Competition

P.G. Wodehouse wrote a great short story about a sermon handicapping syndicate in his Wooster series. Bertie and Jeeves go to the country in the summer and find themselves in a quiet rural county with not much else to do. Then they discover that some of Bertie's fellow trust-funders, finding themselves in the same predicament, have set up a betting syndicate to see which of the county's clergy would preach the longest sermon on a particular Sunday. Of course, there are twists and turns with Jeeves ending up the only one coming out on top.

I haven't noticed cash being slipped between shady characters in the back of the sanctuary as I close my sermons but in today's highly competitive world I should probably keep a look out. Our society seems to feel it is obligated to rank and rate just about anything anyone does. We've gotten to the point where we simply can't enjoy something without turning it into a competition.

I feel especially sorry for musicians when it comes to rankings and ratings. I suppose some of them are trying to be the best guitarist, vocalist, etc. but I think the truly great ones are simply trying to express their art. Unfortunately, we can't just enjoy their art. We feel compelled to immediately compare it to every other artist.

I know youtube is a lousy source for research but just look at the comments sometime.(Yes, I know that most of the comments are from idiots.) You can watch Santana playing Samba Pa Ti and in the comments you will inevitably find comparisons to other guitarists. Watch a video of Bocelli and there will be someone pointing out why they think he is so much more inferior to Pavarotti or a host of other tenors. Did he really sing just to prove how good he is compared to others?

I think I would be frustrated if I were a musician like that. If people where constantly comparing me to others they would be missing the point of my music. I think that is sad. Competition has pushed us to accomplish a lot of great things. But, like with most things, there is a dark side.