West High School - Shaheen Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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In - depth: music in our ives There are a nearly infinite number of ways n which we may choose to live our lives, all 1ighly individual and all highly important to :he person who is developing his or her part Jf the world. In this search for our niche as t is commonly called, a common need for 'etreat and relaxation confronts all of us. For many of us, the need for relaxation is Jest answered through the medium of mu- lic. The unending variety of music available Jffers us, no matter what our tastes, the as- .urance of individuality. Certainly, no two .ed Zeppelin fans find the same meaning in he lyrics of Robert Plant. In a sense, our nusical preferences become the personal ouches with which we decorate our 'places of retreat. I can find music that makes me feel good in any type of mood I'm in. Because music reveals so much about our character and values, we become very opin- ionated about our music tastes and selection. A typical scene from a typical record store frequented by typical high school students clearly proves this point. A blue-jean clad young man strides quickly back to the sec- tion labeled Rock. On his way, he passes an older man thumbing through copies of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey tunes. It takes only a fraction of a second for the young man to consider the merits of the Big Band Sound, and he quickens his stride, while the older man mentally shakes a fist at the blaring speaker system and mutters something about noise, Across the counter, a spectacled musician carefully contemplates two interpretations of Bach preludes, oblivious to his surround- ings. The above characters represent stereo- types. An informal survey of the music tastes of West High students revealed that there is no typical music lover. Tastes among young people run the gamut, with a majority expressing appreciation for some kind of rock. With so-called acid-rock on one end If I'm in a bad mood, it gets me out of it, relaxes me. of the scale and opera on the other, virtually every type of music was represented. The top two vote-getters were hard rock and soft rock, followed by a tie between coun- try western and classical. Also, a large num- ber of people seem to enjoy all kinds of music, though they often have some prefer- ence. Within the category of rock music, it seems that almost any artist can find a follow- ing. Popular choices among West High stu- dents appear to be the Eagles, Elton john, Barry Manilow, and Peter Frampton. Dozens of other favorites were stated, from Barbra Streisand to Black Oak Arkansas. Also includ- ed in the responses were older bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, as well as newer artists such as Boston and Eric Kar- men. indeed, if variety is the spice of life, one can easily understand the feelings of one student who said that music, . . . fills my life with meaning. One obvious indication of the importance of music in our lives is the amount of money that students, who often have limited re- sources, are willing to spend for music and continued on page 23

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