Till (2010) recognises the importance of music "as a ritual way of understanding and dealing with complex emotions" (p. 168). However, the term sacred music to me, and many others, still conjures up memories of church sessions when I was a child listening to the congregation chant indecipherable hymns. Hymns are entrenched in the notion of restricted power and access to the holy and sacred only allowing those who understand the language or who have studied them extensively to access the real message within (Till, 2010).
Increasingly individuals are searching for their own connection and turning to music to do so. People are rejecting the set ways of connecting to the sacred that attempt to control (Till, 2010) with music styles, such as Hip Hop, arising from the need to express what groups are experiencing (Sylvan, 2002). "They are living traditions that move and flow along with or reflecting culture and history" (Till, 2010, p. 173). As such it is the actual music that shares the message and has the potential to bring about change (Sylvan, 2002).
Consider artists such as Mackelmore with his recent music hit Same Love or Pink's profound message in Dear Mr President. Whilst their popular status has not been formed upon religious grounds, they challenge ideas of sacred and profane, of right and wrong, that are culturally relevant to the current social, political and religious scene. These musical artists are challenging the notion that sacred is restricted; sacred is now determined by the audience. What speaks to you, or me, or a group of people, that which conveys a powerful message we can connect to, becomes our sacred text.
Through popular culture, people are now able to explore topics related to religion in a way that connects to them and allows them to maintain control over how they view sacred (Till, 2010).
References
Sylvan, R. 2002. Message: Rap music and hip-hop culture (Chapter 6). In Traces of the Spirit: The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music. New York & London: New York University Press. 182 - 213.
Till, R. 2010. Do you believe in rock and roll (Chapter 9). In Scrambling the Sacred and the Profane. 168 - 192. London & New York: Routledge.
Image Source
Antique Cathedral Chapel [Image]. (2010). Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/antique-building-cathedral-chapel-2896/
Video Source
Lewis, R. (2012, October 2). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0
Wilkinson, O. (2010, June 11). Pink - Dear Mr President Official Music Video [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMS9XVIa00
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