Last Updated on Friday, 30 October 2009 14:48

I read a very interesting biography years ago.  It's an autobiography by Kerry Livgren - one of the members of the band "Kansas".  Kerry penned the song "Dust In The Wind" which is still in high rotation today on the radio and anywhere Muzak is played.

He is a deep thinker.  The songs of Kansas journal his spiritual search, where he eventually found Jesus to be the answer he was looking for.  The pre-Jesus lyrics are all about searching for that which would give meaning to life.  The post-Jesus lyrics were about how Jesus is the meaning of life.

The following is an excerpt from the book "Seeds of Change" where Kerry talks about art.  These words reflect my own feelings about my frustrations with what is often called art, but he has expressed his frustrations far more eloquently.  Which is why I'm posting his words, rather than writing my own.  The original can be read in its entirety here: http://www.numavox.com/seeds.htm

"Art" no longer represents the highest thoughts and aspirations of man. You can now walk down the main streets in America and find the pornographic theatres labeled as "Art Cinemas." "Art" no longer requires transcendent and inspired human skills to produce, and the word decadent falls hopelessly short of describing its moral status. It now includes the most repulsive sort of filth imaginable, all protected under the umbrella of free speech and artistic expression, and for society to set some standard as to what is acceptable, or to even describe a recordings' contents with a label brings cries of "Fascist censorship! Don't impose your morality on me!'' It would be interesting if the same standards that they want removed from their art were to be removed from the food they eat.

I can't help it, but something in me tells me that paint splattered on a canvas with a hose is not on a par with Rembrandt or Leonardo, rap and Thrash are not an improvement on Tchiakovsky or Debussy, and a crucifix in a jar of urine falls a little short of Michelangelo. If our art and our music are the pulse of our culture, then civilization is sliding down, and if we haven't hit bottom, how much lower can we go?