I Only Listen to Music Written and Performed by People With no Morals

Happy New Year. It is an arbitrary thing, but for whatever it is worth, happy new year.

Should we judge the author or the work itself?
I have recently downloaded Kanye West’s newest album “My beautiful Dark Twisted fantasy,” and have gotten a little bit of flack for it. I don’t have a lot of Kanye’s other stuff but have heard other tunes and have liked them. In addition I have heard from the music critic on Fresh Air, and the folks on All Songs Considered that this is a really good album. So, on a lark and with a gift card I purchased the song.

So far I have to say I enjoy it. I haven’t listened enough to give it a full critique, but I like it so far. Yet I have heard some people say they wouldn’t buy it because of who Kanye is. I don’t know everything he has done so I am not sure what exactly he represents or is being held accountable, so I am not one to judge or condemn him, but his music – I like it.

Here is the thing, just because a bastard writes it does that make it bad? Think of Die Walkure, or Lohengrin, or Das Rheingold. Are these operas bad because Wagner, an Anti-Semite, wrote them. Or what about all of the writings of Martin Luther? He also was fairly Anti-Semitic, so should we discount all of his writings. Augustine was a philander who begat a bastard child and did not help his mistress. Should we throw out the confessions? Martin Luther King Jr. had many affairs. Should we stop learning and listening to the “I have a Dream” speech? Beethoven originally supported Napoleon and intended to dedicate his third symphony to him. Should we stop singing Ode to Joy?

When you think about it there are a whole lot of creeps, low-lifes, bastards, and morally bankrupt people who seem to have contributed many good things to our society by way of the arts, sciences, politics, and more. In the U.S. many of our colleges, libraries, and foundations are funded by dollars earned on the back of works who were poorly paid, taken advantage of, and cheated. Yet we have not condemned the “robber barons” of our nation.

When someone perfect, without any sin, mar, failing, and fault offers something that is good and fulfilling (and not some boring “Christian” crap that holds little artistic value) then I will listen and endorse it. In the meantime, I will be aware of the author, but overall I will look to the merits of the work itself. Let Kanye play. Just not to loud, to many obscenities.

PostscriptJust in case you feel the need to be nerdy, I think this falls into the category of “author’s intent.” Feel free to ready Stanley Fish (early or late) or other Post-modern literary critics. Basically we can never know the author’s intent, all we have is the text, or song, or art itself and our reaction. That is the only thing that is real.