politics – MHS 123: Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019

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.

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019

Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: Breaking the Mold Or Reminder of Old?

Although President Trump’s statement, “We write symphonies,” was not perfect, he made a good decision to point towards music while praising the progressive mentality adopted by the U.S. and its allies. There’s no doubt the President’s three-worded, blanket statement insinuates that classical music is an elitist artform, but Polish and American composers have produced countless works of art which aim to expose the exploitation of and prejudice against specific groups of people. George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess is an example of music creating awareness and helping those in need.

The initial reception of Porgy and Bess after its release in 1935 was mixed at best. Both the casting and the music were called into question as Gershwin’s folk opera featured an all-black cast as well as music that combined elements of jazz with western classical music. Gershwin was faced with the challenging task of writing music that would pass as authentic folk music but would also withstand the highbrow scrutiny of operatic audiences. Duke Ellington said Gershwin’s score did not reflect a genuine “Negro musical idiom,” but other critics said, “It abounds in color, it retains the quality of the Negro chant, the spiritual, the wail, the jazz, and the blues.” Not only was the music a hit or miss for some folks, but the content of Gershwin’s folk opera also had some questionable implications. Some described Porgy and Bess as a detriment to the race and as a vehicle that promoted racist stereotypes.

Even though Gershwin depicted Bess as a substance abuser with a penchant for abusive men and Porgy as a crippled beggar, Gershwin was still shining the spotlight on African American performers in 1935. Empowering these actors and actresses on stage gave them opportunities to bring about real change. During the show’s run in Washington D.C., the cast went on strike to protest the National Theatre’s segregation policy. Todd Duncan, starring as Porgy, was successful in organizing the protest and as a result ushered in the first integrated audience at the National Theatre on March 21, 1936.

Gershwin’s creation was celebrated by a host of incredibly influential musicians. In 1958, trumpeter Louis Armstrong collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald to release an entire album of Gershwin’s music and one year after that Miles Davis released a similar album featuring the writing of Gil Evans. The two albums are based off of the same material, but the end results are entirely different. Showcasing modal improvisation and third stream aesthetics, the Miles Davis record was quite innovative at the time of its release, whereas the 1958 record is another chronicle in the legacy of the iconic trumpet-vocal duo.

Inspiring two landmark albums, creating change in significant institutions, and advocating for African Americans in the arts, Porgy and Bess remains to be one of the most important American operas today. Gershwin innovated his art to incorporate elements from other cultures to create a dramatic documentation of American life. I say dramatic because the production is hardly factual and uses Gershwin’s ideas of African American culture as an outlet for expression. His folktale created opportunities for Black Americans to perform on legitimate stage bringing about discussion and change. I generally have a hard time supporting anything President Trump says, but a nod to Western Culture’s music history while making an appeal to America’s innovative spirit, “We write symphonies. We pursue innovation,” is one of the less ridiculous statements he’s made especially with figures like Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong decorating our history.

April 2, 2019

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 9^th, 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 20^thcentury 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.

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019

Thomas Adès’ ‘Asyla’

Artists express their political view by inheriting a political connotation to their artwork. It is either to express a personal political viewpoint, or it is to contribute, commemorate, and celebrate political events, protests, or a certain group of minority people by inviting attention. Thomas Adès’s ‘Asyla’ written in 1997 is a four-movement piece for a large orchestra that includes six timpani, roto-toms, tuned cowbells, water gong, washboard, and two pianos with one tuned quarter-tone flat. It is one of his most widely performed pieces and was premiered by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Simon Rattle conducting. ‘Asyla’ is the plural of Asylum and is sort of a wordplay that represents a double-edged meaning of the word.

Asylum refers to both a madhouse where people are sent for protection and a sanctuary for refugees (who have been forced to leave their country) as in political asylum. The word itself is contradicting as people in a madhouse are trapped in a facility, whereas asylum seekers are people who stepped outside of their origins and are seeking a new shelter.

In Thomas Adès’ interview, he explains that the symphony orchestra is no longer a mainstream medium. He argues that composers have evolved, however, the medium – an orchestra, is stagnant in a pre-First World War state. The piece ‘Asyla’ expands the perception of “what an orchestra is”. The wordplay of the title seems to fit the concept of the piece. An asylum seeker is associated with his use of unconventional instrumentations and innovative sound creation, and the trapped people in a madhouse are associated with the piece sticking to a strict four-movement scheme that has succeeded from Haydn (also, the third movement is a dance movement).

Syrian Refugees by Claire Felter and James McBride

Refugees and asylums are huge underground political issues around the world. Not until the day of complete world of peace, there will be refugees and asylums. Around the world, there are 68.5 million people who were ‘forcibly displaced’. The majority of them remained around their home countries, however, 25.4 million of them had to seek asylums and fled to other countries, with more than half being children. The number of immigrants skyrocketed after World War II and 1997 in the UK (when ‘Asyla’ was premiered), there was an increase of immigrants in the UK from the abolition of a law that restricted entrants of people who were married to UK citizens.

In Adès’ interview, he mentions that the original title for the second movement is ‘Vatican’. The Vatican is the smallest country that exists, having a monarchy ruled by the pope (who also carries the role of a king). Citizens of the Vatican are specially picked members who are technically refugees that are given citizenships in order to work for the pope. The Vatican is a source of refuge and hope for immigrants and refugees who have had to flee their homes. However, Adès took away the title after he realized that “it was just too specific to many people”. This made me wonder whether Adès intended to advocate his support of ‘asylums’ for refugees. Nevertheless, his association of artwork to the political concept brought attention and awareness to the public eye, thus bringing significance to both politics and music worlds.

“We write symphonies,” Donald Trump said on July 6th, 2017, during a speech in Warsaw. Article by Anthony Tommasini argues that classical music is often portrayed as the ‘greatest art form’ precedent from Beethoven’s era – “a heroic visionary with a rare link to transcendent realms, creating symphonic works for the ages.” ‘Asyla’ by Thomas Adès is written with a completely different approach (180-degrees to be exact) as the piece deviates from the greatness and highness of the symphonic format. The piece is the opposite from greatness that is full of self-conceit – it is a piece that reflects the greatness of our human nature that looks out for people needing help in times of trouble.

To Listen to full version of the interview (World Premiere):

https://youtu.be/28v6oBv37K0

Another Performance of Asyla:

Interesting Blog Entry: http://themusicsalon.blogspot.com/2014/08/thomas-ades-on-his-asyla.html

April 2, 2019

A New Orchestraa: Using a Relic of the Past to Incite Political Change of the Present

Author: Ava Conway, 4/2/19

I’m sure the barista at Java’s is tired of my instructions by now…“No straw, please,” I say as I order my iced tea and scan the room for an empty seat. As trivial as it may seem, I try to avoid the use of plastic straws whenever possible. It is a small effort to avoid a large-scale production of unnecessary waste contributing to an even larger-scale issue of global warming.

This collection of articles and documentations put out by NASA constitutes the “[Unequivocal] scientific evidence for warming of the climate system” : https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Effects of this global phenomenon include: shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, sea level rise, extreme weather, and more. It is difficult to deny the presence of such a phenomenon in modern society, given this overwhelming scientific evidence. And no matter how many plastic straws we avoid, or plant-based meals we cook, we are all contributing members.

However, there remain those who refuse to admit the existence of climate change, and therefore do not act upon its negative societal effects. Here are a few very misinformed tweets by our president, followed by a link with some interesting commentary on what “global waming” really involves:

http://time.com/5515340/trump-climate-change-weather/

So how must we tackle this issue of awareness, and how can we encourage a world-wide movement towards sustainability?

Well, music has always held a very fascinating and powerful connection with the world of politics. There is one piece in particular, Robert Paterson’s 2012 composition “A New Eaarth,” that addresses the issue of climate change particularly well.

Paterson’s title is inspired by a book by Bill McKibeen called Eaarth. McKibben’s book asserts that, because of climate change, the planet we live on today is a different planet than where humans lived centuries ago. Even though it is somewhat recognizable and familiar, it is fundamentally different. The title of my article implies that there is also a difference with the role of the modern orchestra(a). Even though this art form was invented years ago to satisfy wealthy patrons, today’s orchestras hold a unique ability to incite political awareness and change within a community largely divided community. http://robertpaterson.com/a-new-eaarth

Paterson uses somewhat traditional orchestration for this piece. It is written for orchestra, choir, and narrator. The piece opens with an orchestral introduction, followed by a Lennon-esque “Imagine” dialogue with the narrator….

“Imagine a day, perhaps in the future

When we will not worry about the environment.

Imagine a day, perhaps today, or tomorrow,

When our leaders will get together,

Will all get together to fix what is now almost completely beyond repair “

Paterson then writes for the choir to quote famous works of nature-inspired poetry by poets such as Wendell Berry, James Joyce, Percy Bryce Shelly, and William Wordsworth. The lyrics of these poems often portray the serenity of the natural world and its elements. By contrasting these words with harsh fortissimos in the brass section and thoughtful dialogue with the narrator, Paterson’s piece comes across very powerfully as a call to action to save the environment from its destruction.

Futurist composers such as Luigi Russolo would argue that machines create the sounds of daily life of the future. This assertion is very true today, with an abundance of construction of man-made housing, entertainment, and transportation. This transportation in particular is a large contributor towards––you guessed it––carbon emission and climate change. At one point in his score for “A New Eaarth,” Paterson writes annotations for the brass section to mimic car horns. The chaotic and hectic lifestyle of modern life is very accurately portrayed through this effect, and is starkly contrasted with the romantic poetry of peaceful natural landscapes.

The typical sounds of LA’s 405 freeway…

The juxtaposition of romantic poetry and chaotic noise reminds me of the same kind of political satire mentioned in William Robin’s article, “Colin Kaepernick and the Radical Uses of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'” Robin mentions an 1844 rewording of the Star Spangled Banner that highlights the corruption and racial hypocrisy within America. I like to think of the above pictured excerpt of “A New Eaarth” to bare a similar kind of rewording of its own poetry…except this time through the addition of music. I would definitely agree with Robin that by presenting familiar material in an unfamiliar setting, the satire of politically-driven art is very meaningful. Find Robin’s article here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/colin-kaepernick-and-the-radical-uses-of-the-star-spangled-banner

Weaved throughout Paterson’s work is a loose quote famously attributed to the writings of Wendell Berry: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” This quote is repeated five times to end the piece, with the SATB choir singing cluster chords. I found this moment in particular to be a very chilling final push towards getting Paterson’s message across. It is the perfect summation of his strive towards a future in which the world treats climate change as a real and present issue. The Earth isn’t something that we get to have for our own; it is something we get to pass off to future generations.

Image result for we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children

Paterson’s immersion of a political message in his music is very impactful, because music itself is a very moving art form. By conveying his message alongside a well-composed piece of music, it pulls the listener in from a very emotional standpoint. The links of this piece I have provided above are recordings from the 2018 Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY, and Paterson’s own SoundCloud recordings (from his website). The links are public, so anyone with access to these platforms has the ability to listen to and be affected by this work. This piece is the perfect example of the kinship between music and politics in modern society, because of its introduction of something familiar (an orchestra) through a modern lens (topics of environmental activism). Hopefully, many will have the opportunity to hear Paterson’s message and make strides in the process of counteracting global warming.

Such strides may include, for instance, the recent New York ban on plastic bags, a measure which will decrease the amount of permanent plastic waste production within the state. New York is the second U.S. state to put this policy into effect, next to California, and will hopefully cause a positive trend for other states in years to come. The ban will take effect on March 1st of 2020. Read more here: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/politics/2019/03/29/new-york-state-plastic-bag-ban-need-to-know-information-lawmakers-albany-budget?cid=share_fb&fbclid=IwAR0g3sNtNqpg-fbvGBQIRwxJOKg9VYbc7OvQLsiGVASNvscumrWtyG0dpI8

Inspired by Paterson’s message, I know I will make sure to pay more attention to the various ways in which I affect the environment and those around me. Here is a link to an article providing advice on how to create a living which reduces one’s carbon footprint and encourages a sustainable lifestyle, something that Paterson advocates throughout “A New Eaarth”: http://www.globalstewards.org/reduce-carbon-footprint.htm

“We need to believe that we can change,

That we can change who we are

And those around us”

-Robert Paterson, “A New Eaarth”

April 2, 2019

Childish Gambino’s This is America: An Analysis

I still remember the first time I watched the music video of This is America. It was sometime last year; I was getting ready for bed and decided, foolishly, to watch this trending video on Youtube. I stayed up an hour later than I wanted to because of how disturbed and uncomfortable I was after watching the video.

Warning: This video contains graphic content

Donald Glover (otherwise known by his stage name Childish Gambino) released the This is America and the accompanying music video early May last year. Known for its political stance on gun violence, police brutality and racism in America, the song debuted at number one on Billboard Hot 100 chart, won four prestigious Grammy awards, and has nearly 520 million Youtube views today. The one-take music video, directed by Japanese-American filmmaker Hiro Murai, generated so much attention that TIME magazine even released an article analyzing the different strands of symbolism found over the short four minutes.

For the sake of research (and a solid thesis), I decided to experience This is America two different times:

1) Listening to This is America on its own while reading the lyrics without the music video

2) Listening to This is America with the music videowhile reading the lyrics (some would call it multitasking)

Upon my experiment, I can wholeheartedly say that the accompanying music video certainly increases the impact of the political message embedded in the song.

SHOTS FIRED: THE PLAY BETWEEN TEXTURES

This is America’s most recognizable feature is arguably the stark textural contrast between different textures of the song. The song opens with inviting “yeah-yeah-yeahs” by the choir, some fun guitar accompaniment, and the catchy use of call-and-response. This cheerful introduction is immediately interrupted by an invasive bass (rooted in Trap music) and Childish Gambino’s “This is America, Don’t catch you slippin’ up…”. The juxtaposition of musical genres provide a jarring, uneasy feeling that perhaps mirror the disjointed American society that we live in today.

Murai utilizes this discomfort and elevates it on a whole new level: the video begins with a man playing the guitar in a warehouse and Glover dancing to the (deceivingly) joyful song…before he pulls out a gun and shoots the man wearing a head cover and hand cuffs to open the trap section of the song. Perhaps the man is a reflection of those who are wrongfully accused of a crime due to the color of their skin. Perhaps it’s a statement on how easy it is for people to access a gun. Regardless, what a statement.

DANCING AND VIOLENCE: ENTERTAINMENT AND IGNORANCE

Throughout the music video, Childish Gambino is seen dancing with school children (smiling in a way that sends shivers down your spine) throughout the warehouse as violence and gang activity break out around them. Fires, people running, police cars and horses… you name it.

These shots send an incredibly powerful strong message about entertainment and how the majority of society approach racism, police brutality and gun violence today. The fact that Childish Gambino and the children are dancing in the midst of violence without a sense of reality is incredibly oblivious, almost as if they are choosing to ignore issues that affect millions of African-Americans everyday. Not only does such visuals draw viewers in, but it further accentuates the song’s political innuendos.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE: WHAT IS WITH THIS ENDING?

The video ends with Childish Gambino running away from a dark room (with some recognizing it as the mental prison that black people get sent to in Get Out) from a group of authoritative figures. Wide-eyed and scared, Glover is running into an abyss with no light at the end of the tunnel.

You just a black man in this world, You just a barcode, ayy

You just a black man in this world, Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy

The declaration of the video to African-Americans is clear: You can, and never will, escape America.

April 1, 2019

I’m Not Racist

In 1803, Beethoven dedicated his epic symphony Eroica to Napoleon – the emancipator and hero of the French Revolution, yet Beethoven’s admiration for Napoleon as a champion of freedom quickly vanished as he recognized Napoleon’s newly established emperorship. As a result, he “violently erased Napoleon’s name from his manuscript — so forcefully, in fact, that he erased his way right through the paper, leaving holes in the title page”.

Composers and lyricists have long been creating music in a political fashion, whether it be the music or explicit lyrics that serve to announce their political views, artists have always been seeking ways to educate the public about the current social and political issues.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, American rapper Joyner Lucas sparked controversy after the release of his non-album single “I’m Not Racist” in November 28, 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43gm3CJePn0

The two parts of the song express the distinct opinions of a trump supporter as opposed to those of an African American man regarding the systemic racism that is very much alive today. For instance, the song opens with the trump supporter’s brutally honest perspective: “With all due respect, I don’t have pity for you black niggas, that’s the way I feel.” As the Trump supporter represents a larger culture of hateful racism, his contentious introduction suggests that the political view that African Americans “deserve” the unequal treatment that is present at various levels in our society. In the same part of the song, the Trump supporter uttered: “But you lazy as fuck and you’d rather sell drugs than get a job and be straight, and then you turn around and complain about the poverty rate”. It would have been much more problematic if the song had ended just there as it legitimized the effects of the systemic racism by proposing a causal relationship between the actions of African Americans and their “race-specific” circumstances. In a similar fashion, American rapper Kanye West caused online furor when a video went viral showing his statement at TMZ headquarters on May 1^st, 2018: “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”

Thankfully, the second part of “I’m Not Racist” offered the perspective of the African American man and strove to explain the current trends in the African American community from a historical perspective: “And even if I wasn’t picking cotton physically that don’t mean I’m not affected by the history. My grandmomma was a slave, that shit gets to me”. Of course, there is something to be said about the psychological impacts of being the descent of slaves, but as we look at the current racial issues today, people rarely discuss the origins of these issues, blinding us from the truths that surround the cultural trends of the African American community. Furthermore, the African American man in the music video vocalized his thoughts: “Hatred all in your brain, it slowly start to convince you, and then you teach it to your children until the cycle continue”. The message is clear: Racism is taught – it is a human construct made to oppress the minority.

Although the song expressed strong opinions from both sides of the political spectrum, it did not conclude the “right” view, leaving the audience in deep wonderment. It is obvious that songs like “I’m Not Racist” are made to pronounce political opinions to the mass, but the effect goes far beyond the music and lyrics themselves: just as Beethoven “un-dedicates” his epic symphony to publicize his condemnation toward Napoleon’s emperorship, I believe that we can impact the political views of our generation if dominant artists today can speak up against ignoble and corrupted political actions.