Music might have a better chance at transcending boundaries,

if there could ever truly be styles that not only were pleasing to the ear and the butt, but that carried a message that could be translated to other languages effectively.  If business is the only art left, then entertainment is the only business left.  Back in the 60’s we had the idea that maybe rock-and-roll could save the world, one of the nicer hallucinations of the period, but ultimately doomed to failure with the rest.  Books can cross borders, and do, but how many people read books in the age of Internet?  And who really has a universal message to convey?  The music is primary in music, not the words, usually.  It’s possible to like a song whether you know the words or not.  As always, getting the words and music to fit is the challenge.  In translation, the fact that the creative spurt has already been done limits creative options in re-composition, true, but also limits the size of the task.  A song can’t simply be translated; it has to be re-worked.  If the lyrics are good, then it’s worth it.  This might open new avenues for music video, now not much more than a pathetic lapdog of the lyrics and melody, and a back-door path to and from Hollywood and its infamous bottom line.  There’s another bottom line, also, and it can’t be faked, bought, or sold.  It’s called “the boogie factor”.  Let’s rock.

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