The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll?

I finally finished reading Chris Knowles' 'The Secret History of Rock 'N' Roll' and loved it.

It has a very Jungian approach to some of rock and pop's biggest names and shows how they line up with ancient mythological figures and archetypes.

Kind of like how I wrote about in my post about the lead singer of 'Blondie' in this recent post -

The Tide is High for the Dark Archetypal Angel of the Water and the Sky?

The 40th anniversary for this album
'Parallel Lines' falls this September

The book was released in 2010 but is still relevant today, if not more so, knowing what we know about some of those big names who have since passed away.

Like Chris writes -
"Most - nearly all - of the artists who channeled the ancient archetypes discussed here where completely oblivious to what they were bringing into the world. 

But that simply serves to demonstrate just how powerful these memes are, and how hardwired they are into our consciousness. 

Human experience is vast and complex, but it has a tendency to organize itself along certain patterns.

In ancient times, people grouped themselves according to these patterns and formed cults that venerated certain ideals and symbols.

The same process continues today, only in a secular, cultural context.

Even when I was a teenager, I sensed that rock ' n' roll was simply a new incarnation of something very, very old, and I was fortunate enough to be tuned in at a time when artists were kicking at the music's boundaries as well as digging at its roots.

I'm also old enough to have suffered the total contempt and dismissal of older generations for the music I lived for, as if it were all some historical mistake that grew up overnight like, well like mushrooms.

I knew in my gut that they were wrong, but it took me a lifetime to prove it."     

I wrote a post about hearing an interview of Chris discussing his book with Dr. Bob Hieronimus in July last year -

Christopher Knowles and Dr. Bob Hieronimus, Ph.D: The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll
But reading the book has made me delve into artists and their music in a new light and a new appreciation for the shamanic qualities of music both ancient and modern.

The Hurrian Hymn Text H6 - which at c.1400BCE, is the oldest written fragment of music, so far discovered, in history and listening to these You Tubes of it being played and interpreted by various musicians on different instruments is almost like bringing the ancient into the now.

The EPIC OF GILGAMESH is the earliest great work of literature that we know of, and was first written down by the Sumerians around 2100 B.C.

"Sirens of the Sea" World and Coasting with Archetypes?
"While we may be past the Classical Age of Rock, there may still be a Golden Age to come.

But it will only come when a new generation of musicians can tap into the deep well of archetypal and spiritual energy that has animated this music for thousands of years and make it relevant to these times.

Maybe that will "change the world"?" 

I'll drink to that.
Cheers.

I'd rather be off with the fairies than down with the sirens;-)

And WHO knows, maybe in another 3000 years the oldest song on record might be 'Stairway to Heaven' found in some ancient ruins from when the world was almost destroyed by the foolish emperor The Donald?-)

Anyway, great book and checkout Chris Knowles' other work if you aren't familiar with it already.

You won't see or hear the "real" world in the same way again ... and that might be a good thing, too. 

Skeptiko #381: Chris Knowles of Secret Sun on the Met Gala (Psyop?)