Pleasure:
1. Too Much by Dave Matthews Band
2. Guilty Pleasure by Cobra Starship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs9Su2Dbic
3. Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVxiHC9AJQw
4. Cocaine by Eric Clapton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdDhV45lYHU
5. Smile by Uncle Kracker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arLwtHj3Ta0
Community Service:
1. God of Justice by Tim Hughes
2. Albertine by Brooke Fraser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGx-xU6TnU8
3. Do They Know It's Christmas?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-w-CmCCF7k
4. The Hands That Built America by U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxCAvK2wIEo
5. We Are The World by 25 For Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI
In my searches for songs I found very few songs that had to do with community service or serving others. Many songs were found to be under the category of pleasure and love. So in one sense it seemed that nearly all the songs that were ever written were self-serving and selfish. But at the same time the reason for this is because people use music to express themselves and how they feel for things. The American dream is to achieve success and money and to pursue personal happiness so why not write everything they can about it, and in the process having many people agree with the lyrical content and how it applies to them. With that in mind its no question as to why we have “break-up songs,” or “Feel good songs.” However the difference between the Hindu beliefs and American songs is that the Hindu's seem to actually have pleasure slightly figured out while the songs depict people who continue to seek pleasure in the world, whether it be love, money, drugs, people doing things for them and the like. In the duty/service sector, however, many of these songs were found to be under the Christian mindset category where joy is found from serving God and serving those less fortunate, which in the Hindu belief will apparently lack in satisfaction in the long run, but to the composers of the songs its all for a good cause and worth their effort.
I think you bring up a really good point that most people didn't about the difference in the understandings of community service. In the Hindu belief, it is not the end goal, and won't be satisfying forever, just like they will eventually need more than pleasure. But in Western religions (Christianity at least) helping those in need is one of the major components of gaining entry into Heaven (as is ridding oneself of our worldly possessions, which could also be compared with the Hindu view).
ReplyDeleteI agree with your observation that it was much more difficult to find community service songs than to find pleasure songs. I also think you make a good point in saying that it has to do with people pursuing the "American Dream".
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