All that glitters is not gold.

Take a song you like that has a video for it.

Think about the music without the suggested visuals.

Do you honestly suppose you would've liked it even if you weren't aware of the video?

These days, living in a world with easily accessible media makes most people prefer the eye-candy that accompanies a song rather than the sonic landscape itself - meant to be listened to. Not exactly seen.

Of course since the advent of the music video, we cannot deny the opportunities it created for musicians. It was an invitation to enter people's living rooms and present themselves as what they look like; specifically what they look like while moving. Concerts didn't stay true to the intended recorded versions. So MTV stepped in. All the pop stars & the rock stars joined the bandwagon (no pun intended). Then, as that one hit declared, 'Video killed the radio star'.

But the artist's looks, the antics, the fashion - are these big factors for us to appreciate the music? Are we too hungry for entertainment that we want it to be always maximized? Or are we just in touch with our literal vision that we always want everything to be associated with images? What if we're actually too lazy to separate them? Thus creating the dillema of judgment. Mediocrity concealed in sparkles. The ordinary masked as royalty. But as the old cliche goes, 'All that glitters is not gold'.

I think we are lazy. I believe we are. Otherwise, not too many stories have become comic books; not too many novels have become films; and not almost all popular songs have become music videos.

This is not to discount the beauty of visual arts. That's another subject. My point is we continue to abandon our imagination and leave it to the money-makers to feed theirs to us. So I would like you to try this: Go back & experience music the way it's supposed to be experienced - to the ears and straight to your brain (or heart, if you will).

I challenge you.


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[Image from the 1968 MGM film '2001: A Space Odyssey']