I’m watching Prince solo on When My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Jimi play Sunshine of My Love, and I’m seized of the idea that there are genuine parallels between emotional states and musical uses/genres. Even though The Ramones were not at all the most talented musicians, no one has accused them of pandering to the lowest common denominator, while I currently can’t find the appeal of The Jonas Brothers.
Does it take a blues appreciation to compose lasting rock music? The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, certainly had it. To argue the opposite, I can’t musically find it in The Sex Pistols, although I think their album has about 6 of the classic punk tracks.
Is it emotion, musical training, or something else that makes touching and lasting pop music?
What do you mean by “deep emotion”? I don’t actually know any Jonas Brothers songs, but I expect they have at least one or two about having a crush on someone, and this can certainly be an intense feeling – especially if you’re a teenager, as most Jonas Brothers fans are and one of the actual Jonas Brothers still is. Or by “deep emotion” do you mean something not merely powerful but also complex and intelligent?
If the latter, I’m going to have to disagree. There’s certainly wonderful music based on mature and complicated feelings and most of my favorites would fall into that category, but there are also many fantastic pop songs based on nothing more sophisticated than an adolescent crush. “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks should rank pretty high on any list of all-time great pop songs, but I don’t think anyone would describe it as deep.
