[Jürgen]

Well, maybe I have completely misunderstood the topic and this is really just about the touching story of how Randy Bachman found his guitar again or is this about wonderful stories around the guitar in general, what do you say Jung? That would be a very nice topic. I admire you, with what perseverance and tenacity you set here again and again new topics. This must be rewarded with masses of feedback.

[Jürgen]

Hello Tom, thanks for your reply. I am just thinking about what music you like to listen to, so maybe I can pick out some stuff. You posted an interesting interview with John Sebastian and a video of Cat Stevens. What other music do you like?

[Jürgen]

Hi David, it’s nice that you speak a little German (or really good?). You mentioned that before.
I also think that Jung should take a language course, then we can discuss some of the future topics in German. Great. „Ich freue mich schon sehr!“.

Your creative combination of English language and German sentence structure is basically correct, but causes a knot in my brain. Although the translation of language sometimes can be really funny. With literal translation from German into English such linguistic highlights arise:

• How goes it you? (How do you do? / wie geht es dir?)
• English for away stepped (English for advanced / Englisch für Fortgeschrittene)
• Shitwing (Fender / Kotflügel)
• short and pregnant (short and concise / kurz und prägnant)
• You are on the wood way (you are wrong / Du bist auf dem Holzweg)

Do you also celebrate thanksgiving David? If so, then I wish you a happy thanksgiving.

[Jürgen]

Hi Jung, a very nice story. I think if I could master an instrument, I would also have a very special relationship with this instrument. And in the following video, someone who has not only achieved greatness on this instrument, but has also collected several of these instruments in the course of his musical life, talks a little about how he learned to play and love this instrument:

https://youtu.be/OG__SwkV3wg

[Jürgen]

Thanks for the video Jung. Yes, Sultans of Swing and Money for Nothing are my absolute favorite Dire Straits songs. At the beginning I didn’t like the sound of Mark Knopfler’s voice so much, but sometime it clicked. A fantastic guitarist and musician. I also bought some of his solo albums later. Partly very soulful and really beautiful songs. Another wonderful guitar story.

And here’s another band that probably love their guitars a lot. A song that leads to goosebumps feeling with me now for almost 40 years. Perhaps technically not overly virtuosic (or is it?), but for me classic guitar rock at its best: straight ahead, no frills and just awesome (geil). Streams from the ears directly to the stomach and from there to the feet. The brain is simply switched off. For years I was convinced The Knack was a British group. They always seemed somehow very british to me. Well my dear… .

https://youtu.be/g1T71PGd-J0

[Jürgen]

Hi David, unfortunately I do not receive the streaming service (mouse empire?). Very sad. As a small consolation, I have now bought the 50th anniversary box of “Let It Be”, incl. 6 CD’s and a big art book.

[Jürgen]

So, finally weekend and time to recover. Thank you for the very nice video. Writing as meditation and time out from the hustle and bustle of the world? A very beautiful idea. My parents and grandparents still had very nice handwriting. At that time, more emphasis was placed on good handwriting. It was the only way to preserve the knowledge of the time for the future. I think this awareness is often lost in today’s hectic typing and you have brought me to the taste Jung: Maybe I’ll buy myself a fountain pen again and start writing with it. Then my handwriting will probably become more legible again. Scribbling around, as with a ballpoint pen then no longer works. Sometimes I’ve almost forgotten what handwriting actually still looks like. I only think and write in block letters. A real pity. Do you master Caligraphy?

Also thanks for the explanation on the subject of swiss knife. I don’t have such a great knife, just an old green one, I think it’s used by the German army. (You already know, the only army in the world whose helicopters don’t fly, submarines that sink before they’re even submerged and of course the top gun Gorch Fock: the three-masted barque that sends entire aircraft carrier crews into a panic as soon as the sails appear on the horizon).

While we’re on the subject of writing, it occurs to me: In one of the last topics I had presented an alternative version of “While my guitar geently weeps”. There is another music video for this, also by Cirque du soleil. This one can’t be linked here, but I find it absolutely beautiful. It starts with an unknown stranger writing a few lines in an empty notebook, just like you did in yours. After a short while the letters and sentences start to detach from the paper (without a Swiss Army knife 🙂 ) and form an anonymous dancer, who starts a melancholic round dance with a ballet dancer. The whole thing reminded me a bit of the video “Take on me”. Simply enchanting, sentimentally beautiful and moving. (Maybe the video is about two lovers who can’t find each other, or are separated forever…, who knows?). If you don’t already know the video, I think you will really like it.

The link is: “https://youtu.be/VJDJs9dumZI” (The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps)

[Jürgen]

Hi Jung, thanks for the link to the live concert of Mona and Lisa in 2007. I haven’t looked into the performance before and you’re right: they really do play the song „Aufsteh’n”. The comparison between the two versions is funny: on one side the singer Pierre Baigorry, trying to look cool and sound brash and on the other side mona and lisa, happy and full of live. Cool meets cheerful.

The way you explain it to me, I can understand that you have a special relationship with the German language, because of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Mona & Lisa. David is right: if you ever have time to take an introductory course. Why not? Maybe you’ll really like it and when you meet Mona and Lisa you’ll just greet them with a casual: “Na Mädels, was geht ab?” (“well girls what’s up”, roughly translated). Then they will surely invite you for a coke or serenade you on their guitars. 🙂

Thanks also for your very personal insight into your life. In the last 20 years I have traveled very often to Southeast Asia. I like to see the people there, because of their friendly and open-minded nature and their friendly politeness, but also because of their humor. I believe that humor is something universal that connects people all over the world. I realize that Asia is a melting pot of different cultures, ethnic groups and languages (just like Europe). I especially like the diversity of the cultures there, the wonderful landscapes, the delicious food and yes, as I said before, the mentality of most Asians. They have wonderful stories to tell, many exhilarating and some deeply sad. And I admire many people there, how they master their lives despite poverty and misery. Unfortunately, I have never been to South Korea or Japan. I think Japan is a pretty expensive and exclusive place. South Korea perhaps also. 2019 I spent my vacation in Laos. There were also many Korean tourists. They were always in larger groups on the road have a lot of singing and laughing. Nice people, but unfortunately I never had the opportunity to talk to them.

[Jürgen]

Thanks for the interesting interview / documentary again Tom

[Jürgen]

Thanks Jung, then I understood it. I thought the whole thing might be a picture puzzle or word puzzle, because in your notebook you wrote the sentence “Cryptographic Transition”, then you exchanged one letter and arranged a total of three pictures with fountain pen and pocket knife in different positions. Sometimes I think just a little too complicated. 🙂
I used to like to write with a fountain pen, but unfortunately I ruined my handwriting (which was already not beautiful) during my time at university.
I also like artfully and handcrafted well made utilitarian objects very much and I find it a pity that nowadays so many cheap mass-produced goods are produced, which are no good and quickly thrown away. I agree with you: high-quality craftsmanship and well-made music are one and the same side of the coin.

[Jürgen]

Lazy sunday afternoon? You lucky one. Already over for me. Monday morning is already knocking quietly on my door and I’m going to bed now. What you’re going to do with the fountain pen and the pocket knife, I’m sure someone else will find out. 🙂

[Jürgen]

Hello David, two and a half years German? That sounds good. Unfortunately, languages are like that: if you don’t need them all the time, they disappear again very quickly. Really a pity. The biggest stupidity of my school time was to choose Latin as a second foreign language. You as a mathematically gifted person would certainly have fun with it (you probably also know Latin). Latin is like complicated “Tetris” only with words instead of geometric figures. For me wasted time, in which I would have rather learned a real language from today’s point of view. Maybe Spanish.

The article of Mark Twain I skimmed funny wise coincidentally yesterday, when I searched for the unfortunate idioms. Twain was upset about German newspaper articles and their headlines. However, in defense of the German language, it must be said that Mark Twain wrote this essay when German was really still very old-fashioned. Nobody speaks and writes like that anymore. Or do they? But there really are still a few politicians who speak these long sentences. Gladly during speeches on television. They like to start a sentence, but never finish it. Instead, they keep adding new subordinate clauses. You look at the clock, the politician talks and talks. You can make yourself a coffee, he’s still talking. You quickly go to the bathroom to brush your teeth and when you stand in front of the TV again, it really seems as if he wants to finish his sentence right away. Wrong guess. He just took a quick breath and apparently forgot himself how the sentence was supposed to end. „Alles in Butter” is funny. But if you want to say: “Get to the point”, then it’s „Tu’ mal Butter bei die Fische”. At least that’s how it’s said here in my area. „Ruhrpottdeutsch“ (language spoken in the Ruhr area). Funny thing. Maybe another time.
Oops, now I’ve already missed the point a bit. I have not noticed so. Sorry.

So long David

PS: Dave Morrah I will google.

[Jürgen]

Hello Tom, I know “Peace Train” only as a solo version of Cat Stevens. The integration of a choir, drummers, didgeridoo etc. makes the whole thing really varied and I like it. At the keyword „combining videos“ I had to think of the Traveling Wilburys (George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan). I don’t even know if you like that music. Unfortunately none of the videos could be embedded here. What a pity. What do you think about this combined troupe?

https://youtu.be/uWc4wMyL1oI

[Jürgen]

Glad to hear you like the video Jung. Peter Fox’s music represents a new self-confident music trend in Germany: the vocals are mostly in German (unthinkable in the young music scene until the early 80s) and follow an idiosyncratic style, originally probably influenced by rap, hiphop and and I don’t know what else. It sounds cool by German standards and leaves the paths of beautiful, melodic singing. By the way, Peter Fox is not a proper name, but the name of a music project. The singer’s name is actually Pierre Baigorry. The group Seed and the song “Aufsteh’n” didn’t mean anything to me until just now, but I watched the video and the singer of the group Seed, surprise, is named: Pierre Baigorry. (Is that a coincidence or did you know that?) In the song “Aufsteh’n” I like the mix of two languages quite well. But I am skeptical about the rhythm: I find german mentality and reggae music that fits as well as elephant and (playing) double dutch.

Even if the topic is getting a little off track right now, I think your ambitions to learn German are great. When you have taken all your courses, then you can play the piano, sing german lyrics and watch the stars at the same time. wow. sounds like a really cool plan. Whether you would enjoy the german language more than French I cannot estimate. Certainly English and German are more similar than English and French. Also the pronunciation of both languages sounds quite hard. French sounds clearly more elegant. In German language there’s the possibility to form long sentences, interrupted by some insertions, and at the end of the sentence you’ll find the verb you need to understand the complete sentence. Sounds very cumbersome? It is ( and so is my english). So if you like to search for easter eggs at easter (high frustration tolerance) and if you like it to hold your breath under water until you can’t stand it anymore (high capacity for suffering), you will have a lot of fun with the german language.

Do you actually speak Korean? I find Asian languages very fascinating, precisely because they are so completely different. For me, it’s always an endless flow of sounds in which I recognize little structure but no individual words at all. But the sound of the languages varies a lot. For example, Thai is almost a sung language, Vietnamese is very hectic and fast, Japanese sounds very hard and choppy (sounds like karate only with words) and Korean, I don’t know, somehow in between?

[Jürgen]

Jung, I’m very happy that you write something on this subject again. 500 years of music history so nicely summarized and then even faster than the time machine from H.G. Wells novel would have ever managed: I am impressed. I liked the picture of the big massive ship and the excursion about the development of the classical music in the different epochs I found very exciting. (I confess, when it comes to classical music, then I am more of a large unmaneuverable ship: The helmsman is dozing off, the captain has fallen overboard and the sailors are well filled with rum. But someday my ship will also sail in this direction, so thank you for that).

Your division of music into dead-end genres and timeless music, is a good approach to understand the development of music and you have given me an idea 🙂 : is there such a thing as an evolution of music? For sure, but does the evolution of music also follow the rules of evolutionary theory, i.e. the principles of mutation, variation and selection? Does music evolve almost like a living organism, because music is an integral part of our own evolution?

So first of all, there is the mutation. The evolutionary pressure. I come back to my idea that there is something like a genetic code or a predisposition in us that we humans use to communicate with each other in the form of music. However, the interpretation of this code or its translation into music can change over time How could this happen? For example, drastic cultural or political changes come to mind. It would be interesting to look at the history of the world, for example, what exactly happened during the transition from Medieval to Baroque to Classical to Romantic (since this would fill entire books, we’d better not do that now). Further reasons for the mutation pressure of music: The language of the people changes over centuries, the living conditions change partly also drastically, I think only of the rural exodus and the industrialization in many regions of the world. But people’s world views are also constantly changing. The general conception of the world, the political situation, the level of knowledge of science, etc. And music is also exposed to all these influences and changes accordingly. A globalized society will once again increase and accelerate the mutational pressure of music.

The next principle of evolution is variation. Music is full of it. Different musical styles and directions that exist parallel to each other and occupy their own niches, just like Darwin’s finches on Galapagos. You called this sub-genre. Which variation is permanently established, which is popular and which is quickly forgotten again, depends in turn on how we humans and especially how our needs change. People in the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc. sometimes had a completely different attitude to life and also completely different ideas about what they expected from life. The music that best matched this was then usually the winner.

Then the principle of selection is still missing. Why do some sub-genres end up in a dead end and die out, while other music styles survive, evolve and become something new? Darwin called it the survival of the fittest. If you want to understand the principle of selection in music, you should realize that music always fulfills a function and there is always a motivation to listen to music or to play it yourself: Messages to other people, fun and joy, distraction from everyday life, processing of current events, expression of feelings, creation of community, to name a few. The current needs of people determine which style of music has a high acceptance and will continue to develop. The kind of music that best reflects the spirit of the time (Zeitgeist) will probably survive. But also, as you rightly wrote, the influence of the music industry and the power of money is not to be underestimated. Music and its promoters, another important point. Beethoven and his contemporaries were also dependent on patrons supporters at that time: the nobility and the royal houses. Today it is their majesties Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.

Basically, music behaves like a living organism or better like its own species. In which direction music will move exactly nobody knows of course. But if I want to understand in which direction music will change, then I look best at the development and behavior of humans. And this brings me back to the questions I asked at the beginning of the topic: will new art forms develop in music, will A.I. make its way into music, etc.? If we become an even more technologized society, this will also have a direct impact on music. Will the future of humanity change for the better or will we manage to ruin our planet? A rich, contented society develops quite different forms of music (and has quite different opportunities to develop music) than a society in need, struggling to survive.

So much for the attempt to understand music as an evolutionary process. One possible explanation of many. The fascination of the music can be explained with it certainly neither comprehensively nor completely and music remains what it is: one of the most beautiful creations that humans have ever produced (in this spirit, I wish you and your family a beautiful Thanksgiving).