The Ruff Truth of Music
Electric guitar and acoustic guitar. Photo by Miles DeHaven.
The history of music goes back quite a long while, but we believe none of it truly has meaning. From Louis Armstrong, or BB King, or The Beatles, to modern day Taylor Swift, music has been hugely popular worldwide, although nobody truly understands it, or knows why.
We interviewed the Gallatin High School band teacher, Jeffrey Ruffcorn, and its drum major, Aaron Christianson, to get a better understanding through the people who have made music a large part of their lives.
When asked if he had listened to any music in his free time, Ruffcorn said that “after a long day, I like to sit with the deafening silence of my own thoughts.” We also asked Christianson what his role is as the drum major. He responded with “You know, that’s a good question. I just wave my arms, I suppose.” So if the people behind the music don’t even understand it, can there really be any validity behind it?
According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, music has been around for nearly 40,000 years. The Smithsonian even states that “making music is a universal human trait.” We simply think that isn’t true. We think people invented music to drown out their noisy neighbors, because even music is better than listening to Caveman Bob tell his wife about a shiny rock he found.
In our modern day, music seems to mostly capitalize on, or distract yourself from, the state of being. As Jeffrey Ruffcorn said, he solely chose his profession as a band teacher for all the money and glory that came along with it. And Christianson just appreciates the attention.
But why do so many people attain the benefits from music if it renders no sustenance? We believe it could be because of its similarity to other largely popular activities. “It’s like football, but without the competition. And without the football, and without the jerseys, and without the helmets…” stated Christianson.
To sum this all up, music doesn’t really have much of a purpose in people’s lives, except potentially providing them with money, power, and attention. So all the great musicians in history, even the ones that seem like really good people, have only chosen their profession out of greed. And they only continue to make music so they can keep that money, power, and attention away from other people.
