Ancient Chinese Music and Modern American Music

Modern American music before the fall, that is.

Traditional Chinese music and late 20th Century American music- modern American music before the fall of American music- are very different.

Serene Chinese melodies, carrying you away.

Loud rock and roll.  Jimi Hendrix.

Ancient Chinese music developed in a series of fairly good ages- in some cases good and beautiful beyond imagining- under the influence of sages like Confucius and Lao-tzu.

It sought to make happy pleasant music that would bring people joy or serenity while encouraging in them the kind of feelings and thoughts Confucius and Lao-tzu would admire.

We got joyous parade music, serene melody.

Late 20th Century American music was something else.

Late 20th century American music was driven by people's desperate needs.

The entire world had just been in a series of unimaginable catastrophes.

WWI.  WWII.

People desperately needed to burst forth, challenge the despair, jump-start the world with a lightning bolt.

Late 20th Century American music was the leaders of the last great hope of a fallen world, desperately seeking music that would be a lightning bolt to jolt the world back to life.

The result?

Elvis.

John Coltrane.

Jimi Hendrix.

This was music to shock a despairing world back to life.

And it did.

There is far more life in the world today than there was in 1945!

Different music for different needs.

It is a beautiful world!

God loves you!

sincerely,

David S. Annderson