games now, much as operas and so forth were often the inspiration for great classical pieces of ages past.
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Permalink Reply by Paul on -
I think people generally assume classical music is elitist because it takes more effort to understand it than it does to understand a song with 3 chords played for 2 verses, 2 choruses, and a bridge. But you are absolutely right. There is something about orchestral music that is hard to find in more "modern" sounding music.
Especially when it's live. Seeing Dvorak's 9th Symphony from the 6th row of the Nashville Symphony was one of the best experiences of my entire last year.
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