When Rock Takes Its Revenge... and Forces Us To Wonder

One of the memorable days I had during college was one epistemology class when we discussed the difference between classical music and rock music. In class, it was mentioned that it is the former which allows us to dwell and linger on things, for it is that which hides emotions, meanings, and beauty waiting to be discovered. On the other hand, the latter is quite explicit, saying everything in the open, without any room for the listener to dwell on and find something still not seen. In short, rock music has exposed everything, and there is nothing more to do except to receive it without any effort at all.

Not quite, I think. I am a listener of rock music ever since I heard the radio playing Eraserheads and, later on, Nirvana, and I think that rock music has that same depth as that of classical music, a kind of depth which could only be perceived by those who truly listen to it.

It might seem a given that rock music already brought things out in the open, and that classical music, having no lyrics, gives room for dwelling and reflecting. Rock music might have brought out all the secrets of its music with its hard beats and guitar solos, while classical music delivers a kind of serenity that keeps a deep secret within itself. Rock music might have been made for partying and thrashing around, while classical music is for the quietness and serenity of the soul. But I cannot agree to the claim that rock music does not allow one to dwell and linger on things contrary to classical music. In this case, I think that I have to defend rock in these aspects.

Rock music might have the words which let the music speak for itself, but I believe that it does not deny the fact that the more it shows, the more it hides. I think that it is in lyrics where music reveals something, and at the same time, chooses to not reveal something and keep something hidden. Lyrics in fact give shape to music, inviting the listener to not just lend an ear but also lend one's mind and eventually one's being in the course of the music. More than that, the words not only point to the song, but also point back to the listener. I don't know if some of us experience this, but I believe that those who grew up in the nineties and are currently facing the issues of young adulthood would find it easy to listen to Kurt Cobain and the rest of Nirvana and, say, Get Up Kids or Angels & Airwaves. And I believe that it is such because these songs send a message which tells something about our own state of existence and how we deal with life situations. It is in the way that we interpret the lyrics that the song becomes more alive, where they will choose to reveal itself more fully to the listener, when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Hey Jealousy" become part of life as fragments of it, as stories within our own stories, poems within our own poems of life.

But despite the richness of rock music in lyrics, it still does not reveal everything. In fact, more is revealed when the lyrics fall silent and the instrumentals take over. Think of classical music after five or so centuries, and what you get are those drumbeats that send us partying (like how Travis Barker, the best drummer of our generation, keeps everything about pop-punk alive and kicking) and the best guitar riffs and solos in the world. One of the best interludes that I was able to listen to was that of Avenged Sevenfold's, in the song "The Beast and the Harlot," and once I heard it, the moment of wonder and amazement wells up within me. It brings my imagination to a concert scene, when one would imagine being on the drums or on the guitar and doing that riff, followed by jumping and moshing around. Indeed, in this moment, I believed that it is when we stand in awe and wonder, to stare into the wild and learn to think of it as something that reveals yet hides something. It invites us to explore as we let our passion for sound burn within us.

And does rock music not do this for you?