On Audacity

Usually, when someone says another person is filled with audacity or that some work of art is audacious, those words are intended to cast an aspersion on the person or object of art.

Last week I had a couple of musical experiences come together at an enlightening intersection. First, I encountered a relatively “new” musical artist while listening to a local radio station. I had never heard of Brandi Carlile before, but her song, The Story, hit me like a ton of bricks. I really liked it—and here I am, an old fogey who just turned 54; Ms. Carlile must be all of 25. When I got home, I looked her up on the Internet, downloaded her first album, and collected a few songs from her new one. There was something in her voice and style I couldn’t quite place, yet it seemed oddly familiar. The Story soon became one of those songs I am compelled to listen to over and over again. The ‘Song Count’ thingie in iTunes says I’ve listened to it 34 times on my iMac. I’m sure I’ve listened to it twice as many times on my iPod, which I run through my car stereo. Hmmm? That’s about 100 cycles of The Story. You’d think The Story and Brandi Carlile would get old after a while. Well, they haven’t.

The other element passing through my recent musical intersection was a long overdue listen to Janis Joplin’s album, Pearl, from 1971, I believe it was. Now, back in the day I wasn’t a big Janis Joplin fan. I just didn’t get it when it came to her persona and her music. She was hard to figure out. Unlike most female singers at the time, she didn’t exude anything close to the feminine “ideal.” She was a bit heavy, had a double chin underneath round cheeks that highlighted her acne-filled complexion, and she sweat a lot. And her singing? That voice certainly didn’t belong under the

Soft and Pleasing category. Maybe she was ahead of her time in that she presented herself just like she was without any idealistic pretensions. There's no need for young girls to go into hazardous cycles of bulimia in order to look like Janis. But to me, way back in 1971, Janis Joplin was too raw, too out there, and, well, too audacious for my overly conservative tastes. (I'm more than a little surprised at how much I appreciate her music now!)

Ha! That’s it! That is what I now find so compelling with Brandi Carlile’s work. That's what makes it resonate with me. Somehow it just works. To my ear, her voice and style are an amalgam of Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette with a dash of k. d. lang thrown in for good measure, along with just enough Joplin-esque audacity to stir things up and keep them interesting. The element that made Janis Joplin a musical force to be reckoned with, and which makes Brandi Carlile’s music so compelling to me now, is the presence of audacity.

Audacity. Now, there’s a word. Yet, it’s one I find very positive and filled with hope. 

Huh?! 

Indeed, audacity and positive hope seemed to go together, but I couldn't say why at first. In such moments I turn to my trusty dictionary for help. Here’s the first definition of audacity: the willingness to take bold risks. To be honest, I have to acknowledge the dictionary’s second definition, too: rude or disrespectful behavior. What is positive or hopeful in that? 

Sometimes we find ourselves in a mire so thick it seems we will never get out. At other times we face challenges that appear to have no solution. All of our old approaches to problem solving don’t work. We’re stuck, we’re frustrated, and we are hurting. What do we need? Frequently we need to assume a willingness to take bold risks. Let’s face it. Some problems and challenges can be solved only by doing something new, something bold, something audacious. 

What about the rude or disrespectful bit? Whether one is rude or disrespectful is a function of other people’s perceptions. Rudeness and disrespect are words that describe the condition when an individual bumps up against the myths, taboos, and sacred cows held by others or by society. Frequently, trying to solve personal challenges using methods that fall within our old mind set, or that of those closest to us and of society, becomes part of the problem. Many times our old strategies and societal concepts of what is proper and improper flat out don’t work. So, when we take a bold risk in order to find resolution, our actions may come across as rude and disrespectful because we’re out of step with the general flow of things. Yet, if we remain true to our societal notions of what the proper path should look like--in other words, if we don't rock the boat--we may be doomed to remain stuck in our hole.

So, when all else fails, we may need to screw up our courage, slay some sacred cows, and infuse a dose of audacity into our lives.

Here's a video of Brandi Carlile I like.