When Bloom writes about young people and music, that “it is their passion: nothing else excites them as it does; they cannot take seriously anything alien to music”, he is bringing up two points. The first is that young people are passionate about music, and the other that they are incapable of taking anything else seriously. With these two points I agree with one and disagree with the other.
I agree that young people find passion in music, not only when playing or listening to music, but also when it comes to activities, such as dance and sports. Many young people find comfort and a form of release when it comes to music. It is a way to express one’s self in a manner that is easy to convey to other people. It offers a way to release emotions that are hard to explain and can sometimes only be felt while playing or listening to music. Music also plays a vital role in activities that are not directly related to music. Dance has a strong connection with music, as it can be seen as a physical manifestation of the song. Even sports have a connection to music, music is pumped through stadiums to get the crowd excited and motivate the team. Most of these things are activities done by young people, and therefore they have a passion for it.
But the second point to Bloom’s statement I disagree with. I do not think that they are incapable of taking anything other than music seriously. Many young people are very capable of taking things other than music seriously. Many young people have a serious outlook on things such as school, jobs, and family. These are things that are not closely connected with music, and can be very important to young people. Many young people have an intense focus on school, and the need to enter a good four year institution. Because of this drive, it can be shown that they have the ability to take other aspects of their lives seriously, beyond the scope of music. This is also true when it comes to jobs and family. Many young people do not have the luxury of having the only thing they need to take seriously be music, but are forced to focus on jobs and family and have that be the most important thing in their lives.
Overall, I feel as though Bloom had many good points about young people and their passion for music. It is obvious by the way it is such a crucial cornerstone in so many of the activities that are enjoyed by and participated in by young people. I also feel like it may have been a severe over generalization because of the fact that I know many people personally who simply listen to music in their car, or watch an occasional music video. This leads me to believe that to some young people music is their entire life, their passion and the only thing they take seriously, but from personal experience I know there are always the exceptions to the rule.
I agree that Bloom’s assessment is a drastic overgeneralization, and I have seen many people focus on other aspects of life as well. As a musician, I do put a lot of time, effort, and passion into my music, but that’s just who I am. Music is in my blood- my mom plays piano and my dad plays the bass guitar, so it’s more like music chose me. But at the same time, I am very passionate about my job and my education. Both of which I see as necessities in the grand scheme of life. With a job, I would not be able to fund my love of guitars, and without my schooling, I would have a pretty miserable job (most likely).
ReplyDeleteWe young people may have that passion that Bloom is talking about, but I don’t see it as overwhelming to where it numbs us to the rest of the world like he says it does. I see music as a way to add to life, not control it. If there was no music sure people would notice; but if there was never music, then there would be nothing to miss or reminisce about. There are always going to be exceptions to every rule and every theory, but to say that it will make an entire generation deaf to the rest of the world is a bit of a stretch. I would say that rather than the music numbing us, it acts more like a good spice, making otherwise dull actions- running, driving, working- seem a little more interesting and worth our time.
I agree with you. I chose the same topic to write about and pretty much stated the same things. I do like how you split Blooms quote into two parts. I also agree with you that young people can be passionate about music, and they do love it most of the time, but it is not the only thing that they are or can be passionate about. When you put, “but from personal experience I know there are always the exceptions to the rule,” that hit home. I am definitely an exception to the rule. I am young, I love music, but I am not passionate about it. I am passionate about other things like painting.
ReplyDeleteThe other pint you made is true as well. I think Bloom over-generalized big time. Young people’s minds are not exclusive to music. They can get excited about a lot of other things. Taking school seriously is definitely a big one, like you mentioned. I would hope that young people take school more seriously than music, even though music can help you get through school sometimes. Music is definitely a place to escape to but is not the only thing that matters to young people.