Thursday, January 20, 2011
Psychedelic Music and LSD
In the Michael Hicks article "Getting Psyched," he explains that scholars analyze how LSD and the psychedelic music "genre" influenced each other. Professor Fink made a good point when he said that it would be very challenging for musicians to play a live show while on LSD. This leads to Hicks point that some scholars question LSD's influence on music. For instance, "'Drugs may have had a lot to do with the periphery...but not really a lot to do with the music itself.'" I think the answer is that the psychedelic rock movement could not have been as profound of a cultural transformation without LSD; however, there is an important misunderstanding in that psychedelic musicians weren't necessarily always high while performing. Instead, they signified on musical techniques in order to associate a constant connection between their music and the experience of LSD. Essentially, psychedelic rock music was "LSD session without the use of drugs." This tool that musicians have: to use music as a signifier for a cultural phenomenon is a powerful one. Are there other examples of this in the history of music? What are some instances where musicians have created new musical techniques that could be so powerful as to make someone feel like they are not just listening to music, but actually doing something else or transformed into a different place, mindset, era?
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There definitely are a bunch of instances where music is used as a signifier of cultural phenomenon. I actually think a lot of music is kind of an exemplification of this in that it reflects much of the culture of the time period it is made in. At the same time, music IS culture, and so you can also have music contributing to the creation of culture, like the Beatles influencing 60s drug culture while also being influenced by it themselves, and how rap songs are created out of street culture but (at least according to parents and such) simultaneously glamorize and influence street culture as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, the class has taught me that LSD was an enhancer of the psychedelic music and not an integral part of the produced work. Indeed, I think the performers were not on LSD during their performances but they played those sounds that is associated with delirious effects engendered when a person is on LSD. In that respect, it's interesting that Lesh and his band managed to play several acid tests with satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteAn example of a musical technique that can serve as a metaphor for a non-musical activity is the bending of notes. Professor Fink noted that the pending of pitch in Pete Lewis's "Ooh Midnight" is representation of sexual pleasure. That same technique though, perhaps represents something different in other songs like the QMS's "Who Do You Love" at the very beginning with extreme note bending.