Harry Chapin, Mr. Tanner, and Simplicity

If you don't know who Harry Chapin is, you are depriving yourself of some wonderful stories. I was fortunate enough to listen to an old Harry Chapin CD lying around the house, and I've really enjoyed listening to his songs. He's a folk rock singer, which means his songs are based around stories--stories that often provide great food for thought. If you've never heard the song "Mr. Tanner," take a listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fkir9alzA

I think the most striking thing about the song is Mr. Tanner's simplicity. As the lyrics say, "He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole." He's not thinking about if his soft palate is high enough, or if he's taking low breaths. He doesn't try to sing, he just does. Does that come at the expense of technique? Sure. If he really wanted to puruse a career in singing, he could have. He could have worked with a voice teacher, and developed his passagio and larynx placement and feigned voice and resonance until he had the skill to sing professionally. But he doesn't need to, because he doesn't know or care how he sounds. He sings because it brings him joy.

This is funny to me, because in any type of performing art, the mantra is: "Be professional." That is, come to rehearsal on time (and rehearse A LOT), do your practice, be serious, and be comitted to making the show as good as possible. There's nothing wrong with that-- who'd want to see a show where none of the actors bothered to make it any good? More importantly, it keeps you from being selfish. If you're performing simply to strut on stage and enjoy yourself, you should'nt be performing. Being professional forces you to consider the audience's desires instead of your own. But that's not all there is. If you sing, act, or play an instrument, you do it (or should do it) because it brings you joy.

And the fact is, if all singing does is bring joy to the singer, that's ok. Mr. Tanner never sings in front of anyone else after his concert, and that's the way it should be. His voice sounds beautiful, but the wholeness music brings him is far more beautiful. Mr. Tanner is simple enough to understand that his voice is not a talent to be perfected, but a gift to be enjoyed. This simplicity is something we could all use a touch of. Everybody needs things that make them whole, but we don't always pursue our deep joys. We either get stuck pursuing shallow "fun" that distracts us from our true needs, or we take all our talents and ruthlessly maximize them instead of allowing ourselves to be happy. We don't need to be "as good as we can be." We don't need to "live," if by living you mean attempting to squeeze every last possible experience out of life before death claims us. That's a life lived in the shadow of death, and therefore no life at all. But we do need to take time to make ourselves whole--by painting or singing or playing sports or doing whatever you truly love without worrying about how good at it we are. When someone does do that, the result is truly beautiful.

Introductions

My first blog post...wow. I've toyed with the idea of blogging before, but I never actually took up the idea. This blog was pretty much created on a whim, and it still remains to be seen how often I'll update it. But hopefully it will be a place for some fruitful thoughts and discussion. If you're reading this, it's probably because you know me and I forced you read it. But on the rare occasion that I receive a visitor from that wondrous place referred to as the Internet, I figure you might as well know a little bit about me so you'll know where I'm coming from. So without getting into too much detail, here is a brief rundown of where I'm coming from intellectually:

Gender: Male
Age: College Student. Exact age is none of your business.
Majors: Physics and Religious Studies (Yes, it's an odd combination. Believe me, I know.)
Religion: Christian, specifically Episcopalian. I love studying/talking about religion, and my beliefs, while orthodox, are pretty eclectic.
Political Views: Paleolibertarian. For those of you who aren't politics nerds and are too lazy to wikipedia the term, it means that I'm a libertarian who is somewhat more open to government intervention in societal affairs (like abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, etc.)
Favorite literature: I mostly read nonfiction, but I love pretty much anything. I have a special place in my heart for Victorian authors and Shakespeare.
Music: Anything and everything except rap and hip hop. I care more about a band's sound (particularly the lead singer's) than genre.

Anything else you want to know, ask. That's all I can think of for now, and it's getting late. Until next time...