10 August 2025

Transcendence
and
Rock

The Spirit of Rock ’n’ Roll

Rock ’n’ roll is driven by a steady, yet dynamic beat—often anchored by the electric guitar—that not only gets you moving but also carries its lyrics straight to the heart and soul. Beyond rhythm, rock’s transcendental power lies in how it blends emotion, energy, and authenticity (Frith 121). Scholars of popular music argue that this combination explains why rock has functioned both as a form of personal liberation and as a cultural force (Marcus 14; Gillett 89).

In Mentor Williams’ “Drift Away”, first recorded by John Henry Kurtz in Reunion (1972) and later made famous by Dobie Gray (1973), the beat becomes a vehicle for release: freeing the soul, getting lost in the music, and ultimately drifting away—three essentials of a great rock song (Williams).

“Oh, gimme the beat boys and free my soul

I wanna get lost in the rock and roll and drift away.”

Williams suggests that when the mind is free, melody—shaped by rhythm and harmony—can stir profound emotion. In times of distress, the sound of the guitar becomes a source of comfort, its “blue” quality tying to both the blues tradition and the expressive power of blue notes (Covach and Flory 102). He expresses gratitude for the joy music brings and affirms its transcendental strength: rhythm as the driving force, rhyme as structure, and harmony as emotional depth.

“But when my mind is free

You know, melody can move me

And when I’m feelin’ blue

The guitar’s comin’ through to soothe me...

Rhythm, rhyme, and harmony

They’ve helped me along, they’re making me strong.”

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Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” (1957), later popularized by The Beatles on their 1964 album Beatles for Sale, also highlights the beat while emphasizing rock’s versatility:

“Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music

Any old way you choose it

It’s got a back beat, you can’t lose it

Any old time you use it...”

Berry’s lyric underscores rock’s timeless, transcendent quality—both flexible and enduring. As Charlie Gillett notes, Berry’s rhythmic drive symbolized “freedom through repetition,” where the back beat became rock’s universal language (Gillett 95).

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Fleetwood Mac’s “This Is the Rock”, written by Jeremy Spencer and released on their 1970 album Kiln House, adds another layer, portraying rock as something solid to hold onto—a force that makes you jump, shout, and transcend your troubles (Spencer).

“This is the rock

We’ve been talking about...

It makes you lose

All your troubles and cares

You’ll lose your blues

They ain’t going nowhere...”

By drawing on blues idioms to highlight music’s paradoxical, cathartic power, Fleetwood Mac connects with what Robert Walser calls “the ecstatic release of embodied sound,” where volume and rhythm simultaneously intensify and relieve tension (Walser 64).

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Across all three songs, harmonic cadential chord progressions deepen the music’s emotional impact, revealing how rhythm, melody, and harmony combine to make rock ’n’ roll not just a genre, but a transformative experience (Marcus 22; Covach and Flory 119). Rock music, then, becomes a mode of transcendence: a way to lose the self while finding strength through sound.

Works Cited

Berry, Chuck. Rock and Roll Music. Chess Records, 1957.
Covach, John, and Andrew Flory. What’s That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and Its History. W. W. Norton, 2018.
Fleetwood Mac. This Is the Rock. Written by Jeremy Spencer. Kiln House, Reprise Records, 1970.
Frith, Simon. Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music. Harvard University Press, 1996.
Gillett, Charlie. The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll. Da Capo Press, 1996.
Marcus, Greil. Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ’n’ Roll Music. Plume, 1975.
Walser, Robert. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Wesleyan University Press, 1993.
Williams, Mentor. Drift Away. First recorded by John Henry Kurtz on Reunion, ABC Records, 1972. Popularized by Dobie Gray, MCA Records, 1973.