Silver City, NM- Throughout history, music has been used as a tool of worship as well as explanation. Different musical eras and the lyrics from those eras attempt to portray the happenings of the time. They also attempt to explore the feelings of the time. You see, music is meant to capture the soul; to say things that people don’t know how too. Music is important as it can be turned into a history lesson at any time, a history of feelings and sounds. In lieu of everything that is going on this year and that will happen, Western New Mexico University’s Center for Gender Equity invited Provost Jack Crocker to say a few words and sing a few songs, in the hope of taking a step to unite the community.
For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Crocker is a singer/songwriter as well as a provost for this University. He says that at one time it was dream to be a rock star, and although that hasn’t been realized yet, he has published a book of poetry and has written a few songs of his own. He shared those works with the people who went to The Center on Friday and his message was very well received.
Dr. Crocker began by explaining that music didn’t always have meaning; or at least meaning that was relevant to everyone’s situation. The first song he sang was about a man on a boat, which “is all fine and dandy if you want to go out on a boat, “ he said. Crocker explained that he grew up watching the changes in music and the changes in lyrics.
“No longer did music just say bap bee aba luba,” said Crocker, “now we have meaning behind our lyrics.” That being said, he then took us through the generations and the different influences such as rock, jazz, and even blues.
The point of the story is this; music can influence a nation. It has in the past and it will again. As lovers of music we can use this allow our voices to be heard, to spread unity, love, and prosperity. It is up to us to determine the messages we spread and what we choose to listen too. Dr. Crocker also read a poem from one of his books, he has three major works, and finished off his lovely lecture by saying “music is power, words are power, and we must use our power to make a difference.”
The Center is committed to spreading awareness and helping out the community in any way possible. They recently had a bake sale to raise awareness of social inequality.
