Guitars: Pop Cult Icon and Commodity

When I think of guitars, I think of singing Kumbaya around the campfire. I think of the plain wooden acoustic being pulled out of its hard case. I think of friends laughing and having a good time, because that's how it's constructed to look.

You have all of your friends sitting around in a circle, all equals. Some of them have blankets; most are bundled up. There's the fire itself. And lastly, there's the guitars.

Guitars have a lengthy history. Instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years.

Electric guitars were introduced in the 20th century and continue to have a profound influence on popular culture. "Everyone" can play a guitar. It's the preferred instrument of struggling musicians. with an acoustic, everything you need is right there with you: no plugs or wires. If you want to make your music sound more edgy or if you want to play loud enough to make glass vibrate, plug in and away you go.

It's versatility and simplicity has made it a craze in popular culture. There's a wide rang of sounds and pitches that can be produced by the instrument. You can play chords on your own. It's the only instrument you need to start a band; you don't need anything else.

Being able to play a guitar has a suture to being hip. Being able to play the guitar and write your own songs means that you must be hip. With the struggling coffeehouse, bearing-your-soul musicians popping up everywhere, who can help but be attracted to them? They're normally young, sexy guys who write touching lyrics about a girl they used to love...but left them a couple of weeks ago for their best friend (or something very similar to that).