HOW ROCK LOST ITS PASSPORT

The Case For Rock to Return to the World.

Rock’s Lost Worldliness — and the Path to Revival

Once upon a time, the music world felt far more experimental than it does today. While many artists now seem locked in a race to produce the next wave of shock art, the results often feel hollow—a shell of what music used to be: a place for creation, innovation, and discovery.

This spirit thrived particularly from the 1950s through the 1970s. But with the rise of the mega pop star in the 1980s, we began to witness the fading presence of arrangers, session musicians, and other behind-the-scenes creatives who once helped shape a song’s soul. The decline of these contributions coincided with a loss of richness—especially in rock.

But it wasn’t always this way. Rock once dared to blend cultures, borrow boldly, and experiment fearlessly.

Cosmopolitan Rock: The Rolling Stones

One of the most surprising ambassadors of this cosmopolitan spirit was The Rolling Stones. Though often remembered more for their swagger than their global reach, their catalog reveals a deep commitment to sonic diversity.

“Mona,” inspired by Bo Diddley, uses a rumba beat and maracas. “Paint It Black” features a sitar and an Eastern melodic structure. “Sympathy for the Devil” (notwithstanding its subject matter) draws from samba rhythms, and “Gimme Shelter” subtly pulses with the beat of a Latin güiro.

Even as their experimentation with world music lessened over time, the Stones continued to dabble in fusions—rock blended with country, disco, funk, reggae, and more. Though not always compositionally complex, their soundscape was vibrant and daring. Their songs are proof that even accessible, straightforward rock can become textured and fresh with the addition of a single foreign instrument or rhythmic layer. The Rolling Stones carved out a path for worldliness in rock—one that remains underexplored.

Sometimes it only takes one: Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones suffered a tragic death early in the bands career, but did not leave the world without his mark. Just about every exotic instrument you've ever heard on a Stones record was played by Brian Jones alone. It has been said he had an unusually high IQ and could learn a new instrument in hours. In this photo he plays an Appalachian Dulcimer.

The Beatles: Depth Through Restraint

The Beatles, while often more restrained, were no less appreciative of the world’s musical languages. George Harrison’s use of the sitar in “Norwegian Wood” was groundbreaking—not only because it imported an Indian instrument into Western pop, but because it recontextualized it entirely. Here, the sitar appears not in a raga, but in a waltz-tinged folk song.

Beyond their flirtation with Indian music, the Beatles brought in classical British elements through orchestration. Tracks like “Penny Lane” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” feature horn arrangements echoing the whimsical sounds of Purcell or Edwardian music halls—sonic details deeply rooted in their cultural heritage. It’s a reminder that diversity in music doesn’t always mean going outward; sometimes it means digging inward, into the overlooked corners of one’s own cultural roots.

To this day, it's hard to find a rock group from the States that has reached so deeply into the American consciousness in the same way—something evocative of, say, Revolutionary War drummer boys or frontier ballads. But the next group came close.

George Harrison with one of the greatest musical artists of India: Ravi Shankar; Reaching out to other instruments did not just give George Harrison and the Beatles a new sound, but an entirely fresh paradigm of music, as Indian music theory is vastly different from western music theory.

The Beach Boys: An Ocean of Sound

The Beach Boys may best represent rock’s limitless potential for sonic exploration. Their sound was built on a bed of experimentation, from the early use of harps in “In My Room” to the tropical feel of Hawaiian guitars in “Help Me Rhonda.” Their tracks incorporate carnival rhythms (“California Girls”), Spanish flair (“Then I Kissed Her,” “San Miguel”), African percussion (“It’s About Time”), and even Amerindian chanting (“Cool, Cool Water”).

And then there’s Pet Sounds, a masterclass in lush, exotic arrangement. Even their harmonies stood apart. Beyond the typical thirds and fifths (which are beautiful), they explored textures pulled from barbershop quartets, doo-wop, choral music, and ethnic chants.

Not everything they did fits neatly into the modern idea of “rock,” perhaps veering closer to pop or soft rock—but the lesson stands: the possibilities for fusion are endless.

One of the greatest teams of musicians to ever grace the earth: The Wrecking Crew of LA. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys used them very often to layer his records with various otherworldly sounds. Without the wrecking crew many records would not have been created. Though it has been said that Brian Wilson was a genius, he never let his ego get in the way of collaborating with his session musicians.

What Happened?

Since the golden age of rock, the genre has drifted into a much narrower space. Once a powerful hybrid of Black and white musical traditions, open to everyone and everything, rock has become increasingly insular.

It’s not just less experimental—it’s less worldly. In rejecting its cosmopolitan potential, the genre has lost much of its original vitality. And we, as listeners and creators, are poorer for it.

The Way Forward

So what can be done?

For today’s rock musicians, the answer may lie in one of two directions:

1. Look outward — Explore sounds and instruments from cultures beyond your own. Collaborate with musicians from different traditions. Even a small contribution—just a few bars—can transform a track.

2. Look inward — Dig deep into your own cultural roots. Find the forgotten sounds of your heritage and reinterpret them in a rock context. That can be just as surprising and refreshing.

   
   

Whether through samba or sitar, horn arrangements or chanting, the rock artists of the past showed us that the genre is at its best when it's cosmopolitan. The more rock dares to step outside its comfort zone, the more likely it is to come alive again.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Wild Thing - The Troggs (Amerindian references)

2. Break On Through - The Doors (Brazilian Bossa Nova beat on drums)

3. Oye Como Va (Latin Rock, which is an entire genre but deserves to be mentioned)

4. White Room - Cream (East Asian breaks throughout the song)

5. San Franciscan Nights - The Animals (a unique BBC-like public service announcement and Eastern European guitar hook)

There are still many more examples that will baptize your ears in a kalediscope of sound, but outside the rock genre there are those examples in modernity that are adopting sounds from other worlds--- future articles on them will follow soon :)