Originality and Music
by payalcshah
This reading this week definitely startled the way I thought about creativity. LIke I had told Saif when he posed the question to our class, when I think of creativity and originality, I think new. Some of the most powerful text of the chapter was towards the end in which association of new and originality is completely discounted.
It doesn’t necessarily have to complete newness that is produced by you, but rather a truth that originates from your being. It can be inspired and even use the ideas of others, but as long as some aspect of it can be traced back to you. To relate the quality of the piece produced by the piece back to other areas of the reading, maybe the quality (that attests to the thought given to the originated work) can be evaluated by how different ways the piece can be seen.
In the arena of music, I’m very quick to judge pop music. Often when I hear songs like, “The Show Goes On” that have sampled the songs of the past, I immediately made a judgement like, that’s so unoriginal. However, the music industry is transforming today just as it did every other year of the past. Sampling music is just another original way of incorporating old art into new musical compositions. In the 80s, it was video and dance that were other altering the music industry. Many musical artists not only had to think about the songs that they produce, but also how it fuses with video media and how it moves with dance.
And very recently, sampling, mash-ups, remixing etc have become the new media layer of the music industry. In the end, The Show Goes on is a very different song than Float On by Modest Mouse. Although, both are high energy, and upbeat, The Show Goes On is resonates more of a “dive into life and experience everything” feeling for me. On the other hand, Float On ultimately keeps me resolute yet calm. These songs can evokes so many different emotions and memories for people, and even though the one incorporates a strong layer of the other, the two are definitely unique pieces of creativity.
educ95si 
Payal, I haven’t heard those songs but you have inspired me to so I’ll be sure to check them out. I was intrigued by how you described the different emotions and moods the songs evoke. When a song moves you like that, it evokes affection inside you and makes you want to act and create something of your own. Creativity is like a force that races through human beings all over the world and it is our privilege to embrace it, to let it move us in ways that our rational minds could never imagine.