Historical Context in Music Appreciation

Atavachron wrote: Does it even matter?

Atavachron wrote:   Are those who don't make the connections missing out; Does it even matter?

While ideally any musical recording should be enjoyed on its own merits, there are times when being knowledgeable of historical context can be of great value in appreciating the song. If the work is a parody, then it becomes much more important to know the original version to understand what the object of parody is, since the source of the humor comes from comparing to the original.

Growing up I watched Looney Tunes cartoons and I enjoyed them thoroughly, but years afterwards I was surprised at the number of contemporary references and puns that escaped me. Would knowing songs and actors from the 40s have helped me enjoy them more? I still appreciated the cartoons for their slapstick, but I feel I would have enjoyed them more if I understood the allusions. Another example is humor aimed at adults in animated movies.

It's also important to be aware of the originals and influences lest we give to much credit for originality to the band that covers the composition. Led Zeppelin's appropriation of blues songs is well known, as is the fact that the introduction to Child in Time is lifted from Bombay Calling by It's a Beautiful Day.

Also, I think it would a sad if someone was familiar with classical music only though ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition, Wakeman's Hall of the Mountain King excerpt, Rainbow's Difficult to Cure (9th Symphony).

I think it's a good idea to familiarize ourselves with the influences of our favorite musicians. Music is not composed in a vacuum, so I don't think it should be listened to in isolation either.

On another hand, I realize that it can take time and money to research the historical context and influences. If the quoted work is not an entire song, but a short instrumental passage, it can be difficult to even know a famous work was referenced, though the Internet can greatly help in this regard.

As the saying goes, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and a reinvention of disco would be horrid.

I like the Fugees version of Killing Me Softly better then the original, and im fullt awarere of it but my apreciation for Lauren Hills vocals hits gloser to my heart pump.

I am very much interested in when something was recorded, and I have memorised the year of recording of all my almost 2,000 prog, jazz and classical CD music collection. I like putting a recording in historical context not only to previous recordings of that music, but what was happening in the world at that particular time. I guess it's because I have always been interested in history. I would be blind as a bat if I didn't know when something was recorded.

^ Yes, the Banner is a great example

I was on a bit of a Bonzo Dog Do Da Band kick last week as I had a make a 400 mile round-trip so decided to play their first five albums consecutively in chronological order to alleviate the monotony of motorway driving. I've played each of them sporadically over the past 40 years and never considered them in any historic context or as anything other than a more surreal version Spike Jones and his City Slickers (not to be confused with Spike Jonze). Essentially I saw them as a comedy act born during the Psychedelic era whose parodies were nothing but harmless light relief - my first introduction to them was as an 11 year old kid watching them perform on children's tv in 1968 - but I now appreciate they were much darker than that. For example 'Death Cab of Cutie' (as featured in the Beates Magical Mystery Tour during the strip-club scene) has a wickedly dark lyric sung by Stanshall as a louche Elvis parody, which in itself is the least offensive of many of the savage parodies they "got away with", most of which would be considered to be extremely non-PC and outrageously unacceptable today: really - 'Look Out There's a Monster Coming' is a calypso sung in black-face that is cringe-worthy in the extreme and very uncomfortable listening, yet that song was broadcast on prime-time tv for the amusement of children.

Certainly there were the social impact aspects of Coltrane & Hendrix's covers, as there were many more and many more to come. Closer to Prog we cannot ignore Keith Emerson (The Nice & EL&P) classical cover contributions of Copland's Hoedown, Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique, Ginastera, etc. Procol Harem's classical quotes, and even Rick Wakeman's Hallelujah quote -
On a more Rock note there was Peter Gabriel's cover of The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever-