Music Serves as a Societal Role - Exploring Music that Impact Society and Inspires Change in Politics

Thesis

Music inspires change and influences political stance in a variety of different ways.

Exploring Music

"This Land is your Land" By Woody Guthrie (1944)

This song is very world renowned song that most populations know this song or has heard of this song. It's considered to be an American Folk Song. It was written by Woody Guthrie as a stance on The United States regarding onwership on land and questions the notion of owning property. This song was originally called "God Blessed America for me" and would end with that verse instead of "This Land is Made for You and Me".

The song has a very strong impact with people who have a strong political stance for America and some just know the song as a catchy tune. People sing it at campfires or during Fourth of July Events since it is a strong political song about America. This song is originally played with a guitar and has a catchy tune through the song. The Melody to it is not super fast but enough to hear the lyric of the song. The Structure of the song has a catchy rhyme scheme that easily flows with the song that makes it easier to remember. 

 "Mississippi Goddam" By Nina Simone (1964)

This song was a big hit and it also destroyed the artist career. This song was a protest song from all the people that died from segregation and civil rights protest. Nina Simone wrote this song for them and specifically addressed it. The Artist decided to write and perform this song since she wasn't a physical fighter she was an Artist. This was written"in the wake of the murder of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Birmingham, Alabama." This song influenced and showed to a lot of people that even musical Artist would take a stance on the civil rights protest even if it was a risky thing to do at the time. Nina Simone was blackballed after this but continued to make music protesting against segregation.

The Structure of the song is not meant to fully flow with each word, it's made to tell a story of how anger she is. This song does has a fast tempo but I think it was done for the instruments to sound very beautiful like it's a pretty song but the lyrics show the true story of the music. The Dynamic of the song is soft and then loud when she goes back to the verse 'Mississippi Goddam' brings the attention and shows the emotion she is feeling towards that state more than the others. 

 

'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)

This song is also a political song that was fighting against the Draft that happen in the 60s for the Vietnam war. The song was written by Creedence Clearwater Revivals and performed by them, it is a very well known song. The reason for the title was because former President Nixon daughter was getting married to Former President Eisenhower son. The 'son' of Eisenhower was fortunate enough not have to go to War and was called upon but every man that was called for the war had to go. The band itself was very angry about this, and when they found out about this, it took Fogerty (member of the band) 20 minutes to write his anger out into this most infamous song.

This Lyrics of this song does express how the men that get drafted into war are not the fortunate ones like the son of Former President Eisenhower. The song genre is rock so it does sound very good and has a chaotic message to it but also a clear audience as well. Many Military folks do listen to the song and remember this moment in history that many people were not exempt from going to war and did end up dying in war.

The Tempo is not super fast but it has a catchy tune with it. It also has really cool melody that does repeat itself throughout the song as it goes into the guitar solo. I think this song was very bold and expressive very well the anger in the song and the emotional impact it has. 

'This is America" by Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino)

This song was released on May 6, 2018. This song is not really known to be a protest song but is known to send a message of how America really is. This video portrays many meanings, in the beginning of the music video Donald Glover shoots a man in the back of the head. It depicts the Jim Crow Caricature. The lyrics states, 'Don't catch you slippin up' which would sends a reminder of the dangers that Black American face daily in the Modern Era. There are so much more in this video then meats the eyes and it really does great with symbolical meanings. The video is very raw and can be a lot for the audience but that is the message, it's not trying to glamor the ugliness that happens daily.

The Elements in this song starts with the Dynamics, of how much this song changes its rhythm by either gunfire shot or by the pause in music from the musical video. The pause in music emphasizes the video more and the lyrics each time there is a pause in change of emotions. 

The Societal Role

When people think about Political Stance on music it's really a variety of different things. There are music about Politics and also about wanting change or taking a stance on music. There are songs written about Black power, and about the women suffrage, or about the Wars that happened in history. There are other songs about how America is amazing and the freedom that comes with it. There are many different stands against or with Politics and many people get inspired by this. Many people listen to the music that tells a story that can be super empowering and to their target audience to have people motivated on what their political stance is.

My Experience in the Class

I never had a class like this before with utilizing blogging. I think this tool really helped with getting into blogging and being able to share different ideas and public for everyone to see. I do think I learned a lot with music and the variety of music there is out there. I feel my music taste has widen and I got into many different types of genres that I was not expecting to enjoy. I also believe this was a great way to bring the class together to see how different each and everyone is with their taste in music. 

References

Team, uDiscover. (2023, May 1). Best protest songs in history: 20 timeless political anthems. uDiscover Music. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-protest-songs-history/

Fields, L. (2023, June 30). The story behind Nina Simone’s protest song, “mississippi goddam.” PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-nina-simones-protest-song-mississippi-goddam/16651/

Subscribe to the Financial Times. (n.d.). https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/fortunate-son.html

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, March 16). This is America (song). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_America_(song)

This is America: A deep dive into childish Gambino’s political anthem. Neon Music - Digital Music Discovery & Showcase Platform. (n.d.). https://neonmusic.co.uk/this-is-america-a-deep-dive-into-childish-gambinos-political-anthem/

 

Music and the Fictive Dream - The Film Anastasia, Song 'Once Upon a December'

The Film Anastasia

This film was released on November 14th 1997. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

This is an American Animated Film Musical Historical Fantasy Adventure Comedy-Drama. It's a 94 minute long movie that captures the truth of yourself, and searching for love, and purpose in life. It was Produced and Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The Film is about the evil wizard known as Rasputin who puts a hex on the royal Ramanovs and Young Anastasia to start the Russian Revolution. The young Anastasia disappears when their palace is overrun. Years late, the Grand Duchess offers a reward for Anastasia's return. Two Russians that are known for scheming plan to pawn off a person that looks like the former princess, holding auditions to find a girl that looks like her, they find Anya. They bring Anya to Paris for the reward, not knowing she is the Real Missing Anastasia. This film has a many messages through out the movie about finding a home, searching for a purpose and learning about love and about yourself. 

Song 'Once Upon a December' 

This song was produced by Lynn Ahrens, David Newman and Stephen Flaherty. In the Film the song was sung by Liz Callaway. The song was released before the film was released on October 28, 1997. It was recorded a year prior. It is a 2 minute and 48 second song that is known to be sung as a lullaby. This song is very beautiful and it does capture the entire plot of the film very well. 

Dancing Bears
Painted Wings
Things I almost remember.
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December.

Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully across my memory.

Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully across my memory.

Far away,
Long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember,
Things my heart
Used to know
Things it yearns to remember
And a song someone sings

Once upon a December

Opinion

Throughout the Film Anastasia known as Anya in the movie and she is humming this song that she sang by her caretaker her Grandmother known as the Grand Duchess. The lyrics of the song explains she doesn't remember but she can recall the warmth and safety that she felt and can recall some memories of people dancing. In the Film that's all she can recall are the balls that she went to with her grandmother because it was her favorite time. I do love the song itself and the melody of it, it feels elegant and has such a soft tune that it feels like your dancing. I think the different instruments really brings the song together as well to make such a beautiful Harmony. 

References

“Anastasia (1997 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Apr. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_(1997_film).

“Once upon a December.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Mar. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_December.

“Liz Callaway – Once upon a December.” Genius, genius.com/Liz-callaway-once-upon-a-december-lyrics. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

ROLE OF THE PERFORMER - LINDSEY STIRLING

 

Basic Information

• Composer: Lindsey Stirling 
• Born: Santa Ana, California
• Date of Birth: September 21, 1986

Musical Journey

                Lindsey Stirling is a violinist, dancer and composer based in Utah. Her focused genres are hip hop, electronic, classical and dubstep. She started on youtube in 2007 and then continued to blow up on her channel with millions of views. She does many cover songs of classical music and orchestra compose music as well. She went on 'America's Got Talent' in 2010, "at the age of 23, Stirling was a quarter-finalist on season five of America's Got Talent, where she was described as a hip hop violinist. She impressed the judges not only by mixing hip-hop, pop, and classical music on the violin, but by incorporating dancing with playing the violin, which she also does on her tours and official music videos." 

                    She started to go on tour from 2012-2013. She has been going on tour ever since. She has won many awards and was nominated for 'Top Dance/Electronic Album. She continues to release albums and does make really cool music videos as well. Below is her website if you would like to check out what she has on there with tickets and touring and some more information about her life.

Lindsey Stirling Website

Purpose

                   I believe the purpose of this Artist music is to provide insight on how beautiful focusing on not just performing one talent but multitude at once and be able to make classical music modern. I think Lindsey Stirling is very talented Artist that tries to shed light to other beautiful composers music that gives a modern touch with also an insight on how beautiful it sounds with a string instrument. 

Opinions

                  I learned about Lindsey Stirling when she first performed on America's Got Talent and I was so impressed on how she made classical music sound so modern and beautiful. Her talent for the violin is very expressive and I just love the music she plays to the melody, and harmony of the violin. She dances as she performs which I can't comprehend how talent she is to do that with a violin. She is able to stabilize herself with the music as well as dance and sing too. Her pitch on the music instrument is very good and her voice is also an instrument that she does well as she performs. 

                

                She is a very talented artist that I do enjoy listening to. I listen to her music when I am reading as my background music to the story. I would love to watch her perform and hopefully will. I did hear a rumor, by someone up in UAF decision board that Lindsey Stirling was suppose to be the original Artist of last year to Perform for the 2023 Spring-fest Concert that happens at the Student Recreation Center each year. I was devastated she was not the performer and I wish she was because I would have loved to have seen her perform. This could be false information but I had my hopes very high for her to perform. Disclaimer the videos I added below can be a corny music videos but the song is definitely worth listening to. I also only added music that she is performing but she does have music where she does sing and it's equally as beautiful as her performing with the violin.

Videos

                    Below I added one of my personal favorite videos of her doing the Phantom of the Opera cover. I absolutely love this video and I love her performance in it. She does capture the aesthetic in the music video very good and I think it definitely is a different type of style of music for how classical the cover is. 

                Another song that I love and I do listen to a lot on my free time is is 'Transcendence.' Her music, the song she performs takes you to another world, a world where the music dances and sounds elegant and beautiful. This is what that song does to me, takes me to a different place.

The last song that I will be adding on my blog is another one of my favorites that she performs very beautifully is 'Halleluja.' She does this cover song very well and I think it's so beautiful on the violin. 

References

                    “Lindsey Stirling.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Apr. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Stirling#Filmography. Accessed 06 Apr. 2024.
                   

                     “Lindsey Stirling.” Vogue, thevogue.com/artists/lindsey-stirling/. Accessed 06 Apr. 2024.

Music de Cuba

 

The Music History de Cuba

            Music is very influential, and inspirational when being influenced by other people around the globe. According to Cuban Music History Article, "The roots of most Cuban musical forms lie in the cabildos, a form of social club among African slaves brought to the island." Cuban Music was brought by Spain since people from Spain came to Cuba as well did African Americans, so their music is definitely inspired by West African music and music from Spain. According to Wikipedia, "Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban music is often considered one of the richest and most influential regional music in the world. For instance, the 'son Cubano' merges an adapted Spanish guitar (tres), melody, harmony, and lyrical traditions with Afro-Cuban percussion and rhythms. Almost nothing remains of the original native traditions, since the native population was exterminated in the 16th century." It is very interesting to see that Cuban Music is considered to be original for how much it still gets played and influence in music in today's age.

Guajiras Cubana

            According to Guajiras Music de Cuba, "Guajira is a music genre derived from the Punto Cubano.' Punto Cubano is known from Spain and the influential aspect had to do with Spain influencing cuban music with Guajira. According to the Cuban Music History Article, "The original guajira was earthy, strident rural acoustic music, possibly related to Puerto Rican jibaro. It appeared in the early 20th century, and is led by a 12-string guitar called a tres (3), known for a distinctive tuning." Guajiras is a genre that uses a mixture of rhythms like 6/8 and 3/4 rhythms, it is known to be the Country music of Cuba. 

            Down below is an attached song that I still listen to this day and is very famous in the cuban culture. According to Wikipedia, Song Guantanamera "Spanish for 'The woman from Guantánamo') is a Cuban patriotic song, which uses a poem by the Cuban poet José Martí for the lyrics. The official writing credits have been given to Joseíto Fernández, who first popularized the song on radio as early as 1929 (although it is unclear when the first release as a record occurred)."

Guajiras Guantanamera

Changui Cuba

            The second genre I picked is Changui because I remember a lot of this music in my childhood. I actually had a Changui Band come to my Birthday Party when I was a little girl. Changui is another form of a different genre called 'son' but it's much faster pace, and emphasizes on the beat. Changui uses more instruments in their songs to incorporate a faster beat. 

Changui

Café Cubano

'Son' de Cuba

According to the Cuban Music History Article, "Son is a major genre of Cuban music, and has helped lay the foundation for most of what came after. It arose in the eastern part of the island, among Spanish-descended farmers, and is thought to have been derived from changui, which also merged the Spanish guitar and African rhythms and to which son is closely related." Son connects to a lot of the Cuban Genres but it's influenced mostly by people that came from Africa.  Wikipedia states 'Son cubano is a genre of music and dance that originated in the highlands of eastern Cuba during the late 19th century. It is a syncretic genre that blends elements of Spanish and African origin. Among its fundamental Hispanic components are the vocal style, lyrical metre and the primacy of the tres, derived from the Spanish guitar."

Son de Cuba

Opinions

            Cuban music has been in my life since I was born. I have defintely been influenced by this music and I love this type of music. The romantic music that flows and also soothes as you dance. I love the instruments that it brings to the music. I enjoy the music a lot and it's really into the cuban culture to have this music play now. There are many authentic cuban restaurants that play old genres like Changui, Guajiras, and Son. I do believe that Son genre really is the formation of all the other genres because it has a mixture of each genre combined into one. I remember my step-dad went to Miami, Fl to visit my family and he did not know there were African folk that speak fluent spanish. I had to explain to him the migration of slaves that came to Cuba that made a huge impact on Cuba as well as surrounding islands and Miami being the central city of hispanics/latinos. They impacted Cuba a lot and in the most amazing ways because our music is shared through out regions and through out people to enjoy.

References

“Guajira (Music).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guajira_(music).

“Guantanamera.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Mar. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamera.

“Music of Cuba.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Mar. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Cuba.

Boogalu. “Cuban Music History.” Hosted In Havana, www.hostedhavana.com/resources/cuban-music-history. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

“Son Cubano.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Dec. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_cubano.

Innovation and Evolution of the Flute

Flute

Fundamental Information

            Above is a photo to show a better example of what the Keys and Body looks like of a Flute. There is a neck piece, the body and the foot joint. Those sections do come apart when putting it back into the case or the areas to clean it. Usually when purchasing a flute it comes with a rod to clean it. The body has 7 keys but it does vary on what kind of instrument because there are specific flutes that could have more. The joint has 2 keys which all together is 9 but some have 12 keys. The left hand will fall along the A, B G and G# key, the right hand falls onto the F, E, D, and F# key. A musician that plays the flute is called a flautist or a flutist. 

Brief History of the Flute

        According to the Article of History of the Flute, 'The flute is the oldest woodwind instrument, dating to 900 B.C. or earlier. The first likely flute was called the "ch-ie" and emerged in China.' Above is a photo that shows how different the flute became about, it changed and transitioned. There are different forms of the flute now like piccolo or curved head flutes. The flute does fall under woodwind family, regardless if it's wood or not. Earlier in time the flutes were played like a recorder and then it transitioned to playing it horizontally. According to Wikipedia, 'Flutes have been made of metal, wood, glass, plastic, bone, bamboo, reed, and nephrite.' Below is a photo of a flute that's called open holes. The keys have an open hole on it, these would be considered more advance compared to a closed holes. The Flautist have to be careful with their fingers making sure they are closing all the keys. 

                                            

Music

        According to an Article 'Rajesh Cherthala is one of the top ranking Indian flutists of the South Indian music tradition and an outstanding Western music instrumentalist. He is a well known figure in the professional music industry.' He plays the Punam flute which is also considered a flute but it's made of bamboo and it's more of the original flutes that were made prior to the modern flute now. Below is a link to here Rajesh Cherthala music, he has completed playing in over 300 films and has made over 1000 musics compositions to his credit. 

Rajesh Cherthala Punma Flute

Opinion

        I love flute, I have mentioned it before in my previous blog post but I love the flute because it was an instrument that soothes and it is very pretty in music. I also love that in modern time many flautist like to explore to do covers specifically in one instrument. Below are links that I found on youtube of this Flautist who does covers of music that sound very nice with the flute covering the melody. I remember being in the band and remembering that when one specific instrument not being there doesn't sound as good from playing 

Melissa - Shallow

Melissa - Never Enough

References

https://www.theinstrumentplace.com/history-of-the-flute#:~:text=The%20flute%20is%20the%20oldest,was%20called%20the%20transverse%20position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flute#:~:text=A%20number%20of%20flutes%20dating,modern%20human%20presence%20in%20Europe.

https://punamflutes.com/blogs/rajesh-cherthala

https://punamflutes.com/blogs/about-punam-flutes

        

Musical Analysis #2 - I am Woman by Emmy Meli

 

Information:

'I am Woman' was written by Emily Catherine Lomeli. Performed by Emmy Meli same person. The song was released on November 18, 2021. The song falls into a couple different genre categories like Funk, Electro-Pop, Disco, Reggae, Dance Pop, East Coast Hip-Hop, Classical Rock and Punk. 'I am a Woman' became viral hit on TikTok after singer/songwriter posted the chorus on the app. It received over 22 million views and became a trend with the song for women all over the world to post with videos or photos them with this song playing as being an empowering woman. According to Film Feed Article, Emmy Meli says she wrote the song to, 'empower women' and called seeing the song resonate with listeners ‘the most amazing and beautiful thing’ she has experienced.

Lyrics

I am woman, I am fearless
I am sexy, I'm divine
I'm unbeatable, I'm creative
Honey, you can get in line
I am feminine, I am masculine
I am anything I want
I can teach you, I can love you
If you got it goin' on

- This song makes me feel powerful, makes me gain this confidence for being a woman and speaks volume for how powerful it makes me feel. This song was made for all different kinds of women that are feminine, masculine, that are sexy, creative that probably don't feel that way at all. I love how it's for a specific audience yet all different kinds of women can relate to this song which makes it a really great song. Emmy Meli has influential artist that she listen to like Amy Winehouse and I do think this song does match the same vibe that Amy Winehouse did explore in her musical genre. 

-When I listen to this song, I can hear the Drums starting the Beat to the song and I could also hear the Guitar bass creating the melody to the song. I think this song is a very sexy yet powerful song that has a very good vocal aspect that really brings it together. I feel free, I feel powerful, I feel confident, I feel absolutely beautiful when I listen to this song as I am getting ready for anything it is a very great confidence booster. This song really brings out something in me that keeps me in a positive mood with myself. It does bring me joy that other women can listen to this song and feel their confidence boost or feel some sort of amusement to this song in themselves.

Elements: 

- I think it's important to note that Emmy Meli wrote a few words to describe herself and then added a beat with a melody. I really like that she came up with really the chorus first and then contributed music afterwards to make the melody fit the words to the song. The Beat really brings into the mood of this song of it being slow but impactful. The Tempo I think also really adds to the speed of the song which makes the song not too fast for the lyrics and makes the song slow enough that you can hear the words to the song that's expressing a theme. The theme being all women can feel many different things that should make them feel powerful as a Woman. The song also has rhythm that just sways with the lyrics. When I listen to the rhythm of the song I sway my head front and back as the drums hit the cymbals. I think it does add to the mood of the music and the tone of it for how it gives off a hip-hop genre and also a mix of different types of genres. The Texture of the song relating to Rhythm, Melody and Harmony each of the musical element impacts the song by adding to an emphasis to the song. The drums hitting a cymbal does add emphasis to the next line of the lyric. I also think the guitar makes a big emphasis that you can hear the instrument playing. I also think it makes the song very distinctive that if someone plays the background music they would be able to state what song it is. 

Video:

- The link below is the video, if you want to skip the introduction please skip to 1:09. 

(Please watch the entire video just to get an inside look from the artist herself explaining her vision and getting feed back from the background dancers of what they like about the song and how the song impacted them)

I am Woman by Emmy Meli

Reference

Emmy Meli: Biography, age, height, facts, trivia, birthday, photos, family and more. FilmiFeed Stars. (2024, February 19). https://stars.filmifeed.com/bio/emmy-meli/ 

Musical Analysis #1 - Can't Help Falling in Love with You

History

The song I picked for my first musical analysis is a song sung by Haley Reinhart 'Can't Help Falling in Love with you.' The original recorded artist for this song is Elvis Presley. He is also the published artist for the song in the Blue Hawaii 1961 album. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The Genre of this song falls under Pop. The song was also featured in the movie Blue Hawaii 1961. It is seen as one of the greatest songs by 'Rolling Stone' in 2012. The song is the most popular choice for couples as the song for the first dance at their wedding.

Interesting Facts

The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour," sung by Andrea Brocelli. The song was originally written for a female singer because the original title was 'Can't help Falling in Love with Him.' In the First and Third end of the line, it says 'in' and 'sin' to rhyme with 'Him' instead of words that rhyme with 'You.' The song is played in the Key D Major. Below is a link for you to see the Chords of the song being played and the bridge of the song as well.

Chords and Melody

Musical Elements

I fell in love with this song because of the Melody and the Lyrics. This song gives a very soothing mood to the audience and it is a very romantic song. I love how this song can be easily play by a musical instrument or be sung. It is a very famous song and I love that many artist have sung this song as a cover. This song is used a lot in weddings and the moment you play the melody of the song, the audience can recognize how famous it is. When I close my eyes and listen to this song it just makes me feel like I am falling in love. It feels soft like what love should feel like and it has this sense of comfort in how smooth the melody is. It is very favorable to the audience because it does give a very vintage taste of melody that many current songs don't have. I really enjoy the different variety of instruments it can be play off from, like the ukulele, or the piano. Below are links to two audio videos of the song, the original America Song Artist Elvis Presley, and my personal Favorite Haley Reinhart.

Youtube/Can'tHelpFallinginLovewithYou/ElvisPresley

Youtube/Can'thelpFallinginLovewithYou/HaleyReinhart