Category: Assignment No. 2

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The Politics of “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” from Cabaret

With its book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Cabaret is quite significant in the history of musical theatre. The show sort of defies categorization. Adapted from the Berlin stories of Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret follows American writer Cliff Bradshaw as he travels to Berlin (as the 3rd Reich begins its rise to power) to find inspiration for the novel he’s writing—and boy does he find inspiration. Demanding that the audience “leave [their] troubles outside”, the opening number of the show—“Wilkommen”, arguably one of the greatest opening numbers in all of musical theatre—tells the audience exactly what they’re in for: comedy with plenty of focus on debauchery, facilitated by an emcee who enjoys himself a bit too much. (To see the original cast’s performance at the 1967 Tony Awards, click here: https://youtu.be/A9uE9TmpieI?t=90)

The storytelling of the show is divided rather cleanly into two distinct worlds: the main story goes on in Berlin, and then there are songs that take place in the Kit Kat Club which between scenes comment on the events of the story. As an example of how this commentary works in act 1, let’s take a look at “Perfectly Marvelous” & “Two Ladies”—the former taking place in the real world, and the latter in the Kit Kat Club directly after. Early on in the play, Cliff ends up agreeing to let an English singer from the Kit Kat Club (which is an actual place in the main story, not just the limbo world for the commentary songs) room with him where he is residing in Berlin. When Cliff protests for fear of social ridicule regarding his rooming with a woman to whom he isn’t married, Sally Bowles (the singer) sings the song “Perfectly Marvelous”, in which she tells him what he can say to any skeptics, at the end of which he agrees to let Sally room with him. After this scene, the emcee and two cabaret girls sing “Two Ladies” at the Kit Kat Club, which expresses how risqué Sally & Cliff staying in the same room is by offering a more extreme example: the emcee and the two ladies sleeping together as a trio.

With the comedic tone established throughout the show, the closing scene of act 1 throws quite a curveball at the audience: Nazis. After a pair of older characters decides to get married, they throw a party to celebrate their engagement. At this party, it is revealed that one of the characters whom Cliff (and by extension the audience) has come to respect is a supporter of the Nazi party. As soon as Herr Ernst Ludwig takes off his jacket and reveals his red armband with a swastika on it, the tone of the show can never be the same. Attending the party as an old friend of the bride-to-be (Fraulein Schneider), Herr Ludwig feels compelled to leave after learning that the groom-to-be (Herr Schulz) is Jewish. Trying to keep Herr Ludwig from leaving, another partygoer (Fraulein Kost) begins to sing “Tomorrow Belongs To Me”—written as a pastiche of a Nazi anthem—and this initiates the most powerful moment in the show (with the possible exception of the very end of the finale). As more and more of the guests join in singing the song, the understanding that the Nazi party is gaining support from Germans of all walks of life hangs over the heads of the principal couples (Cliff & Sally and Herr Schulz & Fraulein Schneider, who listen in worried silence) and over the audience, which is filled with people who know what the Nazi party’s rise to power means for the world. The video of the Donmar Warehouse production of Cabaret does an excellent job of giving the viewer a look at each of the four’s distress regarding the situation, and the entire scene is truly well-performed. To watch the entire party scene from that production, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbw8WGupTmE&list=PLrBEhoLJ_TN_rXUUxU_47xp4ErgbD7d1H&index=8

(As a matter of clarity, it should be noted that the emcee—dressed in a trench coat and displaying his bottom with a red swastika tattooed to it at the end of the scene in this production—is not a Nazi sympathizer. As revealed in the extremely sobering end of the show, the emcee is actually Jewish, as he takes off his trench coat to reveal a concentration camp uniform before singing “Auf Wiedersehen” to the audience.)

“Tomorrow Belongs To Me” marks a complete shift in the tone of the rest of the show. Whereas the first act until this point has been comedic and focused on debauchery, the second act becomes focused on how the four leads deal with the changes happening in Berlin. In a stroke of poetic and symbolic genius, the emcee maintains his wild (and, in the Donmar Warehouse production, extremely sexually-charged) and humorous mannerisms throughout the rest of the show, right up until he removes his trench coat at the very end of the finale, as mentioned above. (Alan Cumming’s demeanor change after taking off his coat in the Donmar Warehouse production is a phenomenal moment of acting, as a matter of interest.) By maintaining the comedic style of commentary on the events of the show, the seriousness with which the characters consider what to do about their situation is juxtaposed with the way the rest of the world takes no notice and carries on as before.

Most people in the audience of any production of Cabaret will have nearly the same ideas and reactions to the end of the party scene. It is generally agreed (to my knowledge from my perspective as an American with certain ideals that I have always assumed go along with that) that the actions of the Nazis were terrible and that their supporters are a threat to the world. To those that agree with that view of Nazis, as Kander & Ebb did, “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” is clearly meant to make the audience uneasy. It’s powerful and terrifying to an audience that fears Nazis being in power anywhere again (as American audiences in 1966 would be, given how much fresher WWII was at that time).

There are people, however, for whom the song has a completely different (and backwards) meaning. For some who take the song out of context, “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” is an anthem that can unify people in support of Nazi ideals. In March of 2017, Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer (who, per a quick Google search, prefers other labels than Neo-Nazi) referenced the song in a Twitter response, linking a video of it from the 1972 Cabaret film to make his point. (To view an—informal—article responding to the Twitter thread which includes screenshots of the tweets, click here: http://www.pajiba.com/web_culture/is-tomorrow-belongs-to-me-from-cabaret-a-neonazi-anthem-.php) The tweet got a reply from Jason Kander (nephew of John Kander) that pointed out the irony of the song being used to promote Neo-Nazi views. Given that the song was written by two Jews (Kander & Ebb), there’s no reasonable perspective that can lead to actually believing “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” was intended as a pro-Nazi anthem in 1966. In the documentary series Broadway: The American Musical, Hal Prince comments quite clearly on the relationship between the Civil Rights Movement in the US and Cabaret being about Germany just before the Nazis’ rise to power. He says “I brought in a photograph from Life magazine, a two-page spread of a bunch of Arian Nazi boys snarling at the camera. And of course, it was in our country, and it was them snarling at some poor little black girl.” (Link to the section about Cabaret in the episode here: https://youtu.be/DymYqaBFdcA?list=PLl2LG8zi1XLBdwv_jiMReatyE5Raipdvx&t=883) There was no positive feeling about Nazis at work behind the scenes of the show.

This removal of song from context is something that takes place with all sorts of music. In an article on Musicology Now from September 2019, Ted Gordon discusses how classical music (specifically the music of Haydn) is sometimes used to similarly promote alt-right sentiments. (Link to the article here: http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/2017/09/does-music-trump-politics-dennis-prager.html) With the context of a controversial concert in California, Gordon discusses how Haydn’s music is used by Dennis Prager & Heinrich Schenker as being symbolic of the greatness of western culture & Austro-German culture, respectively. While few people (well, actually there definitely are some) would argue that Haydn’s music isn’t worthy of esteem, its use as a means of promoting nationalistic ideas is quite similar to Spencer’s concept of “Tomorrow Belongs To Me”. Neo-Nazi supporters go so far as to claim that Kander & Ebb’s use of German folk songs as models for the song validates their claims about the song’s intent, ignoring the fact that their decision to write a reasonably similar pastiche of songs that did have that intent was a decision born of the power and validity it would add to the song’s function in the scene and the show as a whole. Using the music of Wagner, who was absolutely anti-Semitic, to draw support for Nazi sentiments is one thing, but to use a song meant to comment negatively on the Nazi rise to power for that end is another matter entirely. The irony of ripping “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” from its context in this way only serves to made evident the ignorance of Neo-Nazi supporters.

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The Post-War Idealism and Legacies of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem

1964 broadcast of the War Requiem at Royal Albert Hall for the 50th anniversary of WWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBEtfXXsvU

On Memorial Day, 1982, Pope John Paul II proclaimed, as Britain and Argentina came to blows over the Falkland Islands:

War should belong to the tragic past, to history: it should find no place on humanity’s agenda for the future.

Pope John Paul II, Homily at Coventry, England
https://www-jstor-org.ezp.lib.rochester.edu/stable/23546289

These words were spoken in Coventry, England–the same sight for the premiere, 20 years earlier on Memorial Day, 1962, of Britten’s War Requiem at the consecration of the reconstructed St. Michael’s Cathedral, which had been bombed out along with the rest of Coventry in 1940.

The Conception: Britten the Pacifist

For many, the destruction of Coventry, a non-military target, was symbolic of German brutality during the war. As such, it’s reconstruction from ruin was, despite limited post-war resources, a much-needed healing of old wounds and a statement of Britain’s recovery and resilience (Wiebe 194).

Ruins of the former Cathedral Church of St. Michael, Coventry
Date: January 2011 Photographer: Coventry Cathedral/World Monuments Fund
https://www.wmf.org/project/ruins-former-cathedral-church-st-michael-coventry

When the new Cathedral was finally rebuilt … it was both a monument to the losses of the Second World War and a powerful statement of renewal, a statement given new urgency by rising Cold War tensions.

Heather Wiebe, Britten’s Unquiet Pasts, p. 194

Britten was tapped to write a piece to commemorate the newly rebuilt St. Michael’s Cathedral at the 1962 Coventry Festival ostensibly because of his major international presence and success as a distinctly British composer. This was despite Britten being a well-known pacifist who went abroad just prior to the second world war breaking out and later registered as a conscientious objector, an important point of contention at the time.

Acting on his beliefs, Britten chose to interweave the traditional Latin requiem texts with the poetry of Wilfred Owen, an anti-war poet who died in military service during the First World War. Erin MacLean, of the University of Regina, postulates that Britten’s choice to use the words of a young soldier-poet provided crucial sentiments informed by real war experience that Britten himself lacked (MacLean 44).

The Execution: Vishnevskaya’s Absence

And yet, its premiere was not to go without a hitch. Britten, in order to bolster the anti-war symbolism of the event, intended for the three soloists to be British tenor Peter Pears, German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Soviet soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. It was to signal a union of Europe from the ashes–a new spring.

Britten himself kept close ties with the Soviet Union following the war, visiting often and befriending and working with many Soviet composers and soloists, including Shostakovich, Rostropovich and Vischnevskaya. He drew on these connections to bring Vishnevskaya out of the country to Coventry for his premiere, but mere weeks before the piece was to be performed, the Soviet Union blocked Galina Vischnevskaya from leaving the Soviet Union, likely because of the involvement of Fischer-Dieskau with the project. After all, she was allowed to record the piece and perform it only a year later at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk.

The British Ambassador rightly concluded that the Soviet decision not to allow Galina Vishnevskaya to sing at the premiere of the War Requiem in 1962 … was due to “the character of the occasion at Coventry and possibly to the joint participation of Fischer-Dieskau rather than the work itself/

Cameron Pyke, Benjamin Britten and Russia, p. 171

Music could not be freed from political interests, even to pray for peace. Ultimately, Irish soprano Heather Harper stepped in and performed at the premiere with only ten days notice.

Zooming Out

Fifty-five years after the Coventry Festival of 1962, conservative radio personality Dennis Prager sparked remarkable controversy when he was invited to conduct Haydn’s Symphony No. 51 with the Santa Monica Symphony in Los Angeles, as was highlighted in a September 2017 article in Musicology Now by University of Chicago PhD candidate Ted Gordon.

For Prager, “classical music” is a core component of Western culture, which he claims is under attack by secularism, multiculturalism, the Muslim faith, same-sex marriage, academia in general, and the “war on Christmas.”

Ted Gordon, “Does ‘Music Trump Politics’? Dennis Prager and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra
http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/2017/09/does-music-trump-politics-dennis-prager.html

Guido Lamell, music director of the Santa Monica Symphony, defended his invitation to Prager, which triggered protests from those who disagreed with Prager’s cultural and political views, by stating “music trumps politics.” Similarly, Prager responded to the backlash by stating that this particular performance–of an innocuous Haydn symphony–was in essence apolitical. But as Gordon wrote:

Yet Prager’s performance with the SMSO is of course political: it uses the “genius” of classical music as evidence towards his political ideology of “Western” supremacism. In addition, more practically speaking, his presence at this concert worked towards the creation of a new political group: people united by their supposedly “apolitical” support of “Western Art Music”.


Ted Gordon, “Does ‘Music Trump Politics’? Dennis Prager and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra”

Britten’s War Requiem shines as an example of just how intertwined politics and music often, inevitably, are. One can look back at 1962 and see the politics at play, the powers and views embedded in the very essence of the project’s conception and execution. Music does not trump politics so much as it reacts to politics–either by willful ignorance, support or subversion. Britten’s was more the latter two, and while Haydn’s symphonies may ostensibly exist independent of today’s politics, the context in which they are presented today can invite politics’ influence in profound ways.

Sounds of a Better World: Music in Protest of War

Despite Pope John Paul II’s plea in 1982, war has not left humanity’s agenda. It is in the news, on our Twitter feeds and on our breath: Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. The list of violent conflicts, new and old, is extensive, and ever-growing. And yet, so is the body of music produced in response to and in protest of war.

Britten was not the first composer to ever sing in the face of violence, and he is certainly not the last. In 2015, children’s choral composer Jim Papoulis set a poem written by Virginia 7th grader Claire Latimer entitled I Ask For One Day for the Fairfax Choral Society Poetry of Music collaboration with Fairfax County Public Schools.

I ask for one day

Where I don’t have to hear about pain or life that’s lost.

Claire Lattimer, “I Ask For One Day”
https://www.jwpepper.com/I-Ask-For-One-Day/10881214.item#/submit

Papoulis, in his composer’s notes, wrote:

The sentiment of a 12-year-old child making a plea for peace and non-judgement, for just one day, is about as pure and as real of a feeling as I can imagine.

Jim Papoulis, “I Ask For One Day” Notes from the Composer
https://www.jwpepper.com/I-Ask-For-One-Day/10881214.item#/submit

The piece was published under Boosey & Hawkes’ Sounds of a Better World. Of course, a 7th grade student from Virginia doesn’t have quite the same experience as a poet who died in the trenches of World War I, and it may be a while before we align Jim Papoulis with the likes of Britten. In fact, Benjamin Britten and Wilfred Owen seem as far removed from Jim Papoulis and Claire Lattimer as just about anything, but I believe one can draw a powerful comparison in good faith under that fitting phrase: sounds of a better world. Those who would separate music from politics would invalidate the possibility of such sounds.

Works Cited

Gordon, Ted. “Does ‘Music Trump Politics’? Dennis Prager and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.” Musicology Now, 19 September 2017,
http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/2017/09/does-music-trump-politics-dennis-prager.html. Accessed 1 April 2019.

MacLean, Erin. “I am the enemy you killed, my friend”: Sacrifice, Pacifism and Reconciliation in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. MA Thesis. University of Regina, 2011. Web. 1 April 2019.
https://search-proquest-com.ezp.lib.rochester.edu/docview/1045938046?accountid=13567.

Matonti, Charles J. “A Prayer for Peace Now: Britten’s War Requiem Revisited.” The Choral Journal, vol. 24, no. 2, 1983, pp. 21–30. JSTOR,https://www-jstor-org.ezp.lib.rochester.edu/stable/23546289.

Papoulis, Jim. I Ask For One Day. 2015. New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 2015. Print.

Pyke, Cameron. Benjamin Britten and Russia. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2016. Print.

Wiebe, Heather. Britten’s Unquiet Pasts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.

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How the Honorable Kendrick Lamar Pimped a Butterfly

For generations, music has been used as a political tool, giving power to groups of people that otherwise may be powerless. For the black community this has been the case since the first slave ships arrived in “the land of the free”. Our ancestors sang spirituals on the ships that ripped them from their homeland. They sang as they worked the land that they were forced to adopt. They sang as they marched, rallied, and drove hundreds of miles through the South. And now we sing, but we also rap. Over the last several decades hip hop has become the predominant social, economic, and political voice of the African-American community in music. From “its birth in the 70’s” to its entrance into mainstream culture in the 90’s and continued evolution today, hip-hop tells some of the narratives found inside the ‘African-American’ community. No artist better represents this then the honorable Kendrick Lamar whose album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ covers a wide array of racial issues from police brutality and mass incarceration to gang violence, black on black crime and mental illness as a result of systematic oppression.

Click here to see the honorable Kendrick Lamar himself explain some of the themes of TPAB:

Kendrick Lamar’s political platform arises from his many years of living in Compton California. His father Kenny Ducksworth, was a former member of the street gang Gangster Disciples and was allegedly a drug dealer in Compton. His mother Paula Oliver is originally from Chicago Illinois and had Kendrick 3 years after arriving in Compton in the hopes of avoiding gang violence. Unfortunately, Compton in the 1990’s suffered from the rivalry of two of the largest gangs ever formed in US history, the Bloods and the Crips. Respectively, at their peak the membership of the gangs numbered more than 10,000. In this community Lamar began his musical and poetic journey. He released his first album at age 16 and soon after signed to Top Dawg Entertainment. He steadily gained a following collaborating with many other West coast rappers including Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Dr.Dre who he eventually signed with after the release of his critically acclaimed 2011 Section 8.0. The rest is history.

Although biographical information can feel trivial when reading, and writing, to understand the message Kendrick Lamar delivers on TPAB is impossible without some insight into his background. His musical voice addresses the “reasons, and problems, and solutions” to the social and economic problems of black people in Compton because he is legitimately from Compton. Kendrick lamar is not an outsider of the community exploiting hip hop music for celebrity status. He’s a concerned, active member of his community looking to shed some insight on life in Compton. Kendrick considers himself a “writer” who has “to connect to the music” in order to have it speak the truths he’s been told in conversation. It seems that for the honorable Kendrick Lamar music is not just a means of communicating stories but a sort of therapy for all the pain and loss he’s experienced in Compton. Mental health and its impact on  impoverished neighborhoods and communities as it pertains to black people specifically, is often overlooked. This album is one of few since the birth of hip hop to subliminally outline the PTSD, depression, and other forms of mental illness one can experience form living in communities full of violence and drug abuse. In TPAB one hears the multiple voices of Kendrick Lamar engage in dialogues with himself and with a symbolic Lucifer over depression, leadership, suicide, and “survivors guilt’ as Lamar calls it.

Click here to watch the honorable Kendrick Lamar explain his mental health as it pertains to music

Kendrick Lamar’s rise to fame wasn’t so much “straight from the bottom” as the song King Kunta may suggest but a testament to his wanting to rise above the violence he saw in ganglife. His contribution to the African-American community as a witness and political activist has had a stunning impact on society as a whole. The honorable Kendrick Lamar is considered one of the best if not the best rapper in the World. His performances continue to astound audiences everywhere while delivering powerful social commentary that cannot be ignored. His use of music to create a platform from which to share the Compton experience is unrivaled in its authenticity, creativity, and power.

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A Cry For Victory

In the summer of 1941, Shostakovich began to play his seventh symphony for his friends and family in the city of Leningrad. His new symphony’s first movement began to fill the room, which centered on the sounds of the German invasion. Just as the first movement was coming to a close though, disaster struck as the bomb sirens began to echo throughout the city, the Germans had arrived. Shostakovich quickly gathered his family together and headed for shelter, promising everyone the performance would resume as soon as the sirens went off. Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, a composer that attended this performance later wrote, the Seventh Symphony “is an extraordinary example of a synchronised, instant creative reaction to events as they are being lived through, transmitted in a complex, large-scale form, yet without the slightest hint of compromising the standard of the genre” (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/02/war-music-the-humanity-heroism-and-propaganda-behind-shostakovich-symphony-no-7)

This Symphony in my opinion embodies the idea of an artist recording personal political turmoil on paper and using it to covey and scream a message to his audience. Shostakovich had the worlds throat with his own two hands with his music.

German soldier buying a ticket to the premiere.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/shostakovichs-leningrad-the-symphony-that-brought-a-city-back-to/

The premiere of the Seventh Symphony is astonishing. In August of 1942, in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Shostakovich premiered his new masterpiece with a starving orchestra, some close to death. These musicians had seen tremendous suffering at the hands of the Germans to the ones they loved most. They defied Hitler’s control, and in response, they made history by using their gift of art to make a political statement. In August of 1942, they filled the “Grand Hall” with sounds that longed and begged for victory and an end to their suffering. G

An interesting thought as a conservatory student: Shostakovich not only was a soviet composer that used propaganda in his music but he was a hero that protected the Leningrad conservatory as a firefighter to keep the school from being destroyed in the war. Shostakovich protected what he loved most. I wish my conductors loved me like this </3 :(…. On July 20, 1942, Dmitri Shostakovich became the first composer to appear on the cover of TIME Magazine. “Amid bombs bursting in Leningrad,” said the caption under a portrait of Shostakovich in an ornate fireman’s helmet, “he hears the chords of victory.” https://www.seattlesymphony.org/watch-listen/beyondthestage/shostakovich

The idea that a composer could write a symphony of this magnitude while a city was being bombed and starved inspired listeners to believe that the Nazis would not gain control of Russia.

Shosti as a firefighter :P.

http://www.interlude.hk/front/fireman-shostakovich/

The first movement is centered around a simple, singular tune, that implodes and causes destruction throughout the movement. This is meant to resemble Hitler, a singular, simple man who caused destruction on masses of populations and changed the world forever. He later told a friend that he wasn’t exactly trying to portray fascism, but all forms of terror including slavery and control of peoples spirit and joy.

https://youtu.be/adMB97J7hCk (first movement)

The symphony eventually builds up until the final movement (4) where you would think we would hear a joyous victory. We do, BUT, Shostakovich throws in the simple tune a couple more times and adds sounds of the pain and suffering that occured in his country, reminding the listener of the terrible horror that happened.

Fast forward: Leningrad siege ends 1944->Great Patriotic War->1948, Shostakovich’s music is banned.

As Shostakovich’s 7th symphony travels through time, we get to observe new interpretations that pertain to the political turmoil today, Shostakovich may have written this Symphony in defiance for Russia, but in the end, it can be as a political outcry for anyone. We can see an example of this when Colin Kaepernick refused to stand as the Star Spangled Banner played at a football game. This can clearly be compared to Shostakovich’s act of political resistance with his seventh symphony because both figures used peaceful protest in order to effectuate their point that what was going on in their countries at both times wasn’t right. I personally agree with Colins choice because the state of our nation is weaker than ever and seems to be heading in the wrong direction. People like Colin with large social platforms have the ability to make change and wake people up, which is exactly what he did.

You can read more on the article here on Colin here:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/colin-kaepernick-and-the-radical-uses-of-the-star-spangled-banner

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We Insist!: Max Roach’s Bold Call for Freedom

“A revolution is unfurling-America’s unfinished revolution. It is unfurling in lunch counters, buses, libraries and schools-wherever the dignity and potential of men are denied. Youth and idealism are unfurling. Masses of Negroes are marching onto the stage of history and demanding their freedom now!” These fiery words from Civil Rights leader John Philip Randolph capture the call to revolution in the 1950s and 60s. The United States were in upheaval as Black Americans fought for equality in a nation which claims that “All men are created equal.” Around the nation, freedom fighters were participating in sit-ins, boycotts, and other forms of protest. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, in 1957, the Little Rock Nine braved the harassment of their school, and in 1960, Max Roach recorded an album that would prove to be a jazz anthem the revolution happening all around him.

John Phillip Randolph, the Civil Rights Leader who’s words appear in the “Freedom Now!” liner notes (biography.com)

Max Roach was a virtuoso jazz drummer, a legend to this day. But the jazz stars of the 1950s and 1960s were not excluded from the harsh reality of racism and segregation. The copyright system was set up so that songwriters and producers gained the biggest checks. This left performers with little compensation for their talents. The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), which controlled access to the biggest gigs and venues, had been segregated since it’s founding. The AFM also controlled radio contracts, and made sure that white bands were favored in local and national broadcasts. In fact, it wasn’t until 1946 that Nat King Cole broke the prime time radio color barrier. Jazz musicians of the caliber of Sarah Vaughn and Cab Calloway were beaten by police and civilians alike. So although jazz musicians received some measure of status, they understood and experienced racism and segregation just like the rest of the black population.

The Album Cover to “We Insist!” depicts a sit-in, with three black men sitting at a what is most likely a white bar

It was into this scene that Max Roach inserted his musical call for freedom, the legendary album, “We Insist! The Freedom Now Suite!” The album had been politically motivated from the beginning. The liner notes suggest that the NAACP had hired Roach and vocalist Oscar Brown Jr. to write a piece for the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which would occur in 1963. Although the Brown/Roach collaboration would be ended due to differing political views, the theme of freedom remained. Roach was joined by Vocalist Abbey Lincoln (who would be his wife from 1962-1970) and a star-studded cast of instrumentalists such as Booker Little (trumpet) and Julian Priester (trombone). The album captures Roach’s transition to the be-bop jazz-club scene to the harsher, grittier avant-garde style of the 1960s. This transition suits the harsh subject matter extremely well and provides a powerful picture of his world. The liner notes begin with the revolutionary quote from John Phillip Randolph. Roach and company were intentional about getting their message across. They wanted freedom, and they wanted it now.

The Album is composed as a chronological history of black culture in the US. “Driva Man” is a reference to pre-civil war slavery; “Freedom Day” recalls the excitement, anticipation and tension of Emancipation Day; “Triptych: Prayer, Protest, Peace” paints a vivid picture of the troubles blacks experienced in both the US and Africa; “All Africa” is a celebration of African culture; and “Tears for Johanassburg” is a response to the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa.

A live version of “Freedom Day” performed in 1964. In this version, Roach plays a powerful solo near the beginning of the tune.

The performances on the album are all noteworthy, showcasing extreme virtuosity and expression. Particularly, “Freedom Day”, the most arranged tune on the album, stands out. Although the melody is simple, the tempo is absolute breakneck. Roach manages to keep up with this extreme tempo throughout, and provides a beautifully motivic and powerful solo near the end of the song. He begins simply, and then builds these simple motives to a thundering conclusion. Equally impressive is Little’s trumpet solo. Despite the extreme tempo, Little provides a fiery solo that is motivically sound and technically impressive. The tutti sections before and after the solo sections is particularly effective thanks to the powerful bass pedals that change shift under the dense chords of the horns. The lyrics, sung hauntingly by Lincoln, show an absolute disbelief that freedom day has come. This can be seen as powerful commentary of current events in the 50s and 60s. Although the Emancipation Proclamation provided some measure of freedom, true freedom still evaded black Americans. Roach himself stated that “we don’t really understand what it really is to be free. The last song we did, “Freedom Day” ended with a question mark.” This explains the mournful quality in a tune which subject matter would suggest jubilation.

The original Album version of Freedom Day
Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln

Indeed, “We Insist!” provided a turning point for Roach. After it’s release, he told Downbeat that “I will never again play anything that does not have social significance. We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we’re master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we’ve been through.” Roach’s call for freedom has not gone unheard. Although it was not well received, a tendency of avant-garde music, time has treated it well. The Guardian hailed it as a “landmark jazz album”  and Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album a rare crown accolade. To this day, his message applies as the United States still seeks to sift through generations of racism and abuse. Perhaps we can think of “We Insist!” as Max Roach’s version of kneeling during the national anthem, championed infamously by Colin Kaepernick. Similar to Kaepernick, Roach used his status to make a bold and obvious political statement. Both Kaepernick and Roach were not well received at first, but both succeeded in getting their point across, whether or not the public was ready. Roach believed that music was political, and did not hesitate to use his talents for his cause. And sathough it is close to its 60th birthday, “We Insist!” still relates to current events and can still inspire and inform a new generation of jazz lovers and Americans.

More live music from Freedom Now Suite
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“The Moral Qualities Inherent in Time”: Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore (1972-4)

What does “passed” mean for a person when for each of us the past is the bearer of all that is constant in the reality of the present, of each current moment?

Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time

Luigi Nono (1924-1990), one of the foremost pioneers of avant-garde music in post-war Europe, is also recognized for his fervent, left-wing political engagement. Following the stage works Intolleranza 1960 (1961) and A floresta é jovem e cheja de vida (1966), his electronic composition and explicitly political statement Musica-Manifesto n. 1 (1969), and Como una ola de fuerza y luz (1972) for soprano, piano and orchestra, his political activism culminated in Al gran sole carico d’amore (1972-4), an ‘azione scenica’ (scenic action) which was premiered at La Scala on 4 April 1975.

Nono expressly reminded Ricordi, his publisher, to avoid the traditional classification of a staged musical work as an opera. Certainly the eluded genre has been long bound with bourgeois connotations; the opera, besides the ample potential for commercial success and the institutionalization of vocal training, is also bound with a specifically linear style of storytelling. This convention had not been broken for almost 200 years since the solidification of the opera culture during the eighteenth century. Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore, however, does not unfold in accordance to the linear convention. Hybrid historical events and social incentives intertwined, their coherent interrelationship to each other very much effectively accomplished at the first place by an equally hybrid literary input. Nono adapted an anti-symbolism, affective and highly logical method to present collective will; since communist writers are a conduit through which the people illustrate their wills and utopian images, there lies a moral obligation to obliterate the boundary between the individual activist and a group of activists. Therefore, what originally is represented by a singular character in the literary source may be assigned for multiple voices or dispersed choruses in Nono’s work – a collective search for truth and communist utopia. The ordering of historical events, poetry references, and dramatizations is not confined to a temporal way of thinking, but is choreographed upon a plane of historicity which seamlessly morphs from one stage to another, from the present to the past. Time is will; the dolcissimo singing is the gravity which creates tremendous character in the human agents.

Another major characteristic of Al gran sole carico d’amore, and indeed many of his politically engaged compositions, is the utilization of protest songs and communist anthems, which, in spite of the fact that these songs all conform to tonal practices, still maintains a prospective, forward-looking character. In the liner notes of Lothar Zagrosek and Staatsorchester Stuttgart’s 1999 recording of the opera, Klaus Zehelein writes that “a crucial element of [Al gran sole carico d’amore] is that meaning is created, and that it is not, as in neo-Romanticism, a case of using expressivity as something which already exists. Rather, it is a matter of redefining it through syntax (trans. Alfred Clayton).” Indeed, quotations of tonal melodies, in an ‘atonal’ and teleological context, are often intended to invoke some kind of nostalgia or distance, usually characterized by inertia and the stark contrast with dissonant, actively fantastical and expositional passages; examples include the Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, who contextualized a Carinthian folk song as the revelation of origin behind the cradle-grave analogy, and George Crumb’s Black Angels, who included the theme of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden and utilized it as an interlocutor of micro-density realms. On the contrary, Nono directly intruded into the interval content of the songs in a way that the songs cease to operate in a tonal logic; intervals, liberated from tonal contracts, enter the terrain of spatial considerations and negotiations. Jonathan Impett notes that, in Nono’s 1969 work Per Bastiana – Tai-Yang Cheng, “having analysed the limited interval content of The East is Red, Nono puts it at the centre of a wider pan-chromatic, all-interval interval matrix. The fragments thus produced explore the expanded pitch space step by step, until the pitches and intervals of the melody itself gradually emerge from their chromatic negative through the eight passages of the third section. (278)” Intervals denote space; the reality of expression lies in the peculiarity of individual spatial components and the composer’s ‘hegemonic’ organization. The shades of tonality are, once and for all, extirpated along with the relics of nineteenth-century romanticism which characterized the European bourgeois. Allying himself with Gramsci’s analysis of political hegemony, one of the main tenets of communism, Nono erased the difference between space, progress and history; intervals are like the resonating body of vociferous persons, articulating their demands and inviting adversaries – other intervals – to enter a socialist dialect, an perpetual process of compromise. His radical inventions were also a means to denounce a then-prevailing antithesis of his approach: that the use of revolutionary songs without a radical reworking on their musical profiles is, in other words the lack of radical participation in the musical/teleological prospects, is lethargic and, ultimately, bourgeois and authoritarian.

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But in what ways does Nono’s scrupulously radical process of intervallic recontexualization reprimand a chronological time? In what ways does Nono’s compositional method correspond to the moral objective of azione scenica, the “expression of history (Zehelein)”? And how are deviations from this practice rendered ‘immoral’ or ‘irresponsible’? Perhaps we can take a departure to appraise neo-romanticism to clarify this issue.

Intending to revive conventional idioms and musical (especially tonal) practices, neo-romanticism is, needless to say, a polar opposite of Nono’s Gramscian approach of music; it is music “using expressivity as something which already exists.” In the remainder of this post I intend to argue how time and material are essentially the same, and how the mediocrity of material selection and utilization of neo-romantic music would imply not only a false representation of time but also, at worst, moral defects.

In 2017, Mason Bates’s opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, received its premiere. Although it has won a positive public appeal, critics have expressed discontent about the incoherence of musical ideas – largely due to Bate’s heavy dependence upon ‘pastiche’ – and have found it one of the detriments that made the opera unconvincing, along with the opera’s ‘moral vacuity’ and its ‘clichéd, fraudulent narrative arc.’ Having assessed Nono’s azione scenica, I would add that the fourth detriment to this opera is the banal understanding of time typical to neo-romantic composers. Andrei Tarkovsky, arguably one of the greatest film directors of all time, considered morality and human conscience contingent with time, which “in its moral implication is in fact turned back. (Sculpting in Time, 58)” Why does the adherence to morality require a different understanding of time? How does Bates’s opera subscribe to the ostensibly factual conception of an ‘irreversible time,’ despite the seemingly unconventional, non-chronological plot of Jobs’ life? How does Bates’s toying around with pastiche relate to this issue at all?

Unfolding the argument from the last question:

“[…] the first essential in any plastic composition, its necessary and final criterion, is whether it is true to life, specific and factual; that is what makes it unique. By contrast, symbols are born, and readily pass into general use to become clichés, when an author hits upon a particular plastic composition, ties it in with some mysterious turn of thought of his composition, loads it with extraneous meaning.”

Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time

The lack of specificity and factuality is manifest in the ubiquitous troping of pastiche in the opera; religious themes are represented by ‘orientalist clichés: breathy pentatonic flute, gongs, and prayer bowls,’ the musical-mathematical analogy by a literal quotation of J. S. Bach’s music, calamity by ‘self-consciously “modernist” idioms,’ etc. The maker of a polyscreen film is forced to “[reduce] simultaneity to sequence, in other words of thinking up for each instance an elaborate system of conventions (Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time, 71).” Bates’s approach to semantic articulation also necessitates a similar solution: to reconcile irreconcilable musical/referential material by means of sequence and clichés. As a result the opera is neither specific nor factual; but how does this lack cause the opera to succumb to linear time?

The concept of linear time, according to Tarkovsky, stems from a semantic reading of cause and effect – it itself not more than a failure to see the “mutual dependence” of cause and effect of “inexorably ordained necessity”; “The link of cause and effect, in other words the transition from one state to another, is also the form in which time exists, the means whereby it is materialised, in day to day practice. (58)” A progressive reading of cause and effect would reveal the reversibility of causality and its primary agent – conscience – and it is the same progressive spirit that makes a plastic composition ‘specific and factual.’ In short, a materialised means automatically leaves the expressive terrain and is bound with troping, therefore is utilized in the same semantic realm where materialised, linear ‘time’ belongs to; by contrast, an idea or a statement charged with specificity and factuality is able to register itself unto the dialectic of truth and the conscience “inherent in time itself.”

Therefore, the use of techno signifiers and many other instances of pastiche in Bates’s opera in fact signifies an absence of moral bearings. The opera, by assorting and situating these symbols in their representational, ‘literal’ forms, countermands the provocative responsibility of an artwork and becomes a temple of archaic semantics; it is therefore devoid of truth, of individuality, and of expressive potential.

Gramsci considers the popular song as a prism of intentions and empirical dimensions: “What distinguishes the popular song of a nation or a culture is not its artistic origin or historical origins, but its way of conceiving of the world and life, in contrast with official society (Gramsci, Letteratura e vita nazionale, 1950),” Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore extended – perhaps extrapolated – Gramsci’s thesis into the exigent circumstances of post-war Europe and demonstrated the means of social unity through an unrelenting procedure of demarcating and demolishing dialogical spaces which finds momentary utopia within both internal and external manifestations of the world. As a composer, he internalized this historicity as well; the labyrinth of communist activities has formulated a self-sufficient dialectical terrain which, along with his impeccable erudition, caused him to gradually consider historicity in a different way. May I conclude this blogpost with Nono’s illuminating contemplation of himself:

I don’t aim to liberate myself from the shadows of the past.
I don’t repudiate my work, thought and acts of the past.
I have neither need nor motive to liberate myself from them.
I am just seeking to broaden and deepen my thought in my work, in my life.
I am also seeking to understand various dismemberments that have taken place within me (lacerations of various types leading to other discoveries of diverse quality and with various consequences) […]
I am simply discovering other possibilities […]
What I am studying literally upsets me because it opens me up to other thoughts, it doesn’t just make me question myself but makes me surpass the limits of the preceding thoughts and sentiments (why repudiate them if I come from here, why refute them if they are continuing in other ways in me?????) and at times in the joy of such intra-listening [intraascolto] I find myself alone.

Nono, letter to Pestalozza, September/October 1981

– I-Hsiang Chao

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The People “United”: Political Statements in the Production of Ballet “the East is Red”

It was hard for me not to be moved at all when the impassioned sopranos in the choir of hundreds hit High-B with their chest-voice-ish sound while all the dancers on stage had just formed a huge, shimmering sunflower with bright-colored Chinese fans held in their hands and with joy and excitement beaming relentlessly from all of their faces in the overture of the film “the East is Red”, which records the performance of a Chinese propaganda Ballet initially produced in 1964—just before the outburst of Cultural Revolution. The Ballet is a collection of dances and songs put together in a musical extravaganza, telling a brief history of Chinese people from the Mao Zedong’s 1921 founding of the Communist Party of China (CCP) to the establishment of PRC (“New China”) in 1949, and particularly focusing on the Maoist thoughts by presenting the struggle of the proletarian against oppressors within or from outside of the country. This sonic/visual spectacle was supposed to be a tool of spreading revolutionary fever in China, as members in the communist party led by Mao around the time of its production was deeply concerned with unifying people’s thoughts after Mao’s failure in his unrealistic campaign to rapidly transform the country to socialist society by means of drastic increase of industrialization (“Da Yue Jin”, “Great Leap Forward”). As Mao turned to seek hidden Bourgeoisie that hindered revolutions within the party, his supporters supervised and directed numerous productions to further establish Maoism’s political correctness through mass media and advertisements. The production of “The East is Red” was supervised by none other than the Premier of the State Council—Zhou Enlai himself, who already very much contributed to creating the personal worship of Mao. Despite its obscurity after the 80s, some still regard the Ballet as one of the greatest spectacles ever produced in China: stunning masses of dancers with surprisingly stylish choreographic design; Wagner-flavored harmonization of folk tunes with revolutionary lyrics that exalt Mao’s thoughts…all serve well to achieve the goal of the work: making an “epic of songs and dances”. However, while admittedly overwhelmed by the expressiveness of the work, I clearly felt that there was something “wrong”; the sense of psychological manipulation was so strong that I instinctively started to struggle against it. This reaction leads me to closely examine the methods used in the work.

There are three important factors that, I think, contribute to the Ballet’s effectiveness in serving its purpose, but at the same time create problems or contradictions to the political messages this work conveys: firstly, the highly unified and regulated form of musical writing and gestural design; secondly, the religious, sentimental approach in plot and lyrics writing; and finally, the western standards of instrumentation for the orchestra and requirements for the performers.

  • All Under One: the Idea of Unity

Faced with unprecedented economic crisis and “the Great Famine”, the party developed distrust towards Mao, as well as his supporters; therefore, conflicts within the party emerged. Around the same time, the party’s concerns with Russian’s de-Stanlinization policies proposed by the Premier Nikita Khrushchev of USSR grew significantly: the CCP consecutively published several criticisms denouncing Khrushchev’s policies, claiming that Khrushchev was a “revisionist” who fundamentally betrayed the true path of Marxism-Leninism, allowing potential revival of Bourgeoisie’s control over the government. Consequently, Mao initiated a series of schemes to centralize power over the party in order to avoid the capitalist restoration he had long feared. From this point, Mao started to realize the concept of radical revolution in every aspect of the society led by the working class.

Art at that time was one of the most important media of spreading Maoist ideologies among the people. Later in the Revolution period, complete strategy of treating artistic creations were proposed by the government: all arts or forms of art that relate to the imperialist and/or capitalist traditions should be prohibited. In terms of musical works, western and Russian pieces, as well as old Chinese literati/court music and traditional operas, were all banned in the country. The only kind of music excluded was folk songs, which effectively represented “music of the people”; composers adapted folk tunes from different places and replace their lyrics with political statements. This strict limitation directly caused the concept of “model works”—musical productions that adhere to a set of unified rules—to emerge.

Singers and dancers take part in a performance staged by the Chinese National Opera of the “Red Detachment of Women” (a famous example of model work) marking the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution in Haikou, China, in January. Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/15/asia-pacific/chinas-maoists-still-force-50-years-1966-1976-cultural-revolution/#.XKMnBRNKigQ

One can see in “the East is Red” that this model of composition was already there before the Revolution erupted. All the songs that appear in the Ballet are either directly taken from folk tunes or original compositions that imitate folk melodies. Additionally, the choreographic designs in the Ballet are highly unified as they intentionally characterize the simplicity and passion of the working class. What, then, is the advantage of such model? The decisive factor is its accessibility. The frameworks of folk tunes and gestures of working people were the most relatable to the peasants, who, according to Mao, is able to secure the energy needed for revolution.

However, is this idea of unity perfectly compatible with the mentioned political statement? Arguably, if one examines the Ballet’s form itself carefully, one may come up with the argument that unifying forms of music and dance contradicts anti-imperialism movement. While abandoning old practices and rules, the application of model works is simply replacing the old with the new, instead of actually overthrowing the concept of dictatorship. Such concerns are also raised in criticisms towards Mao’s campaign of centralizing political power at that time.

It is also worth mentioning that, when one regards it as an advertisement for consumerism according to Marianna Ritchey’s criticism, the use of unified musical functions in Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs is, in my opinion, comparatively successful. Bates’ consistent use of minimalist material and stereotypical interpretations of atonality (as something negative) are based on people’s conceptualization of “real” new music. At the same time, achieving accessibility through the mentioned use of material does not contradict the ideology of consumerism, hence totally effective.

  • “the East is Red”: Building Mao’s Personality Cult

Lin Biao, one of the most fervent supporters of Mao’s thoughts and the supposed successor of Mao, stated in the seven-thousand-people conference after the downfall of “Great Leap Forward” campaign that Mao’s policies during the campaign should be maintained as the correct path, and that people should develop absolute trust towards Mao’s decisions. Thus began the height of Mao’s personality cult, as he gradually purged the party of all his adversaries and initiated the Revolution.

Cultural Revolution Poster, “Closely follow Chairman Mao and forge ahead amid great storms and waves”, source: https://thediplomat.com/2016/05/how-far-is-china-from-another-cultural-revolution/

The melody in the overture of the ballet–“the East is Red” –which glorifies Mao as the “savior of the people”, is adapted from a folk tune in northern China. Originally, the lyrics tells a love story of young couple; it was replaced by stanzas that, according to Wai-Chung Ho, “‘deified’ Chairman Mao as the sun in heaven: ‘The east is red, the sun has risen. China has produced Mao Zedong. He works for the people’s happiness…’”

The ballet does the very best to enhance this sense of deity. Throughout the whole work, the image of Mao himself is never presented through an actual figure dancing on the stage; he only appears as a headshot on the red flags, high above all the performers, literally shining heavenly light upon them. In terms of musical writing, the harmonization and orchestration of folk tunes are fused with strongly sentimental western colors and overwhelming instrumental forces. The western concept of the Sublime, which was often related to religious experience since the classical era, is evidently manifested in such treatments of “the East is Red”.

“Deifying” Mao’s image in the ballet firmly establishes his personality cult; yet it also presents fundamental problems. The very beginning of the film uses orchestral rendition of “The Internationale” –a left-wing anthem frequently used by communists. One of the central ideas in the lyrics of this anthem is that there is no god nor savior who can save the people, but only the producers themselves can rise up to power. Yet “the East is Red” nevertheless states that Mao is the only savior of people, and that people should follow his steps. Even if the first performance of the ballet did not include “The Internationale”, this apparent religious tone of the work still contradicts with the original Maoist intention of showing the revolutionary will of the people stemmed from the people themselves.

The plot design of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, on the other hand, approach personality cult in a slightly different way. Through showing Jobs’ horrible personal behaviors and his late-year enlightenment, the narrative creates a mysterious, unpredictable figure that is supposed to fascinate people. The plot’s “elision of the global (history of corporation) into the personal (life and personality of Jobs)” is an effective camouflage to deceive people from, according to Ritchey, contemplating the actual negative influence that consumerism has brought about. In this way, Bates evidently raises up a “worship” of technology in personal products. Does it have the same problem as “the East is Red”? Only Bates himself can provide the answer. If it is true that Bates’ intention is to promote consumerism like Ritchey suspects, then he has fully succeeded.

  • The Red Musicians

Since the beginning of PRC, the Chinese government has been trying to establish icons of the nation in every cultural aspect. In terms of musical instruments, the government started to form large groups of musicians that resemble western orchestras by simply replacing sections in an orchestra with Chinese instruments that have the similar mechanisms (for example, the string section in western orchestra would be replaced by Huqin, the two-string fiddle of nomadic origins). The potential problem of this method is that, because Chinese traditional instruments originated from different cultural background (caused by diverse ethnicity and clear demarcation of social classes in the “Old China”), they don’t necessarily fit each other well as a group in orchestra—they were never meant to be played together.

Example of a “Chinese Orchestra”, source: https://www.easonmusicschool.com/chinese-orchestra-instruments/

The instrumentation of orchestra in “the East is Red” is literally impossible in present days. The blending of western and Chinese traditional instruments creates severe intonation difficulties, because of their different constructions and materials. I have never heard any orchestras of this kind that can play consistently in tune nowadays, not even when the orchestra consists of only Chinese instruments. However, throughout the film, while unison of the western and Chinese instrument frequently occurs, all instruments are almost constantly and perfectly in tune. This means that the performers had put tremendous amount of work into rehearsals in order to fulfill the western standards of decent orchestral playing.

Some of the beginning scenes of the film show that people of different ethnicities come together to watch the ballet. This political message of unifying the people is also shown in the mentioned selection of instruments; and when all these instruments play perfectly in tune, they effectively project the undeniable power of people’s union.

However, is it necessary to adhere to the western rules of intonation in order to show this power? Music in many parts of the world has developed interests in what we now call microtonal inflections, instead of actually playing in tune, which the Chinese traditional instrumentalists in the past did not prioritize at all. The problem in “the East is Red” is therefore apparent: on the one hand, the ballet is supposed to proclaim a refusal to western ideas, but on the other hand, it uses western formats of instrumentation and performance practices.

  • Conclusion

Deng Tuo–a Chinese journalist, intellectual, poet, and founding editor of the People’s Daily (major newspaper in China controlled by the CCP) –was one of the earliest victims of the Cultural Revolution. Faced by numerous accusations of anti-revolutionary contents in his writing, he committed suicide right before the official beginning of the Revolution, which was to cause a nation-wide catastrophe–countless were persecuted and killed. In his last words, Deng Tuo seems to claim with utmost sincerity that he did not intend to express any disagreement to Mao’s thoughts, and he swears his loyalty to the party. Arguably, it was, for the most part, the different standpoints of the readers of his writing that caused suspicion.

Deng Tuo, source: http://wiki.china.org.cn/wiki/index.php/File:Deng_Tuo.jpg

As a purely sensual experience, the ballet “the East is Red” is seductive and powerful in every aspect. Yet the political problems this production raises have left us with infinite potentials for contemplation. When a work is given a purpose, the interpretation of the work would change according to the audience’s understanding of the purpose itself. We can go on and question the intention and execution of all propaganda arts: when art is to convey a set of specific political messages, is it ever going to succeed?

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The Variation and Impact of Ol’ Man River by Paul Robeson

Since its inception into American society, American popular music has, in some form, always been at the forefront of critiquing American politics. A plethora of songs have been written specifically to combat or call into view injustices shown in politics and a number of originals song have had their text or music changed to fit a message of political criticism. For instance, America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” has had its fair share of rewrites in order to fit a certain issue or message. William Robin, in his article regarding Colin Kaepernick and the Radical Uses of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” quotes a temperance advocate’s text revision that peers into the reality of America’s drinking issue. The quote reads, “Oh! who has not seen by the dawn’s early light / Some poor bloated drunkard to his home weakly reeling.” Now, I absolutely love this method of using music to talk about politics; it grabs the listener in with a familiar tune with the intent of educating them on a real-world issue. As I’ve said before, there are a plethora of songs that have been rewritten to fit a cause, but none come close to the revision of “Ol’ Man River” that Paul Robeson wrote during the Civil Rights Movement. 

Full discloser: Paul Robeson is one of my favorite basses to listen to and one of my favorite people to learn about. He was born on April 9th, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey to Rev. William Robeson, a former runaway slave, and Maria Lousia Bustill, a Quaker. Without going into too much detail about his life, I can say that he received a scholarship to play football at Rutgers College, where he graduated class valedictorian. He went to Columbia Law School and soon after landed a job at a law firm, only to leave almost immediately after a white secretary refused to take dictation from him due to his race. It was at this point that Robeson decided to quit law to dedicate his life to his true passion of singing. Throughout his illustrious music career, Robeson worked with the likes of Eugene O’Neill, W.E.B. Du Bois, and James Joyce. But none of his collaborations would be as pivotal as his work with Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II in their groundbreaking musical Showboat. Most people identify Showboat as the defining show for American musical theater because it was one of the first musicals to fully integrate the plot of the show into the songs, which created a whole new form of storytelling. Although working in this play essentially made Robeson a sensation among American audiences, he saw his character Joe, a black dockworker singing about his troubles to the Mississippi River, as well as the hit song “Ol’ Man River” a bit demeaning to his pursuit of highlighting African American progression. 

Paul Robeson in the movie version of Showboat

Understandably, Robeson didn’t appreciate the original lyrics that included the N-word to describe the type of workers working along the Mississippi nor did he appreciate the presentation of African Americans in this play as second class citizens. So, in an attempt to bring light to his feelings on the equal rights of black U.S. citizens, Robeson began in 1938 to rewrite the lyrics of this song in recitals. Similar to the pro tolerance writings put into the star-spangled banner, Robeson added text to “Ol’ Man River” that promoted African American freedom and strength. The famous line “There’s an old man called the Mississippi, that’s the old man that I’d like to be” was changed to “There’s an old man called the Mississippi, that’s the old man I don’t like to be” and the ending of the stanza “I get weary and sick of trying, I’m tired of living and scared of dying” was changed to “But I keep laughing instead of crying and I’ll keep fighting until I’m dying.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evwtK81KFrs

Through this decision to rewrite and perform this text, Robeson gained much prominence in the early stages of the civil rights movement, especially during the early part of the cold war. Unfortunately, Paul Robeson as well as many African American leaders of the Harlem Renaissance period saw the emphasis on racial equality in the Soviet Union as a model for the U.S. to look toward, which to many Americans marked them as Communist supporters. This labeling eventually got Paul Robeson blacklisted from Hollywood, thoroughly questioned and searched by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and unable to reach American audiences as he once was able to do. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLVqCGeK6JM
A recreation of Paul Robeson’s HUAC hearing by James Earl Jones

However, the effect Robeson was able to make on 20thcentury politics through his music was still a triumphant victory for African Americans searching for equality and a testament to the power of music against its environment. Music, as Robeson has shown, is a vital tool in sharing emotion and ideas which is why it has such a stronghold in the world of politics.

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Fortunate Son and the Vietnam War

Music is a powerful political tool. Throughout history, musicians have written reactionary music to historical events, but in the case of the Vietnam War, this reactionary music shaped an entire political movement, and, on a larger scale, an entire era. This music was very accessible to Americans (thanks to advancements in technology like improved record players and cassette players) so it reached a much larger audience and had a more widespread impact than music from the past. Popular artists like Bob Dylan released folk-oriented, pared-down, anti-war songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which calmly questioned the war through an abstract string of questions. In contrast, the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival released upbeat songs that were straightforward in their meanings. One of these songs, which grew to basically define the era, was “Fortunate Son.” This song, unlike “Blowin’ in the Wind,” is not an anti-war song, but rather a song meant to draw attention to the inequality of the draft system. Basically, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) wrote this song in response to privileged people evading the draft. The appeal of “Fortunate Son” was so widespread that it not only became an anthem for protestors of the Vietnam War, but also for the soldiers fighting in it. Essentially, CCR used this song as a tool to protest not the war itself, but rather the unequal systems of war in America.

Fortunate Son, first released in 1969 (the first year of the draft for the Vietnam War)

The American political landscape was incredibly tense during the Vietnam War Era. Many young people did not know what the war was about or what they were even fighting for, so, justifiably, they were suspicious about and resistant to the war effort. The reinstatement of the draft further stoked this resistance, as it forced young men to enlist in the military if their birthday was called in a random lottery. This randomized lottery was supposed to create a system in which all men aged 19-26 were equally likely to be drafted to go to war, but as with most “equal” systems in American history, well-positioned people (wealthy, powerful, etc.) were best able to maneuver around the rules of the draft, which meant that society’s most vulnerable members were the most likely to serve in the Vietnam War. Included below is footage from the 1969 Draft Lottery. Although the process does seem random in terms of date number assignments, the disparities began in the next step of the draft process, which was where men enlisted or were exempted

“Fortunate Son” was written in direct response to CCR songwriter Jon Fogerty’s anger about the role of social class and wealth on enlistment. During the year the song was written, 11,000 Americans had already been killed in the Vietnam War. Most of the soldiers killed were poor, and a disproportionately high number of them were black. At the same time, President Nixon’s daughter married President Eisenhower’s grandson, who was given a deferment from the military. Stories like this seemed to populate the news, and it seemed unfair. Wealthy people who had no reason not to be eligible for the military other than their status kept evading the draft. That’s why, as CCR’s drummer Doug Clifford put it, “‘Fortunate Son’ is ‘really not an anti-war song’…“It’s about class. Who did the dirty work?”

In part, this song was received so well due to its accessibility. As Anthony Tommasini wrote, “Nothing impedes the appreciation of classical music — and keeps potential listeners away — more than the perception that it is an elitist art form.” Although he clearly was talking about perceived elitism in classical music, this quote also speaks to the bigger idea of the importance of access and understandability. The lyrics in “Fortunate Son” are very straightforward. Take the following lines, for example:

“Some folks are born made to wave the flag

Ooh, they’re red, white and blue

And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”

Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord”

This section of the song speaks to the idea that wealthy people may be patriotic, but when it comes to actual combat, they send people who do not have the power to say no. The ease of listening to rock and roll and the ease of understanding the message of the song are, in part, why it is still such an icon from the Vietnam War Era.

“Fortunate Son” achieved its goal in drawing attention to class disparities of the draft. In fact, it is still used today in popular culture references to the Vietnam War. The opening scene of Forrest Gump (included below) for example, uses the song, and there is a popular meme (also included below) based off of the song being used in so many Vietnam War helicopter scenes.

Opening scene of Forrest Gump (1994)
photo found at https://i.redd.it/3cme2s3ug3j11.jpg

The fact that the song is still used today is a testament to its effectiveness as a protest tool. The ability of the song to transcend decades and be so closely tied to a social issue demonstrates the high level of power that music can have on politics.

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Same Love

  • Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

“Hey Macklemore, can we go thrift shopping?”

“What? What? What? What?”

The infamous song “Thrift Shop” is sung by 35-year-old rapper Macklemore, who rose to fame with his collaboration with Ryan Lewis in their debut album, The Heist. With more than 6 million downloads with “Thrift Shop” and rising to No. 1 on the Hot 100 Chart with “Can’t Hold Us,” they became the first duo in music history to have first two singles reach the top of the pop charts. With their successes at a high, they went on to receive four Grammy’s in 2014.

“Same Love” was song that was inspired by a news article in 2012 about a teenager who committed suicide after being bullied. After reading about it, Macklemore wrote this song to embrace and promote gay marriage, which many raps song did not. Macklemore expressed how he believed the epithets routinely heard in rap music were partly to blame, and that denying gay adults the right to be married contributed to negative effects on gay teenagers. He “just wanted to hold myself accountable and hold hip-hop accountable and bring up an issue that was being pushed under the rug.”

The song quickly made it all the way to the Top 40 and No. 5 on the Rap Songs Chart. The timing of everything was impeccable, as it hit the charts in February, when the Supreme Court was considering challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and to California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The lyrics of “Same Love” accuse rappers for constantly using “gay slurs” and abusive language. When we hear rap music today, it mainly consists of having a “sick beat” with rhythmic speech over the music. Although it is very groovy and fun to jam to, what most people don’t realize is how often abusive language is used. It seems that rappers will throw around profanity and offensive language like it’s no big deal. But, just because we hear it all the time doesn’t mean it’s okay, right? That’s the point that Macklemore is trying to express in his lyrics:

If I was gay I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the Youtube comments lately
“Man that’s gay” Gets dropped on the daily
We’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin’
Our culture founded from oppression
Yeah, we don’t have acceptance for ’em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word routed in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color the complexion of your pigment

https://www.wordsinthebucket.com/same-love
Mary Lambert, featured in Same Love

Many artists turned down the opportunity to sing this song with Macklemore. With such a controversial topic, no one really wanted to be associated with it. After all, stars and celebrities lose fans all the time when they express an unpopular or polarizing opinion.

They soon found singer Mary Lambert, who agreed to sing alongside. Lambert described singing the song as a “divine moment,” as she had had a very difficult childhood coming out as gay in church.

The Same Love music video depicts the journey of a gay man’s life; from battling a difficult childhood of staying in the closet, to his well-deserved wedding day, and to the inevitable end.

Same Love, music video

Macklemore originally wanted the video to be seen through the perspective of a gay, bullied child; however, he believed that he couldn’t do it because it wasn’t his story to tell. However, he was able to turn a nostalgic piano ballad into a powerful message about marriage equality.

This sparked controversy as this song focused on same-sex marriage, but was written by a white, straight man. In the rap community, there are fewer white rappers that achieve success. Since its roots stem from African-American communities, “the American public has long associated [it] with a particular demographic.” With that being said, Macklemore clearly does not “fit in” with the stereotypical image of rap. During the 2014 Grammy’s, he performed the song with Madonna, as a score of couples (both straight and gay) were married onstage. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis certainly took a risk that night as a duo, as it showed the audience and everyone around the world that they were using their new-found fame to push a progressive message. He once said, “You’re gonna piss people off, but all these moments add up to an understanding and, hopefully, change.”