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¶ … Bruce Cockburn, a musical performer who, according to the author, has been more successful than even many of the biggest names in modern music who shared his musical influence in gospel music. Whereas even the most successful Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll performers of the early and middle of the 20th century all started out singing Christian or at least gospel-inspired music, by the time they achieved mainstream success they invariably found themselves unable to return to their musical roots successfully. Inevitably, they found themselves faced with the dilemma of being perceived as performing out of their established genre and either lacking in sincerity or in some aspect of artistic credibility, either when they attempted to return to performing Christian music or when they did so and then attempted to return back to their most successful popular genre. Meanwhile, Cockburn manages to straddle the two worlds in much the same way that only Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin managed to do.
Article Analysis
The author presents three specific theories to explain Cockburn's success at being so versatile. First, he suggests that it is a function of the artist's "persona" but even the author acknowledges the hackneyed metaphor. Second, he suggests that Cockburn's lyrics lend themselves better to a dual appreciation. Third, he suggests that Cockburn's choice of contemporary rather than classical (i.e. biblical) themes and imagery are responsible. Those two explanations seem to make more sense than the author's first explanation. Moreover, it is largely the author's subjective opinion about how successfully other performers may have appealed to respective audiences in different genres. Ultimately, the article may do more to confirm that both beauty and artistic appreciation may be equally in the eye of the beholder than it does to establish a fundamental difference between Cockburn and some of his predecessors.
Reference
Smucker, T. "You've Never Seen Everything," Commonwealth, Vol. 131, No. 4; (2004):
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