Arthur Cowslip raises the issue of authenticity on the “RIP Meat Loaf” thread. I must admit to thinking the concept of “authenticity” is largely idealist/ essentialist / existential tripe, particularly when people are composing creative things for a commercial entertainment market. What I do like is “authentically inauthentic” (where people play with artifice as part of the expression, Bowie being an expert, and where it can turn into irony). If people are creating for themselves and genuine outsiders, then they may be authentic, but an awful lot of authenticity is derivative. And to call yourself authentic is like calling yourself “cool”: desperate. But at the same time, some music sounds sincere, and other music doesn’t. Views of the massive?
Authenticity
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As a great man once said “Authenticity? If you can fake that, you’ve got it made!”
The only truly authentic artists are the ones you’ve never heard of.
I once read somewhere that Tom Waits writes about it, Shane MacGowan lives it …
An interesting example. Living it in terms of the booze, certainly. Authentic in terms of the working class Irishman, possibly not to the same degree.
Shane is a born-again Irishman who’s lived nearly all of his life in England, even going to a posh school here. His whiskey priest persona hides a mass of insecurities. I think a lot of artists do similar things, although maybe not on his scale.
That’s looking at it the wrong way, though, isn’t it? Pure Cop Killer 101.
We’ve only just had a thread where the language in Fairy Tale is defended because it’s the authentic voice of the characters written about.
That comment has thrown me, because it’s given me the idea of Ice-T and Bodycount covering Kirsty & the Pogues’ festive favourite.
“Cheap lousy faggoooooooooooooooooooooot!”
How heartwarming!
Authenticity in music is mistakenly believed to being true to a genre that you didn’t invent.
Authenticity in real life is being true to yourself.
I know which I prefer.
When I’m true to myself people tell me I’m being a cunt.
….erm…..
Anyone making music who’s had the accusation of authenticity chucked at them probably firmly believed they were making authentic music.
Or at least I don’t think they started out with any intention to make anything inauthentic.
I’m not sure if that makes sense
Yes, it does.
Stretches to politics. 95% of the lot we have now in power claim a connection to the “working classes.”
95% of them are multi-millionaires. The other 5% are billionaires or married to billionaires.
Triffic.
I don’t have any significant insights into this. I think irony is a big part of it. Bowie is a good example of an artist who feels ironic no matter what he does, so has a kind of palatable inauthenticity.
U2 seemed to straddle both camps, in the flip from Rattle and Hum (authentic rock saviours) to Achtung Baby (pantomime hip tricksters), and surprisingly were quite successful in that flip.
One artist who I think straddles both at the same time is Neil Hannon. He can write winsome heartfelt songs which feel achingly authentic (Songs of Love) and then other songs of delicious artificial pop brilliance (National Express).
Good call on Neil Hannon .The 90s was an entire decade with one eyebrow raised and yet he closed it out with Sunrise – a song which definitely isn’t ironic.
Nothing less authentic than calling yourself “Bono Vox” for 40 years and then coming out with this:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60051813.amp
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
Darling, you’re so right!
Mwah, shugah!
Life is life (nanananana)…
The Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recordings on “Travellin’ Thru” seem 100% authentic although at one point they joke that they’d both stolen the “Don’ t Think Twice ” melody for themselves and changed the lyrics.
They didn’t get sued. When did the lawyers start getting busy on such issues?
Remember the story about Alan Lomax recording Leadbelly?
At one session it was all Lomax could do to get him to sing about picking cotton in the fields or jailhouse laments as Leadbelly just sang whatever it was that he fancied at the time… show tunes, the Laurel and Hardy theme, comedy songs, anything.
It was Lomax who wanted the “authenticity,” not Leadbelly… he just wanted, not unreasonably, to get out of jail and to have a few dollars in his back pocket.
Excellent example, Deram. Lomax also wanted Huddie to play in prison-wear which he was not keen about.