Thats^ the "best" first post that Ive ever heard from anybody, all of the time Ive been here at MB.

Wow! I'm personally, really impressed Rubato. :)

well if you've been here for 4 years I'll take that as quite the compliment :D

mmm, Agreed. I would say that the thread starter is looking at it from the wrong angle: If grief were generated solely in order to create Music, then it would be a moral dilemma, but grief and sorrow are unavoidable on a grand scale - there will always be disappointments, deaths, tragedies... that we can create something beautiful out of the bleak losses that are a fact of life is certainly a silver lining to be cherished... Which is pretty much what you said :P

To extend a particular line, though, you said "If on the other hand the artist purposefully creates distressing situations in which to draw from, then we'd have a scruple on our hands, but then again artists are known to be eccentric." If this distress was of their own choosing and was orchestrated in such a manner that it did not (overly, at least) distress anyone else, I would see no problem - it is their choice, and provided their choice causes more benefit than harm (to others), I would choose not to stop them. If it were an external force causing them distress purely for the enjoyment of the ensuing produce (Distress Farming, sounds like something out of a Dystopian Novel), then I would have a serious problem with it. I would mourn the loss of such creative writing, but the ends do not justify the means. There is enough sorrow in the world without orchestrating more purely for our own entertainment.

I think it's pretty obvious that the vast majority of people, unless they are sado-masachists of some kind, would not create grief for themselves purposefully. And for anyone to do that thinking it would give them artistic inspiration is even less likely.

If anyone knows the story of Brian Wilson as he was trying to write SMiLE, it's hard to justify that the music justified what Brain went through. A combination of depression and a complete mental breakdown was due to medical history and drug use, but the pressure he felt he was under to try and out do the Beatles was a major factor. Obviously, SMiLE was never released and it pretty much ended Brian Wilson's career with the Beach Boys. Probably the only reason their late 60's-early 70's albums have any credence is because each one features 2-3 tracks from SMiLE that Wilson never finished and the rest of the band touched up. So, if the grief Brian Wilson went through justified the music... I'm gonna say no because it figuratively, and almost literally, killed him. And his masterpiece lives on as a scattered mess, as it was pulled apart and recycled on albums he had little to do with.

But, this demo of 'Surf's Up' was recorded near the tail end of the sessions and when Brian was on the verge of his full mental breakdown. If someone asked me what the most beautiful piece of music I ever heard was... I'd say this. If it means anything, Elvis Costello said it was like discovering a lost piece of Mozart.



If you have 15 minutes, the Wikipedia article is very accurate with the book I read about the SMiLE sessions. Smile (The Beach Boys album) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree whole-heartedly. Jacques Brel once said that what he wanted to accomplish was to benefit from that therapeutic effect. He didn't specifically want to sing or write or act, he wanted to project his feelings, his dreams, his failures unto the outside world. In a way, it's making one's dreams come true, but it's also taking one's failures and one's frustrations and turning them into something other people can enjoy or relate to. If this type of sharing were done more often, perhaps we'd be a much more enlightened species.

Well I did mention the theraputic aspect of the creation of music in my post before that too lol.

I'm starting to like you quite a lot. I really hope you stick around!

original post was tl;dr, but to answer the question. Yes, yes it does.

Ah sorry mate, should've paid more attention there.