Weeks 10-12
Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
ReplyDeleteIn the 60’s when folk music was highly beloved, protest songs were a form of currency and highly influential to its audience. It was a collective belief that the world should and could be changed, even implied that songs could change it.
However ‘Master’s of War’ has a class of its own, even as a protest song as “it's the elegance of the melody and the extremism of the words that attract people—the way the song does go too far, to the limits of free speech. It's a scary line to sing; you need courage to do it.” (Marcus, 2006) ‘Masters of War’ is fairly blatant in its intention as a song but as Marcus (2006) goes on to note “the lack of subtlety was perhaps the point. Even for a protest song, was shocking in 1963 and is shocking now: he calls for the death of the people he's singing about.”Bob Dylan wasn’t shy to sing this, or mean it as he is known for penning many songs in protest.
After years of not performing the song, as it was received too strongly for most of the collective consumption, on February 21 1991 at the Grammy Awards which was televised, the song was preformed once again. The show came in the middle of the first Iraqi-American War and happened to be a break from footage of the bombing in Baghdad from America.
From this point on, the song soared in popularity once more, then in 2002 George W. Bush announced his plans to launch a second Iraq war and on November 11 successfully won the midterm election forcing Bob Dylan to retaliate by playing an acoustic version of ‘Masters of War’ in Madison Square Garden.
However things changed as some students at Boulder High School in Colorado contemplated the implications; claiming that: "Bush will directly affect our generation's future," one Boulder freshman said, "and we were upset we didn't have a voice in that." (Marcus, 2006)
The students decided to perform in the school talent show and decided the name for their group: the Taliband (which was later changed to the Coalition of the Willing). ‘Masters of War’ seemed like the perfect choice and chance to voice their concerns. Despite the performance being reportedly terrible it remained as the last act. Marcus (2006) states: “and at this point, one of the kids who was doing karaoke stuff went home, and said to her mother, 'I didn't make the show, but this other band that wants to kill Bush did.'" Instead of "I hope that you die," the student had heard "Die, Bush, Die." Subsequently the mother called the local radio stations claiming “the controversy started on talk radio when the mother of a student claimed that her daughter had heard members of a band playing in the talent show say "George Bush, I hope you die, and I hope you die soon," and "I'll stand over your grave." (Mass, 2004)
The Secret Service quickly showed up at Boulder High School under the severe concerns over the claims that George Bush's life was threatened at a rehearsal for a school talent show. Consequently they retracted the lyrics to "Masters of War" and retreated, confident that Bush’s life was not in danger, to which the entire story was broadcast over the radio.
Reference:
Marcus, G. (2006). Threepenny: Marcus, Stories of a Bad Song. Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/marcus_w06.html
Mass, A. (2004). Is Bush afraid of a Bob Dylan song?. Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://socialistworker.org/2004-2/521/521_02_DylanSong.shtml
Free Speech? It is said that in the 1970's Dylan stopped believing that a song could change the world.
DeleteIn a way it did, in the sense that I imagine Bob Dylan had known it to change back in the 60's. Music has since regained its platform as a means of enjoyment of expression rather than protest, therefore losing the momentum it had to change the world. That being said it is clear that there are still songs that are made in protest but I think Bob Dylan is right and it is unlikely that they will change the world.
Delete5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
ReplyDeleteSince it is 2015 I will limit my coverage of ‘the decade’ to the beginning of 2000 until now.
Despite technology solving many problems, there are many ways of protesting, and much like Bob Dylan’s style, there is always reaching the masses through musical media. While it may not carry the total currency like it did when Dylan first started making his songs, these works still hold substantial weight and are often somewhat of a catalyst for the seek for change.
The spirit for change is far from gone, from protesting wars to politicians and their decisions, to laws and whom they apply, it seems there is no end to the list of changes that need to happen even in the last decade, and these songs highlight a few:
Rap Protest Songs (as adapted from Bein, 2013, Hope, 2014 and Charity, Diaz, & Drake, 2014):
Dead Prez – Police State (2000) is a direct agenda against the ‘policing’ that America does on its own people, which was only to grow worse just in the next year.
Eminem – White America (2002) Eminem, suing all of his Stardom called his listeners together in possibly ousting George Bush in protest against his leadership of the country.
T.I – Doin My Job (2003) protests the generic stereotype that a young boys plan is to follow a future as a criminal. He highlights that its these stereotypes that can push a person into pursuing them.
NAS – America (2008) makes a point to note the strong race inequality that is still strong in America.
Public Enemy – Bring the Noise (2009) as clear as it comes, this piece attacks the American system and the corrupt people that supposedly lead it.
Lupe Fiasco – Words I never said (2011) despite being out of school for years, Fiasco highlighted the problems still faced by schools, budget cuts, low grades and a ‘failed system’ that America has shut its young people into while taking shots at the war and president Barack Obama.
Killer Mike – Regan (2012) Killer wasn’t fond of the presidents, the least favourite happened to be Regan. This piece is a compilation of all his emotions following his view on the candidacies, particularly Regan.
ReplyDeleteOther Songs (as adapted from Hutchinson, 2011 and Ramirez, 2014):
Radiohead– Idioteque (2000) subtle as the title would suggest, this song is in protest against global warming, or more the way we are causing it to happen so quickly. Claiming they’re not “scare-mongering” Radiohead aimed to raise awareness to its listeners in an attempt to change the world.
Tom Waits – The Day After Tomorrow (2004) not unlike Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters of War’, Tom Waits used this piece to write his feelings surrounding war and the effect men have on the lives of other men.
The Gossip – Standing in the Way of Control (2006) stands against those who protest against same-sex marriage. This includes politicians who refuse to change the legislation, the churches that openly discriminate and the American homophobe.
Jarvis Cocker – Running the World (2006) was to oppose the economic system that poke at the rich peoples that suck out the life and money from the rest of the people.
Bruce Springsteen – How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? (2006) After Hurricane Katrina, American government was criticized by the slow response for aid; this was echoed by Springsteen in this piece.
Hozier – Take Me to Church (2014) was written in direct protest in the churches constant discrimination and the homophobia that is still exhibited in the sermons.
The Game — Don't Shoot (Mike Brown) (2015) much like the title suggests, this song is a tribute to the late Mike Brown who was shot by a white policeman last year. This song is to protest police brutality to highlight the strong collective belief that black lives are somehow less significant than white lives.
Other Media:
“NoH8” was a visual campaign featuring people painting the logo “NoH8” on their faces to protest against the entire “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” implemented by Bill Clinton surrounding the LBGTA movement in the military, aiming to suppress it entirely. Recently, people were reminded that this policy was still in effect and many famous people, including Taylor Swift, P!nk, Adam Lambert, David Hasselfhoff and Kirsten Stewart came out in support for the Noh8 operation aiming to abolish this policy, opting to tape their mouths shut as a sign of all the LBGTA members that had to remain silent during their campaigns. A collection of these photos can be seen here: https://www.pinterest.com/jrenedo/noh8/
Reference:
Bein, K. (2013). Lil Wayne's "God Bless Amerika" and Six Other Rap Protest Songs | Miami New Times. Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/lil-waynes-god-bless-amerika-and-six-other-rap-protest-songs-6453158
Charity, J., Diaz, A., & Drake, D. (2014). A History of Rap Songs Protesting Police Brutality | Complex. Retrieved from http://www.complex.com/music/2014/08/rap-songs-police-brutality/
Hope, C. (2014). 11 Great Hip-Hop Protest Songs | Vibe. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.vibe.com/2014/08/ferguson-protests-11-great-hip-hop-protest-songs/
Hutchinson, K. (2011). The 10 Most Powerful Protest Songs of the 21st Century – Flavorwire. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://flavorwire.com/143568/the-10-most-powerful-protest-songs-of-the-21st-century/view-all
Pinterest. (n.d.). NOH8 on Pinterest | Celebrity Portraits, Lgbt and Lady Gaga. Retrieved May 20, 2015, from https://www.pinterest.com/jrenedo/noh8/
Ramirez, R. (2014). America's 10 biggest protest songs of 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/best-protest-songs-2014/
Excellent piece of research. Rage against the machine?
DeleteReally good examples Courtney you have obviously done some significant research into protest songs that have been released over the last decade. Music and song is an expression of the artist’s feelings and beliefs, so it is inevitable that protest songs will continue to be produce. Music is a powerful when used as a tool of communication, it can pull on listener’s emotions easily which is why I think it is so popularly used as a form of protest.
DeleteThere are endless protests songs over the last decade I could list but one that I found particularly interesting is “No more weapons” released by Steel Pulse in 2004. Steel Pulse is a UK based reggae band. (50 greatest protest songs)I found this an interesting release as it signifies the presence of reggae in relations to protest music. Reggae music has been consistently used to represent protest and Steel Pulse is an example of this. Undeniably Bob Marely produced some of the best reggae protest songs ever made.
-“Get up stand up” is the best example and is considered one of the best protest songs of all time. Written by Bob Marely and Peter Tosh the lyrics were extremely political. The song was written as a reflection of the pairs upbringing in Jamaica was they battled for respect and acceptance of their Rastafarian religion. Although that was their battle, the message behind the song relates to many other individuals personal struggles and is a political stance to stand up for equality and fight for human rights.
“Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight”
Other political songs by Bob Marely:
-“Small Axe”
-“Redemption Song”
-“War (no more trouble)”
-“Revolution”
-“Real Situation”
-“Zimbabwe”
- “Them Belly Bull (but we hungry)”
-“Burnin and Lootin”
- “Chant Down Babylon”
(Romer)
“Reggae has carried a strong political presence from the outset, and Bob Marely along with Peter Tosh played an essential role in implementing and populating the political reggae genre. Although reggae is not particularly mainstream, it is still admired and listened to today. Some more recent well recognized reggae groups…
-UB40, a UK based reggae group
- Sublime
-SOJA
References:
50 greatest protest songs. (n.d.). Retrieved from music to die for: https://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/50-greatest-protest-songs/
Romer, M. (n.d.). Bob Marley's 10 best protest songs. Retrieved from about entertainment : http://worldmusic.about.com/od/genres/tp/Bob-Marleys-10-Best-Protest-Songs.htm
I certainly agree with your comments! Bob Marley was an incredible writer. He managed to strike a chord with his audience (pun intended!) that was not just as a musician, but also as a poet in his own right. He did something that many musicians find a challenge- that is, to create a balance between audience-pleasing melodies and chord progressions, and genuinely meaningful content. Great example! :)
Delete2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
ReplyDeleteBeat poetry is a form of writing and verbal expression that evolved from mid-1950s and 1960s on the West coast of New York. This ‘Beats’ form of poetry was intertwined with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance movement, such as Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan. (Poets.org, 2004) These writers strived to introduce a new type of expression through writing to challenge the current styles of conventional writing. (Wise Geek, n.d.)
Being almost musical in nature, beats poetry combined freedom of speech and individualism and actively protests the loss of faith or justice. This type of poetry was used verbally, featuring relevant and heavy themes which included sexual freedom, Native American struggles and a voice for women, and emancipation for the black peoples. This was important as society at the time was severely corrupted and suffered from strong degradation of morality and moral values, hence the heavy themes used in this style of poetry.
Later, in 1960s Bob Dylan and the Beatles became very famous using a form of this style of poetry, using it to express the awareness of ecology, the way humans harm the planet, the way women are treated and gay right activities in their music.
Rap finally made an appearance in the late 1970s and early 1980s and differed again from its predecessors as this expressions main feature came with vocals and considered to rely heavily on rhyming. The birth of Rap music came from and is constantly inspired by street fights, drugs, alcohol, liberation, body appreciation and sex. The main cause of this came from the sheer dissatisfaction of the conservative society in 1950s which strongly disillusioned society after the War, thusly leaving people to become corrupt. Therefore it is a common stereotype that people who rap live outside the law, which is simply not true. In the present day, rap has become a very popular genre of music and a very profitable industry for becoming male and female artists.
Reference List:
Poets.org. (2004). A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets | Academy of American Poets. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-beat-poets
Wise Geek. (n.d.). What Is Beat Poetry? Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-beat-poetry.htm
Some generalizations here. What is this 'form of writing and verbal expression' you are talking about? What characterizes it?
DeleteWhoops, I jumped a few steps and forgot a definition!
DeleteThe people who created these were known as 'The Beat Generation' who aimed to discuss problems such as censorship, the law and women. These 'Beats' wrote this poetry as a form of shocking verbal expression. Beat poetry is a form of poetry stemmed from protesting various ideas, much like how rap is today. However, there was no music to support as it was essentially poetry; an example of freedom of speech but with the views of being an outsider, again much like the characteristics of rap today.
Good, Courtney. In situations where you have try to explain something like this, an example or two goes a long way.
Deleteanother really good... well researched in depth post Courtney!
DeleteMy perspective is that rap is a somewhat modern version of beat poetry. They are both a free form style of expressive writing that often expresses either individualism or protest. Beat poetry was generally performed orally as with rap.
This is probably a really vague generalization but when researching beat rap one of the sources I came across states:
“Some of these poems shun conformity and promote the decriminalization of marijuana, which might have influenced the popularity of drugs among hippies. Historians hold different views about why this style of writing was dubbed beat poetry. Some claim the writers felt beaten down and tired by the consumerism and lack of societal values.” (what is beat poetry , 2015)
Ideas in which I think also relate to the rap genre?
References
what is beat poetry . (2015). Retrieved from wise geek: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-beat-poetry.htm
I agree with your statement about how "...rap is a somewhat modern version of beat poetry." I feel like people such as Ginsberg paved the way and broke the social norms that led to rap music being not only popular, but also available and allowed. Take, for example, 'Howl'. It was said that it was "obscene" (as also stated in question 4 on this entry), but I think it was just different from what had been done before. And that's what evolving arts are all about!
DeleteWhat does 'The Wasteland' mean?
ReplyDelete1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
The Wasteland by Eliot (1922) has been broken down by Levenson (1984), who discusses the orality of the text and sought to discover who is speaking.
"APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour."
- Eliots' Wasteland (1922), The burial of the dead, 1-11
In this passage mass amounts of description is dedicated to the seasons, and the actions of nature. The opinionated view in the first line gives way to the idea that there is a speaker, and repeated images are given. Lines 1 and 6 are linked by rhyme, and the idea that when a being breeds they must feed, especially the new young-lings. Line 2 and 3 are linked by the synonyms at the end. Not only that, but lilacs are something to be desired as they are beautiful, and dead things (land) is something to be remembered. By repeating the same meaning in 'mixing' and 'stirring,' it infers the two lines are merged.
"Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring"
It is the mixture of desire and memories that lead into the next passage.
"What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
-Wasteland, 1922, lines 19-30
The next passage has a style change, as it goes from 'we' to the use of 'I.' It has the style of a thought process, rather than a flowing story. These descriptions and views of the world is seen to be of multiple viewpoints especially when pronouns are used (Levenson, 1984). From lines 19-30, the speaker talks about 'I' and 'you,' whereas in contrast the first passage was 'we,' which gave a sense of unity. With unity, the thoughts are shared but the Wasteland begins to turn into a memory of a singular person.
We can assume the first passage was a unified telling of the world the speaker lives in. But whether the speaker changes and the memories are intertwined through the same world is hard to distinguish, and finding out who is speaking when is difficult.
Levenson (1984) states "The Waste Land depends on a plurality of consciousnesses, an ever-increasing series of points of view, which struggle towards an emergent unity and then continue to struggle past that unity" (p.209).
Menand (1987) addresses the the difficulty of interpretation Wasteland, by explaining that knowing what the author meant would reveal the meaning of the text. Wasteland was perhaps designed to challenge literary writing (Menand, 1987), in the sense that it has multiple viewpoints and are connected through the reader, as the reader relates to every scene/memory.
References:
Eliot, T.S. (1922) The Wasteland. London: Faber & Faber
Levenson, M. (1984). A Genealogy of Modernism: A study of English literary doctrine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Menand, L. (1987). Discovering Modernism: T.S. Eliot and His Context. Oxford University Press
I'm not sure if I answered this right but I took a crack at it. Basically I'm trying to say Wasteland is a complex text that challenges the way literary texts should be written, and somewhat challenges the reader.
I think that this is about accurate because this was the same result that I got when I was researching this topic. But it is true that Eliot's work of 'The Wasteland' was a significant work in Modernism literature. Great work! :)
DeleteThanks, everyone, for your awesome insights! I've really enjoyed reading the above comments.
ReplyDeleteI decided to head straight for the post-modernism section and answer question 2, which is, 'How is Beats Poetry linked to rap?'
First of all, I really got a lot of understanding about this connection through reading Courtney A's contributions above, particularly when she said, "Being almost musical in nature, beats poetry combined freedom of speech and individualism and actively protests the loss of faith or justice." This statement rings true. I think this statement in itself proves that there is a link or connection between beats poetry back in their time, and rap music today.
When I think of rap music as a genre, I immediately think of the acclaimed rap artist, Eminem. His real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, and he has been deemed on the internet as a "Rap God"! In fact, when you search him in Google, that is one of the very first suggestions that presents itself. He has made a name for himself by expressing meaningful circumstances and issues in the form of clever rhymes and catchy rhythms.
I would definitely argue that rap music "evolved" from Beat Poetry. Though Eminem was born in 1972- quite a time after Ginsberg was born in 1926- he does rap about issues such as war, for example in the song 'Toy Soldiers'. This subject matter may well have still been considered taboo had it not been for Ginsberg and his cohorts paving the way for its prevalence in the music industry.
Reference:
Eminem Biography. Retrieved May 31 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/eminem-9542093.
For those interested, this is a really cool recording of Allen Ginsberg reading 'Howl'! :)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkNp56UZax4
Question 5: What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest any more?
ReplyDeleteI feel that perhaps modern-day musicians and song-writers are creating songs and lyrics that protest topics of a different subject matter from Bob Dylan's time. I agree with all that has been said in entries above pertaining to this.
Now, this is just my personal opinion, but I would go so far as to say that most music that is considered "mainstream" today is about nonsense. In general, it definitely seems to me that the protest songs of this decade (starting from 2000-present) are written and produced solely by "undercover" or "alternative" bands and artists.
I came across a website that listed "The 10 Most Powerful Protest Songs of the 21st Century." Many on the list were the same as listed above by Naomi and Courtney.
The 10 songs on this list were based around protesting the following topics:
-Anti-same-sex marriage laws (The Gossip- "Standing in the Way of Control"- 2006)
-George Bush (Green Day- "Wake Me Up When September Ends"- 2004)
-The economic system (Jarvis Cocker- "Running the World"- 2006)
-Discrimination (M.I.A- "Born Free"- 2010)
-England's conflict through the ages (PJ Harvey- "The Words That Maketh the Murder"- 2011)
-Global warming (Radiohead- "Idioteque"- 2000)
-War/man's negative role (Tom Waits- "Day After Tomorrow"- 2004)
-The government response to Hurricane Katrina (Bruce Springsteen- "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?"- 2006)
-George Bush (Conor Oberst- "When the President Talks to God"- 2005)
-George Bush (Neil Young- "Let's Impeach the President"- 2006)
NB: Well, apparently George Bush was not a popular man nor President of the United States!
I sadly did not recognise a single name on the above list. That just goes to show how much airtime they had on general radio and MTV etc. It may well also show that I am not very well-versed, and that I have been sucked into the habit of enjoying and being satisfied with mainstream and meaningless music.
In summary, I believe that protest songs certainly do exist in today's world and music industry. However, I feel that they are not given due credit or attention. Our society (sadly sometimes including myself) has become conditioned to think that the only music out there worth listening to is that of Nicki Minaj or Drake or Taylor Swift- people who sing and write music about menial, trivial things that do not improve or elevate our society or the people in it. That's not to say decent and meaningful protest music does not exist- it does. It just takes more searching. I also think that perhaps, like with Bob Dylan's more influential and moving work, it may take the death of the artist or the passing of decades for these songs to be recognised. Isn't that so sad?
Let me know your thoughts- I'm very interested to hear you take! :)
References:
Hutchison, K. (January 18, 2011). The Top 10 Most Powerful Protest Songs of the 21st Century. Retrieved June 3, 2015 from http://flavorwire.com/143568/the-10-most-powerful-protest-songs-of-the-21st-century