I’ll always remember the day that I finally understood music. It was Sunday, November 15, 2009 at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Milwaukee, WI. My fifth Springsteen show was nothing entirely out of the ordinary—it still stretched past three hours and was 27 songs long—but as he was wrapping up the Working on a Dream tour the Boss had a few tricks up his sleeve. It started five songs in—the invitation-like first notes of “Thunder Road” began the eight-song sequence that is the Born to Run album, which he played in its entirety with the same musicians who recorded the album.

There’s something magical about listening to an album straight through. The way I see it, single songs are just snippets of an artist’s true message, which can only be fully delivered by an entire album. In today’s world of iTunes and illegal downloads, the album has lost much of its meaning. To make matters worse, many of the true pioneers of music are gone. After Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John and Bob Dylan, most have died or quit recording/performing. Yes, vinyl sales are rising, but when it comes to mainstream pop the album is hanging on by a lifeline.

Little do we realize, the music we hear on the radio today is directly influenced by the music played 40 to 50 years ago. Take Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory,” which features a lengthy saxophone solo by none other than Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons, the saxophonist best known for his role in Springsteen’s E-Street Band. Keep going and you find Madonna, without whom modern pop music wouldn’t be possible. Seems to me that my generation is in need of some education. That’s where Miami Steve fits comes in.

Last month, “Miami” Steve Van Zandt—guitarist for the E-Street Band—announced the launch of “Rock & Roll: An American Story” (RRAAS), a music curriculum for middle and high school students. The program, which is a partnership between Van Zandt’s Rock & Roll Forever Foundation and the Grammy Museum, piloted in October to rave reviews.

According to Van Zandt, the project is his effort to give back to students the artistic foundation that he discovered through 40 years in the music industry. “Our point is the opposite of the approach taken in the past, which is, ‘Take that iPod out of your ear and pay attention,’” he said. “Rather, we ask, ‘What are you listening to? Let’s trace it back and talk about it.” What forms is an immediate common ground and immediate engagement. I never had that.”

Van Zandt hits the nail on the head; the music we listen to is important, and it has a value to it. Instead of taking songs for the base level, though, the deeper investigation that his curriculum offers will lead students to the roots of the music—and the music’s parallel to other social movements.

I realize that it is unlikely that Carmel Clay Schools incorporates Van Zandt’s lessons into the music curriculum, but it is the student awareness that counts. Music, and the music industry itself, is changing rapidly, but not without consultation from its ancestry. I suggest you do the same. Next time you are at the store, pick up a classic album and listen straight through—I promise you be mesmerized. In fact, I promise that you’ll find the roots of whatever music you listen to today, regardless of the genre.

It’s like Miami Steve said, “Music still has that power—and the best is yet to come.”

Ryan Zukerman is a managing editor for the HiLite. The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach him at [email protected].