I have always hated national anthems. Not only national anthems, but group songs of all kinds. Much later, after years of this, I read Bloch and found the reason. As he says, "You cannot argue with a song." You either take it in whole and sing, or you refuse. And, in the case of national anthems and a lot of solidarity songs, refusal is likely to draw a shitstorm down on your head.
Music is a drug, and I want control over the drugs I take. No one doses me without my permission.
But there are times when music is useful, so long as it is controlled by me. It's an acceptable non-prescription substitute for Wellbutrin in beating down background noise and static in my thinking. For this it has to be loud and harsh. Something with a driving beat is best, and it doesn't matter if it makes much sense. I used to use Pink Floyd for this while I was at university, though a lot of their songs are borderline for the purpose -- they make too much sense. Non-English bands like Rammstein are better, or the more forceful sort of movie theme music (Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone? The theme for the latest Batman pictures is good too), or best of all decent-quality video game music. Some of the music that Nine Inch Nails did for Quake II is ideal. It hammers and thrusts, mindless but endlessly active. Or the infamous Hell March from Command and Conquer, a game that I've never actually played. Some of the tracks from the original Unreal Tournament score do very well, such as "Run" and "The Course."
I wonder why this works? Of course, it tends to shout down the static in my head, but I think there's also a sense of process to this type of music, the feeling that you're off and running and for the time being at least, successfully ignoring where you are going.
Process is all. Destinations suck.
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