The Fredösphere

Here we have Alex Ross quoting his New Yorker colleague Leo Carey quoting the new pope:

In 1986 he described rock music as 'the secularized variation' of an age-old type of religion in which man uses music — and drugs and alcohol — to lower 'the barriers of individuality and personality,' to liberate 'himself from the burden of consciousness. Music becomes ecstasy ... amalgamation with the universe.' This 'is the complete antithesis of the Christian faith in the redemption.'

My immediate reaction was, "no, Benedict, the style doesn't determine the content," but I'm not so sure that's right -- Marshall McLuhan and all that.  (Or am I misinterpreting McLuhan?  He said medium, not style.)

Larry Norman, proto-Jesus-rocker extraordinaire, built a career on exposing the folly of certain fundamentalist suspicions of rock.  I was marinated in those suspicions as a kid:  rock music's back beat might lead to dancing; loud music will pump you full of adrenaline and make you effeminate (really!  But other evidence suggests the greater threat is opera); and worst of all, backmasking will deliver satanic messages to your brain subliminally.  Sheesh.  I don't recall a single member of my generation reacting with anything but sarcastic hilarity to those arguments.

I'm afraid all attempts to explain the evil of certain styles inevitably embarrass, but that doesn't mean there isn't a truth rattling around in there somewhere.  Could teenage rebellion be expressed adequately in plain chant, even theoretically?  Must it have, centuries ago when there wasn't a variety of stylistic choices?  Could it ever, from the point of view of a 21st century person aware of western cultural history?  The last question is an obvious no, I'd say, but what about the first?  Anyone care to argue with me about this?  I'm willing to be persuaded by those able to discuss these questions without resorting to eye-rolling.

Or did I somehow jump the tracks somewhere on this line of thought?  What was I just saying?  Darn! Another serious post, and once again I'm left with the feeling I botched it.