Liberate Yo' Finances!

WEALTH
The Beatles, "Money (That's What I Want)," Rock, 1963.

Fifty Cent, "Straight to the Bank," Rap, 2007. *WARNING* (This song contains unfriendly words. You have been given a head's up.)
Nickelback, "Rock Star," Rock, 2006
Bruno Mars, "Billionaire," Pop/Rock, 2010
The Beatles, "Baby, You're A Rich Man," Rock, 1967


SALVATION
Creed, "Higher," Rock, 1999.

Switchfoot, "Dare You To Move," Rock, 2005.
Conshafter, "Only Thing to Save Me," Rock, 2004. (This band is pretty local to Richmond, so no music video)
U2, "Elevation," Rock, 2001.
Evanescence, "Wake Me Up Inside," Rock, 2003

As it was with the first assignment, one aim was easier to locate songs for than the other. More songs are written and sung about making money, having nice homes/cars/ladies/everything than about feeling saved and/or liberated from something. And, as it was true with the first assignment, I don't see this as a bad thing. I understand why the weathly songs are more popular, it's because people like to hear about them more than people like to hear about someone's experience in feeling saved or freed. Most of the songs I found about salvation or liberation all had a sort of religious undertone, at least in my understanding. I think that's because people do genuinely feel "saved" by their faith. As far as worldly success goes, easy peasey. People want to be rich, and if not rich, they want to be comfortable. Especially during a time when a lot of people are unemployeed, these songs have become quite popular. I think that a lot of the time we connect what we have in the bank to what our value as a human being is. When people are loaded, they have more, they do more, and they seem to have more fun living as opposed to those of us scraping by.

Enjoy Youselves and Your Community

Community

1. Powerline, "Seeing Eye to Eye," Pop, 1995. (See Above for Video.)
2. The Beatles, "With A Little Help from my Friends," Rock, 1967. Click for Video
3. Coldplay, "Fix You," Alternative Rock, 2005.Click for Video
4. Hanson, "Where's the Love?" Pop Rock, 1997. Click for Video
5. The Beatles, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Rock, 1968.Click for Video

Pleasure

1. The Beatles, "Hold Me Tight," Rock, 1964. (See Above for Video.)
2. Blondie, "I Touch Myself," Pop, 1990. Click for Video
3. R.Kelly, "Bump and Grind," Rap, 2002.Click for Video.
4. 'NSync, "Digital Get Down," Pop, 2000.Click for Video
5. InXS, "I Need You Tonight," Rock, 1987. Click for Video

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Obviously, finding good songs about sex, drugs, and rock and roll is much easier than finding songs that sing about helping out your fellow man. I don’t believe that it’s because we, as a whole, don’t care about anyone other than ourselves or that we’re a filthy generation, it’s just because we all enjoy enjoying ourselves and have become more open about it. Music has become a way to express how we’re feeling, and sometimes that feeling is sexy, and sometimes that feeling tells you to help a friend out, but most of the time it’s just sexy.  I don’t really feel like I was overly surprised at any aspect of the assignment. I knew it would be more difficult finding songs that preach about the importance of community as opposed to the songs that sing about ways to find and take part in pleasure. I did however have a lot of fun looking through my iTunes for ideas, I didn’t know how many different types of songs I had and how many could apply to the Hindu goals. I feel that the Hindu view of pleasure is more about a special union or a special situation and it seems a whole lot more about the experience and the company, whereas the pop music today is all about getting down and dirty and it doesn’t always sound  as romantic as the Hindu goal seems to be. As far as the songs about the community, I feel that any song dealing with helping the world rather than yourself is going to fit pretty well into the Hindu goal. There aren’t too many different ways to express your want to help someone out, so if a song is written with that intention it’s going to be obvious.