A Songwriter's Anguish - Part I

LLeft to Right: Wong Lip Kee - lead guitar; Shahril Eashak, bass; Peter Brown - harmonica, vocals, guitar; Markiza - vocals, keyboards; Alex Ang - drums.

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Soft Touch

The lowest paying job in England is a writer. We are talking about poverty rate. Forget about JK Rowling. She is an anomaly. She too was a starving writer before Harry Potter’s magic saved her. A poet does not fare better. Singers and songwriters belong to the same category. That is why pragmatic Asian parents forbid their children to be an artist – it is a life of struggle for their “art”. So few made a decent living off it. It is almost easier to strike the lottery and less grief.

So is there any different between a poet and a singer-songwriter? The poignant outpouring of frustration of one singer songwriter (Peter Brown) in Part II of “A Songwriter’s Anguish” suggested there is. One gets respect for the sacrifices he made while the other doesn’t. Because one is considered to be producing or attempting to produce “art” while the other is not (even if he is).

What is “art” then? Britannica stated it as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others". I’ll put it simply as “any creation that moves heart and soul by its beauty”. And beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder. If comic moves me more than classic literature, then to me comic is a work of art. Pop songs moves and influences more lives than classical music but pop song and comic are rarely considered as work of arts.

I do not believe art belongs only to the elites. I do not believe art needs to be difficult. I do not believe art cannot entertain while it stirs. I do not believe what is easily accessible is not art. I do not believe what is easily understood is not art. I do not believe art cannot be main stream. I do not believe art should not be fun. I do not believe I need to know what art is from pretentious experts. I do not believe art need to be dead before it is considered art. I could go on all night but I will say I believe I can know what art is from the way it affects my heart. If I have to choose one word to describe what art is. I’ll choose “love”.

I believe art is intuitive as love is intuitive. I don’t have to know how or why it affects me. I don’t have to understand it. Most of all I don’t need others to tell me what should affect me. You do not need others to tell you who or how to love. Why should you need others to tell you what is art? If it is boring, it may be art to others but it is not to you. Don’t impose your values onto others but also don’t allow others to impose their values on you. Be free. Be bold.

If you love it, it is art to you and don’t be ashamed of it. I love classic literature, I love comics, I love poetry. I love classical music, I love sentimental songs, I love canto-pop. Simon Cowell may not understand country music but I do. I’m blessed.

Dare to appreciate the things that move you. Dare to love. Don’t listen to others. Listen to your heart. But you have to expose yourself to as many “art forms” as possible for a closed mind and a closed heart is the greatest enemy of art, of love too. You may not have found your true love yet. So go outside your comfort zone, expand and explore.

I do not know Peter Brown personally. But I had watched him performed in “No Black Tie” before. I had bought a couple of his CDs. He does what he passionately believes in all his life. That is the first sign of a true artist. But whether what he produced is art or not, that is for the audience to decide. He only asked for the chance for you to hear him sing.

Don’t put him in a little box and label him before he is heard. Don’t belittle his art form because the intellects considered it beneath them. Intellectualism is not art. In fact, you should never approach art with intellect. All you need I reiterate, is your heart. Throughout history, the intellect had been more wrong than right about what is art. The common man had never been wrong. They only need time and history to prove them right. But the intellect never learned. They continue to assert their role as the final and only authority on art and impose it on others.

Too many of us have been intimidated and brainwashed into accepting these values forced upon us by ‘higher’ intellect. The media is the greatest culprit and victim. They are only comfortable to recycle worn ideas because these are the accepted norm. So poetry will be promoted because it is art. There is nothing wrong with that except good poetry is art but bad poetry is not worth the paper it is printed on while there is a lot of good music going round. There are arts floating among them but will never have the chance to find their home because they are discriminated against. It is amazing that this generation that grew up with John Lennon’s “Imagine” still has not seen the light. This is the injustice Peter Brown is lamenting against. This is the injustice by which he is a victim of.

I want you to read this first and reflect a bit before you read the raw outpouring from his heart. For I fear you may not understand where he is coming from if you read him first and judge him too harshly for his outburst. I may not agree totally with the way he says it (but we need someone like him to every now and then shout it). You can feel his frustration in this lyrics from his “Better World”

I wanna make a little point
To the people up there in power
That life on Earth is being destroyed
Hour by hour
'Cause it gets so frustrating
When there's nothing you can do
You wanna tell these guys the truth
But you can't get the message through

Listen to his songs in You Tube & MySpace including “Better World” though this link www.myspace.com/lemangsofttouch

He deserves to be heard.

To be continued...