Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism/Music

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  • Supertramp has songs, such as "School", "The Logical Song", and "Crime Of The Century", that head straight for the cynical end and never look back. However, they have had songs like "Give a Little Bit" that are more idealistic.
  • Christmas music in general tend to be very idealistic, often to the point of tasting like diabetes.
    • Though there are exceptions, such as "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."
  • Nikki Sixx's "Life is Beautiful" says it right at the beginning: "Nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home."
  • John Lennon went to both sides quite readily. Songs like "Imagine" are extremely idealistic, while songs like "Gimme Some Truth" are very cynical.
  • Opera has run all over the scale, depending a lot on the composer and the genre:
    • With Greek mythology as the typical source material, early operas were often very cynical - at least those that weren't Bowdlerized with a tacked-on Happy Ending.
    • Mozart's operas generally fall on the more idealistic end of the scale, with The Magic Flute as the standout among his oeuvre, but even the initially-cynical Don Giovanni ends up idealistic when the titular character's Karma Houdini antics finally end with him being dragged down to hell for his misdeeds. Cosi fan tutte is an exception to the rule, falling pretty far over on the cynical end despite being a comedy. The cynical Don Alfonso is proven right at the end when Fiordiligi and Dorabella are coerced into cheating on their fiancés, and pretty much no one except him ends up happy.
    • In Italian and French opera, whether the ending is more cynical or idealistic falls pretty strictly along dramatic/comedy lines. Even mostly light-hearted dramas usually had cynical endings. A common theme was showing two young, optimistic lovers progressing through their romance and getting closer and closer to achieving domestic bliss with each other - and then Shooting the Shaggy Dog by having one of them contract a disease and drop dead (see: La Traviata, Manon, La Boheme). Another was having one person be Driven to Suicide or murder by their lover's infidelity/cruelty/general dickishness (for example, Madame Butterfly, Carmen).
    • Wagnerian opera, despite its reputation as heavy-hitting, is mostly very idealistic. Hell, Der Ring Des Nibelungen finishes with the end of the world and the Twilight Of The Gods and it still has a very idealistic ending.
    • Opera in general took a hard turn for the cynical with the 20th century. Many of the titans of modern opera - Strauss's Salome and Elektra, Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu, Britten's Peter Grimes - fall on the extreme cynical end.
  • Modest Mouse, a predominantly cynical indie band, is notable in that perhaps their only positive song, Float On, is by far their most popular and even brought them some mainstream attention.
  • Pink Floyd takes an extremely cynical view on life, exemplified by albums such as Animals and The Wall. The latter has its main character's life defined by an overprotective mother, a horrible time at school with cruel teachers, among other things.
  • While Lyrical Dissonance and relative obscurity give the Barenaked Ladies a reputation for whimsical cheerfulness and humour (and it's there), their actual songs and lyrics often, arguably more often than not, fall very much on the Cynical side. For example, their songs involving love are decidedly realistic, not to mention numerous songs about PTSD or depression and the like.
  • Devo tends toward the cynical side in their concept of "De-evolution." According to former member Bob Lewis, however, there is something of an philosophical divide between the group's two frontmen, Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale:

"Gerry [sic] continues to strive for political statement and “high-concept” art, still maintaining some modernist, or perhaps more accurately, anti-postmodernist tendencies...Mark, on the other hand, has gained recognition for essentially commercial pursuits...his fine art prints continue to reflect his introspective highly personal aesthetic, which make their statements in a “small genre” manner; Mark IS postmodern." [1]

  • The Protomen. So far on the cynical side that they almost fall off the end. Yes, while singing about Mega Man.
  • Gorillaz is known to lean on the cynical end of the scale, particularly in Feel Good Inc.
  • Leonard Cohen's "Diamonds In The Mine" is one of the most depressing songs in terms of cynicism, with the lyrics describing life as one Shoot the Shaggy Dog moment after another.
  • "Only a Lad" by Oingo Boingo lands on the cynical side of the scale as the adults blame society for the way Johnny (the "Lad" in the song") behaves, as opposed to putting him in jail for killing people and stealing their stuff.
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