Success
Travie McCoy, “Billionaire”, Alternative Hip Hop, 2010
Prima J, “Rockstar”, Pop, 2007
Kanye West, “Stronger”, Hip Hop, 2007
Kanye West, “Power”, Hip Hop, 2010
Lupe Fiasco, “Superstar”, Hip Hop, 2007
Liberation
Carrie Underwood, “Jesus Take the Wheel”, Country, 2005
Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”, Pop, 2011
Celine Dion, “Immortality”, Pop, 1998
Celine Dion, “ A New Day has Come”, Pop, 2002
Martina McBride, “Concrete Angel”, Country, 2002
This week we had to find videos on the Hindu aims of success and liberation. Both of these aims were very easy to find in Western pop culture. The easiest of the two was success, of course. Success songs are especially prevalent in the Hip Hop genre. This may be because the title of being the best, and ahead of everyone is very much sought after by hip hop artists. Liberation on the other hand wasn’t as prevalent, but still not difficult to find. I really enjoyed finding songs of the latter because they were very heart felt and motivational.
Hindus look to achieve success for wealth, fame, and power. This aim is more satisfying because it lasts longer and it is social and not something private like the aim of pleasure. It is also necessary because success is needed to do things like make money and support a family. The aim of liberation is the Hindus’ strive for infinite being, awareness, and joy. This is what they really strive for. These two aims are very similar to how Westerners see success and liberation.
The songs I chose for Success were mostly Hip Hop songs. As I stated before they are very easy to find. Just about every artist seemed to have a song about how they were ahead of the game and/or how they were #1. My favorite of the success songs is “Rockstar” by Prima J. It is a song about girls that want to be well known by everyone and envied by other girls. The song I chose to share from the liberation category is “Jesus Take the Wheel”, by Carrie Underwood. I chose this song because it’s about a woman who just gives herself up to Jesus and frees herself from the bad road she was going down. The way these aims are presented in the Western culture is very similar to how the Hindus view them.
Success seemed to be the easiest to find amongst hip hop songs with most people. I think it's because that's what our society tends to want to hear, in hopes of having the same things one day.
ReplyDeleteNot only is the music industry as a whole extremely competitive, the hip hop genre seems to be extremely competitive. Everyone is always trying to "one up" the other, be it via their cars, clothing, house, jewelry, etc. All of those things are a means of expressing and showing off their success; wealth, fame, and power, by Hinduism.
ReplyDeleteYay for Celine Dion songs! She's so classic!