Patsy Cline is without a doubt one of the most successful and respected female vocalists of the 20th century. Evidence of that is in her groundbreaking awards such as in 1973 becoming the first female solo artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.Also in 2002, artists and members of country music voted her as Number One on CMT’s The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. She was also ranked 46th in the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” by Rolling Stone magazine.Patsy Cline was born on September 8, 1932 in Gore Virginia. Sadly at 30 years of age and at the height of her career she was killed in a plane crash in 1963.Her first marriage was to a contractor named Gerald Cline in 1953 but it only lasted four years.Her first performance on radio was in the Jimmy McCoy show. Her increasing appearances on local radio stations and events resulted in her attracting a large following.In her early 20s Bill Peer, her manager at that time, got her signed to Four Star Records. By coincidence while at Four Star she met legendary producer Owen Bradley who worked for Decca Records. In 1960 Patsy signed on with Decca directly under the supervision of Owen. He had a reputation for working with and developing the careers of female country singers such as Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn and many more.Owen felt that Patsy had a lot of potential and with the proper guidance would achieve higher successes. He felt that her voice would lend itself better to singing pop music although she did not seem that interested in it at the time.In the mid 50s several important events happened to move her career along. In January of 1956 she made her network television debut on the Grand Ole Opry show. In the late fall of that year she auditioned for a television show broadcast in New York and she appeared on the show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.The producers of the show insisted that she sing a song that she had recorded titled “Walkin’ After Midnight”. Originally she was not keen on the song but Godfrey’s staff eventually won out. They also insisted that she not wear the cowgirl outfits that she had traditionally worn and instead wear cocktail style dresses.Viewers of Godfrey’s show were so enthralled with Patsy that radio stations got many requests to play her records.As fate would have it “Walkin’ After Midnight” reached #2 on the Country chart and #12 on the pop chart making Patsy one of the first country singers to have a crossover pop hit. The mid 50s were also memorable in that she met Charley Dick her husband. In 1958 they had a daughter named Julie and the marriage lasted for the rest of her life.The early 60s were memorable for more hits such as her first one for Decca Records, “I Fall To Pieces”. She then recorded the song “Crazy” written by Willie Nelson. She also had hits with “She’s Got You” and “Sweet Dreams.”And in 1961 she gave birth to a son named Randy.Patsy’s voice was one of the best commercial voices to ever hit the recording studios. Even though she couldn’t read music and was basically self-taught she sang with perfect pitch. When she recorded a song she pretty much ‘owned’ it. This referred to the fact that when someone heard it, because it was so unique with her tone and phrasing that it would always be associated with her no matter how many other people recorded it.Patsy was highly respected for her singing voice but even more so as a kind-hearted, good person who would help anyone in need. Honky Tonk pianist Del Wood said she would give anyone the skirt of her backside if they needed it. Loretta Lynn and Dottie West said that Cline always gave of herself to friends such as buying groceries and furniture for them when they were having difficulty making ends meet and even taking them on the road with her as wardrobe assistants. On occasion she would even pay a singer’s rent for a time, enabling them to stay in Nashville and continue to pursue their dreams.Another story of her goodness is when she was involved in a horrific car crash accident where she was thrown into the windshield nearly killing her. Upon arriving at the scene Dottie West picked pieces of glass from Patsy’s hair and went with her in the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital Patsy insisted that the driver of the other vehicle be treated first.And so, not only was she a singers’ singer but a kind woman who did so much for others.She truly deserves legendary status for her singing the Patsy Cline sound that was so evident in her recordings.

This is a subject I find difficult to put into proper words. Let me first say, I am not trying to tell you what to view on TV, listen to on the radio, or value. That is a choice that should be left up to each person as an individual. My contention is that it is a solid goal in mental health to fill your mind with material that helps you to grow as a human being. We are over saturated with views, agendas, and advertisements from people and organizations that have nothing but their self interest in mind. With that said, it is most important to find sources of information and entertainment that match our values and likes. I do not write this from any political partisanship as that is a major source of our cultural anxiety. That is to say, those with an agenda cause much of our divide and have driven our cultural paranoia.So what does one do? Can you just turn your head and pretend there are not events in the world that are important? No, tuning out completely is not the answer. Well, do you just quit watching TV shows and shut off the radio? Do you stop looking at the internet? No, that is really not a possibility for most in today’s age. What I am suggesting is that you monitor what you let your mind ingest. Watch the shows that you believe bring entertainment to you that fit your values. That can be a gray area for sure. It is a personal choice, but remember that it is a choice. Why would you watch something that causes you needless anxiety? An example of this is someone who watched continuous coverage of the 9/11 attacks. There was an obvious reason to see what was going on. For some it was highly personal. What I am talking about is the few who got so caught up in the coverage of it all that it controlled their life. I have met people who watched this coverage for weeks and months on end. I ask what purpose does that serve? Do you think someone who fell into this trap lived a life of purpose or added anything of value to their life? I highly doubt it added any substance to their life. I also think those media stations that ran this like some kind of world wide, dramatic soap opera are at best deplorable.With most media stations running the same ‘news’ and with the same advertisers paying them to run it, what can we do? Well, first you need to find a news station that you feel have integrity. Lets face it, news is a business, so you really have to realize most news is going to have some stories that are strictly on TV to sell advertisements. That is just the way the world works. The key is to find news that you believe has integrity. I can’t say that enough. It may take a search to find this. It may be on TV or the radio or you may have to find it online. The goal is to search it out.There is one aspect I would like to touch on. I am not just advocating that you only find media you agree with. I am saying find media that you can watch and believe. We all have our own views and slants. That is all well and good. I am trying to convey that you must find media that matches your values. I can watch PBS or FOX if I trust the person talking to me. Either one of the stations may not be telling me what I like, but if I trust the person speaking, it fits my values. A value isn’t an opinion or view. A value is a core trait. A small list of values would be.1. Honesty
2. Integrity
3. courage
4. tact
5. Compassion
6. Humor (Some say this is not a value. I disagree)
7. KnowledgeThe list could go on and on and that leads me to the heart of all of this. KNOW WHAT YOU VALUE. Make a top ten list of you values and describe, in detail, what each value means and why it is important to you. As you create this list, you will start to notice there are allot of ‘poisons’ you allow in your mind that do not fit your values. That is the start of the process. Now you are free to clear your thoughts and start living with less anxiety and fear. You will feel those fears melt away as you filter out needless information that serves no purpose. I think we can all agree, the sources of mind pollution are endless in today’s age.So we have talked a bit about news media and we have come to the conclusion that we must be opened minded to hear different opinions and views, but we must make sure that those views are coming from someone who shares our values. That is a great start. The other part of that I hope you gleaned onto is not to obsess over any story for too long. It serves no purpose, but to drain you from your purpose and joy. We can hear information and use our critical thinking to determine if it is worth thinking about. Always try to have a purpose for pondering a news story. If for knowledge, great. If for action, even better. The news should be there to inform you. The news shouldn’t be there to entertain you nor tell you what to think. You control your mind. If a story sways your beliefs on a given issue after some critical thought, then you are learning how to manage your thoughts well and this will help you control your emotions as well.So what about entertainment? Should we only watch things that have value? Yes, but let me clarify that. I value humor as much as most other values. So watching a comedy fulfills that need. It is up to me what I think is funny. There are things I will not watch even if they are funny to me. This is a decision I make and it is my choice. If a movie crosses the line too sharply on things I value, I will not watch it. There is no need to sell out my values for a laugh. I find other options. For you, maybe you deplore violence, but love horror films. People may say ‘That makes no sense. How can you hate violence, but love those films’. First off, it is your choice. You need not explain to anyone why you like a certain genre of entertainment. Second, many people face fears by watching these films. Many horror movies match up with people’s core values much more than a romantic comedy that lacks any real message. Some horror movies have the revenge motive. Most viewers are aware enough to know this is fiction and it is entertaining to see the bully ‘get it’ in the end. If a movie entertains you in a way that brings laughter or brings a sense of adventure to your life, that is a value.Let me touch on something I hold very dear. That is music. Most people today would agree music is not what it was and is not what it could be. Are people less talented today than in the days of Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd? I would say no. The same people that sell news as pure entertainment and or eye candy have corrupted music and that is a shame. Thank God for the advent of Youtube and internet music. My suggestion to you young and old is to search out various forms of music and artists and see what music brings value to you. There is no right or wrong in this. This is an exercise that is fun. Music feeds our soul. It very often bypasses the brain and goes right to our heart. That is a double edged sword. It is both wonderful in some cases and poisonous in others. I would offer that you listen to a song with an open mind and after you hear it once or twice, really dig into the song and see if it offers you any value whatsoever. Just like your food diet, your music diet can offer either health of disease. That may be a bit exaggerated, but I think you know what I mean. If a song is just a fun sort of thing it can still be important. Entertainment is an important facet of life. Music can feed our emotions like nothing else. Be the master of your emotions and use music how you want. I listen to Heavy Metal when I go lift weights, but I listen to Pink Floyd when I am relaxing on a Friday night with a few drinks. I used to jam Rap when I was training for a boxing match and drive home listening to Bach or Mozart to calm my nerves. The point is, I controlled what went in my ears and used it for whatever endeavor I faced. Try it sometime. You will like the results. Control what you listen to.I would also encourage all readers here to pick up a book and start reading. Find something that sparks your interest and go at it. There is nothing that can inform, entertain, or help us become a person of knowledge like a book. Read about the author and make sure the book will offer you value. Just like any other form of media, understand that you may disagree with the authors point. That is not a bad thing as long as the book makes you think. Often times we learn who we are and what we value by disagreeing with someone else’s opinion. As long as the book has value to you, it is well worth the read.Guarding you mind from things that offer no value is a workout. It takes time, but after a few weeks, you will notice you feel less anxious, more informed, and less fearful about the future. It is impossible to shield our mind from everything, but as we learn to pick and chose carefully, we can control what we meditate on. We learn to flush out what is garbage and maintain that which makes us think, grow, and care for others. Give it a shot. Give yourself the control over your mind and see how quickly your personal well being will follow suit.

Like most industrial operations, the business of creating and selling music is consumer-driven. That is to say, if music buyers want to have their cake and eat it too, music sellers must be able to whip up one mean Red Velvet in order to compete effectively. Faced with a diverse clientele, individuals tasked with marketing and selling music have to meet an array of demands that encompass all sorts of musical preferences. So, for instance, if demographic trends suggest that teenage girls respond more favorably to feel-good dance music (for lack of a more stereotypical example), it is up to marketing gurus to introduce them to what would surely be the next Katy Perry or One Direction radio hit.Music consumers, depending on factors such as age, socioeconomic standing and gender, crave countless varieties of songs; however, if there is a certain musical species that has, over the years, become endangered due to waning consumer interest, it is that of protest music-the genre-less musical domain that, more or less, pushes for social change through political advocacy. Protest music has left an indelible mark in the annals of music history courtesy of rebellious songs such as Bob Dylan’s “The Times are Changing, Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Unfortunately, over the past decade, such music has increasingly been passed over in favor of more lighthearted tunes-a phenomenon that has sparked the curiosity of many music critics, myself included. There are many theories in circulation as to why music consumers are demanding less political inspiration from their favorite artists, most of which posit an overall decrease in political awareness on the part of younger generations. But, before getting to the meat of such theories, it would be best to revisit the past as a way of getting a better understanding of the extent to which protest music-a melodic medium that once captured the essence of living in an imperfect world-has been reduced to nothing more than an antiquated form of expression.WWII, Vietnam, Apartheid and Other Reasons to Condemn the EstablishmentThe WWII era would mark the emergence of protest music in America. As growing pro-communist sentiments began to transform the political landscape of the mid 40s, musicians such as Woody Guthrie would further such transformation by composing politically-driven folk songs such as “This Land is Your Land”- a popular oldie whose vague lyrics often mask the anti-private ownership message that underlies it. As Guthrie and fellow folklorists, including renowned artists Alan Lomax and Lead Belly, popularized protest folk music in the 40s, artists such as Bob Dylan would take the sub-genre to new heights in the 60s. In 1964, Dylan released what many critics consider to be the quintessential protest song: “The Times They Are-a Changing.” The song, as the title suggests, serves as an admonition against rejecting the social change that transpired during the Civil Rights Movement. And if Dylan redefined protest music in the 60s, Marvin Gaye would rejuvenate the very essence of the genre in the early 70s. Released in 1971 and widely regarded as Gaye’s magnum opus, “What’s Going On” can be aptly described as a mellifluous commentary on not just the Vietnam War era, but much of the political and social turmoil that plagued an early 70s America.By the 80s, the domain of protest music had transformed into a vast musical empire whose boundaries encompassed a variety of musical genres, from heartland rock, as Bruce Springsteen’s “War” would suggest, to reggae, as evidenced by Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” As the late 80s/early 90s arrived, the protest music empire would expand to even greater proportions with the emergence of politically-driven rap. As legendary icons such as Public Enemy reproached police brutality and institutionalized racism with heated rhythmic rhetoric, most notably “Fight the Power,” protest music would begin to exude a certain grittiness the likes of which had previously been a rarity in music. Such grittiness would become all the more common in protest music when Tupac Shakur would steal the hip-hop limelight in the late 90s with the release of unforgettable hits such as “Changes.” As the 90s culminated in mainstream radio subsuming protest music, the 20th century would forever stand as a testament to the latent popularity of exercising free speech through songs.As previously mentioned, politics has had an everlasting impact on the art of music; however, if there is one major difference between the protest music of today and that of the 20th century, it is that the latter gained the admiration, approval and acceptance of an increasing number of music consumers. The former, however, since the arrival of the 21st century, has played a diminishing role in the mainstream media. Such phenomenon has struck the curiosity of many critics, including renowned songwriter Billy Bragg who condemned contemporary music for its political naivety. “Look at what’s happening in the world: the credit crunch; our young people getting maimed in a war that nobody knows how to resolve,” opined Bragg in an interview with The Guardian. “When I was first plying my trade, people were willing to talk about these issues. Now they’d rather write about getting blasted than changing the world,” he added. Bragg’s sentiments are shared by many fans of protest music: The truth is protest music no longer appeals to music consumers as it once did.But why? For one, it would not be implausible for one to argue that there is a positive correlation between political awareness and liking for protest music. And considering the fact that the younger generation, which makes up a considerable portion of music consumers, is not as well-informed as previous generations, it also would not be implausible for one to theorize that an overall decline in political awareness among music buyers has contributed to the fall of protest music. In the book Young People and Social Change, author Andy Furlong argues, “The trend towards less engagement in politics among the young appears to signal a generational change,” adding, “Any decline in political participation among the current generation of young people has to be set against what was perhaps a relatively high level of involvement among the ‘baby-boomers’ generation who were particularly active in youth counter-cultures.” To the theorist, it is the younger generation’s lack of political interest that has contributed to the fall of protest music. But to the politically-attuned music listener, there is one truth and one truth only: Protest music is slowly sinking into oblivion… and unless we, music consumers, demand it, music may never again serve as medium through which one can push for a righteous cause while bringing out your inner dancer.