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By Don
Sill
Some 2 ½ million years ago primitive man roamed the Earth and
scoured the land in search for food and shelter. By depending of
their instincs early man survived century upon century by living off the
land. Primitive man hunted for his food, formed tribes and battled
enemies. With no laws and no society man was completely savge, to
survive you had to be strong, fierce and powerful earning respect
through battle and impressing the tribe with dominant hunting skills. It
was with their animalistic ways, territorial nature and an aggressive
personality that the primitive man would reign supreme.
Without police, courts, lawyers, or any form of authority man was able
to live happily on the open world and would ultimately stand the test of
time.
Well, here we are 2 ½ million years later, primitive man is long
evolved into modern man and the earth is hugely over-populated and
consumed with shopping malls, video stores and fast food restaurants.
"Man has lived on this planet for million of years, but we only consider
history the last 10 thousand. Does that make sense to you?" asks System
of a Downs, Serj Tankian about the evolution of man, "Man has lived on
this planet without ruining the environment for millions of years and we
call this civilization?" Our so-called civilized world may be a far cry
from the days before history, but our primitive nature still sneaks
through every now and again.
The rock musician may very well be the last of the savage breed of
human, refusing to conform to modern day techniques by allowing their
instinctive nature to override right from wrong and refusing to adapt to
rules or laws. They are excessive, untamed brutes that also seem to rely
heavily on their instinctive nature and animalistic ways. "Primitive is
just one word that I thought fit what I knew.. It's like, it's raw, it's
in your face, it's from the heart, so it's kinda like a little bit what
my music's all about." Says Soulfly's Max Cavalera.
These testosterone-enhanced rockers have the tendency to go back to the
primal instinctive nature of man. Primitive rage, savage behavior and
ferociousness through lack of restraints gives way for their archaic and
unevolved personas to shine through in their music. Their music is
filled with pounding, repetitve beats that reek with adrenaline and fast
paced rhythms that pulstae through the soul.
Their aggressive barks growl with rage and aggression and encourage the
same to the rest of their tribe. Their music is that of a war cry,
battling against society's standards and laws and thus bringing back the
uncivilized ways of the cave man. "The meaning is more about the music."
Says Cavalera, "Like, why do we make music in the first place? It wasn't
because of the politics, it wasn't because of the fashion, it wasn't
because of the competition. It was because we just love music.. We love
to play, we love to share with the people, and to me, that's what
'primitive' means. In a way it's saying f--k the society that's trying
to take that away from us.. Lets get back to the reason why I decided to
make music in the first place, let's get back to the fun of it and to
what music is all about."
The rock audience is equally receptive with much of the same behavior
patterns. Consisting mostly of young men who battle in pits with a test
of endurance and strength, which seeks out the fittest by using social
Darwinist techniques. The mosh pit takes us right into natural
selection, survival of the fittest, by weeding out the weakest in a true
challenge of bravery and physical prowess that dates back to the stone
age.
War paint, tattoos and piercing are also prehistoric forms of expression
and signs of the warrior. It is as though man's primitive instincts are
still very keen and although most of us resist our bestial tendencies it
is the rock fan and rock star who embrace their instinctive
undomesticated nature openly and take it in as a counter-culture of
sorts.
So, why is there a connection between rockers and primitive man? "Hmmm,
we are all dirty," answers Mark Hunter, lead vocalist of Chimaira. Looks
and smells aside it is much deeper than that. Rock music provides an
outlet for our ancestral personas to surface and release from our souls.
Banging our heads, pushing and shoving, jumping and fighting are all
instinctive reactions for rock music as well as for prehistoric battle.
It puts us in touch with our true selves, not the watered down version
that has been sent through societies sifter, but our true personalities
shine through with the aid of aggressive music.
Many would want to bring back the days before suits had all the power
and before social classes were formed and before 9-5 jobs and before
coporate takeovers and before stock market crashes and before this
so-called civilized world became civilized. Many would choose to go back
to the primitive and live happily on the open terrain and live competely
savage lives and then they too could stand the test of timeâ?¦
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