One can visit museums and galleries to see paintings, but outside of the moment of view, the experience does not always stay fresh in the memory. Music illuminates our society today and has for years. It is always fresh in our minds, and a part of our every day life. In turn, because of this, music becomes part of our memories as a society. The attachment we have with music is what brings us closer to those memories.
Music is the fabric which most tightly holds together our memories of war.
The answer for the most part, is no. War music is so universal, such a cry to society at the time it is produced, that it is easily what stays with our memories the longest. The music of and about war in this century is a reflection of the times, and that is why it is one of the most effective tools in remembering war. Touching on numerous styles, from sing-alongs, to folk songs, to big band songs, to classical pieces, to pop music, to acoustic ballads, my project will encompass the feelings and issues our country dealt with at the time of those wars, and look at what it meant, why the songs were written, and how. I will also look at the actual music itself, and speculate why composers wrote the kind of melodies and lyrics they did.