Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
Bob Dylan is widely considered one of the most celebrated political singer of his generation. With songs like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Masters of War’ from his 1963 album, ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’, it is not hard to see why he has been revered as such. In 1962, however, when Blowin’ in the Wind was first played publicly, Dylan swiftly dismissed the song as being one of protest: “This song right here, it aint no protest song or anything like that, ‘cause I don’t write no protest songs” (Rolling Stone, 2011). It goes without saying that, once a song has entered the public domain, it takes on a meaning of its own, as bestowed by its audience. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album signified the dawn of the protest-song-era. It would pave the way for other notable singers associated with ‘movement music’ (largely associated with civil rights), such as John Lennon, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke and Abbey Lincoln. Yet, post-1960’s saw a rapid decline in such music as singers found their record labels disowning them in favour of more commercially viable alternatives (Tillet, 2015). That is not to say that protest songs were obsolete though. As Bob Marely proves, with hits such as ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ (1973), ‘War’ (1976), ‘Concrete Jungle’ (1978), and ‘Redemption Song’ (1980), they continued to make their way into the mainstream:
ReplyDelete“Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights…You might fool some people sometimes. But you can’t fool all the people all the time. So now we see the light. We gonna stand up for our rights!”
Turning to our modern day, there are a host of music artists that continue to uphold the spirit of protest. Though arguably it is harder for such artists to attain the same status as ‘revolutionist’ achieved by Dylan. Mainly because the timing of Dylan’s music struck a chord with the American public – addressing social and political issues amidst times of war and oppression. This in turn spread globally thanks to the burgeoning developments of mass media. Yet, the spirit continues, albeit in a different form to then. Eminem is one that immediately spring to mind. Never one to shy away from controversy, his 2002 track ‘White America’ fights to promote freedom of speech against the backdrop of emerging cultural conservatism, labelling the United States of America as the ‘Divided States of Embarrassment’. He directly and personally addresses those committed to oppressing such rights, such as Vice President Dick Cheney, while his 2004 track, ‘Mosh’, was written in response to the Iraq war America was involved in:
“Stomp, push shove, mush, f*** Bush, until they bring our troops home…Strap him with an AK-47, let him go fight his own war…No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil.”
More recently Eminem has voiced his opinion about newly elected Donald Trump in his a cappella piece titled ‘Campaign Speech’ (2017): “You say Trump don’t kick ass like a puppet. ‘Cause he runs his campaign with his own cash fundin’. And that’s what you wanted. A f****n loose cannon who’s blunt with his hand on the button. Who doesn’t have to answer to anyone – great idea!”
Domestically, New Zealand musicians have spoken out about their disapproval of social and political issues. Inspired by Bob Marley, reggae band Herbs wrote and performed songs about fighting social and political injustices. Their music regularly denounced the Crown’s treatment of Maori land rights protestors, the Dawn Raids, nuclear testing and even South Africa’s apartheid (Moffat, n.d.). This latter example can be found in Azania (Soon Come) off their 1981 EP 'What's Be Happening?':
Delete"Pretoria. We see through all your lies. Holding your evil system under multi-racial disguise. White racist holding power through the barrel of a gun. Soon come liberation war. Send racists on the run.”
Some New Zealand rap has even taken to protest songs with the likes of Upper Hutt Posse. Inspired by the likes of Public Enemy, particularly their 1989 track ‘Fight the Power’, the group has been known for its songs of social activism, resistance and protest against the mistreatment of minority groups (Reekie, 2016). Many examples can be found on their 2011 album titled ‘Declaration of Resistance’. One track that sticks out is titled ‘Government Departure’:
“I wanna see a government departure. All them ever brought is death and disaster…Government policies designed to keep us down. Wicked court system just to f*** us around…Wake up people time to realise. We gotta fight for justice. Fight till the day we die.”
Of course there are many more examples aside from rap. Many recent songs are aimed at promoting social change without the aggression that is often associated with rap and hip hop. The Black Eyed Peas’ 2003 song ‘Where is the Love’ immediately springs to mind. The song was written and released in response to the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. It has become somewhat prophetic, given our current global political climate:
“Overseas, we try to stop terrorism, but we still got terrorists living here. In the USA, the big CIA. The Bloods the Crips and the KKK. But if you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate. And when you hate then you’re bound to get irate.”
As can be seen above, some protest songs are more aggressive in their tone and language to assert their message, and to demand change. Yet, others present theirs in a milder manner to better reach the general public. Whatever form they take, it is clear that these handful of examples prove that the protest song is still alive and well.
Like always, there is some great discussion here. I find it very interesting how Bob Dylan swears he did not write 'Blown in the Wind' as a protest song, and yet songs like that one went on to earn him the Nobel Prize in literature. It really proves what you're saying about songs gaining their own meaning once they're in the public domain.
DeleteNevertheless, I found your examples of modern day protest songs quite vague. The majority of the songs you mentioned are in no way modern, and are actually from the early 2000s. I think it's interesting to consider if protest songs exist in the current day as they did back then because in my opinion, they don't.
We still have artists whom attempt to protest war, government, racism and all else, but they in no way gain popularity like Eminem and Bob Dylan once did. For instance, Solange Knowles released an album last year titled 'A Seat at the Table' (2016). The songs echoed themes of segregation and racism, and although it was widely acclaimed by critics, it found little popularity among the public.
It seems that nowadays, the only protest songs that are becoming popular, are the ones relating to self-love, body image and beauty. Examples of this include 'All About That Bass' (2014) by Meghan Trainor, 'Love Myself' (2015) by Hailee Steinfeld and 'Confident (2015) by Demi Lovato. Some of the lyrics in these songs include; "You know I won't be no stick-figure, silicone Barbie doll", "Gonna love myself, no I don't need nobody else", and "What's wrong with being confident?".
Modern day society is so inundated with beauty ideals, especially by the media, and therefore it makes sense that today’s protest songs reflect that. However, our world is still being tainted by war and political unjust, and it is therefore interesting to consider that songs about rejecting beauty ideals have become more important than songs advocating for peace. Does this reflect the increasingly narcissistic and superficial nature of the first world?
References
Knowles, S. (2016). A Seat at the Table [CD]. America: Columbia Records.
Martin, M. (2015). Confident [Recorded by D. Lovato). On Confident [CD]. America: Universal Music Group.
Mattman & Robin. (2015). Love Myself [Recorded by H. Steinfeld). On Haiz [CD]. America: Universal Music Group.
Trainor, M. (2014). All About That Bass [Recorded by M. Trainor]. On Title [CD]. America: Epic.
As always Thorne, your response is welcome.
DeleteI think you are right, I should have provided more current songs and perhaps researched a bit wider. I have only just (for the first time) listened to the examples that you have listed, and I understand their sentiment; especially in a world that flaunts external beauty as success. On this note, I think you have made a great and very valid point.
In the same vein as the songs you have presented as examples, Lady Gaga is perhaps the most well-known for delivering such a message. Her 2011 song ‘Born This Way’ distils the notion of one’s need to accept their own image and love themselves.
“There’s nothing wrong with loving you the way you are…So hold your head up girl and you’ll go far…Don’t hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you’re set.”
So, in response to your question of whether current protest songs reflect the increasingly narcissistic and superficial nature of the first world - my answer is an emphatic yes. But I don’t think that means that protest songs, such as that from Bob Dylan and Eminem, no longer exist. You have used Solange Knowles as an example of a political song being swiftly disregarded in the public domain. But what about Beyoncé Knowles? A recent article from Billboard Magazine has hailed her as the next Bob Dylan of our time, claiming she has become the most powerful political voice in pop music’ (Armstrong, 2017). Songs such as ‘Girls (Who run the World?)’, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Formation’ all project themes advocating for equal rights among sexes, races and especially for minority rights (Armstrong, 2017).
Additionally, singer/ songwriter M.I.A is somewhat of a political provocateur, with songs such as ‘Borders’ that speaks of the refugee crisis in Europe:
“Borders (What’s up with that?). Politics (What’s up with that?). Police shots (What’s up with that?)…Yeah f*** ‘em when we say we’re not with them. We solid and we don't need to kick them. This is North, South, East and Western.”
Sure, perhaps it is not quite the same as Bob Dylan. But we have to remember the timing of his music against the backdrop of emerging global threats and political frustration. Arguably these issues present themselves yet again. However, as pop and hip-hop music dominates our popular culture, it’s no wonder these genres have become the avenue to present such socio-political issues to rally against.
As Dylan said: ‘These time, they are a changing’
References:
Armstrong, J. K. (2017). Why Beyoncé could be the Bob Dylan of our time. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7662691/beyonce-protest- bob-dylan
References:
ReplyDelete500 greatest songs of all time. (2011, April 11). Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/bob-dylan-blowin-in-the-wind-20110517
Fonoti, T. (1981). Azania (Soon come) [Recorded by Herbs]. On What's be happen? [Vinyl record] Auckland, New Zealand: Warrior Records/WEA.
Hapeta, D. (2011). Government Departure [Recorded by Upper Hutt Posse]. On Declaration of Resistance [Digital download] Wellington, New Zealand: Jayrem Records.
Mathers, M., Young, A., Elizondo, M., Baston, M., Pope, C. (2004). Mosh [Recorded by Eminem]. On Encore [Digital download] Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.: Shady Aftermath Entertainment/ Interscope Records.
Mathers, M., Resto, L. (2017). Campaign Speech [Recorded by Eminem]. Promotional Single [Digital download] Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.: Shady Aftermath Entertainment/ Interscope Records.
Marley, B & Walsh, P. (1973). Get up Stand Up [Recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers]. On Burnin’ [Vinyl record] Kingston, Jamaica: Tuff Gong/ Island Records.
Moffat, G. (n.d.). Herbs History. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from http://www.glenmoffatt.com/herbs_history.html
Reekie, T. (2016, June/July). Moments like these: Upper Hutt posse’s Te Kupu aka Dean Hapeta. NZ Musician Magazine. Retrieved from http://nzmusician.co.nz/features/moments-like-upper-hutt-posse-s-te-kupu-aka-dean-hapeta/
Tillet, S. (2015, January 19). The return of the protest song. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://time.com/3672318/protest-song-returns/
will.i.am, Taboo, Timberlake, J., Fratantuno, M.; Pajon, G. (2003). Where is the love? [Recorded by Black Eyed Peas]. On Elephunk [CD single] Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.: A&M/ Interscope Records.
What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
ReplyDeleteThe Beat Generation, a post-World War II literary movement, was a manifestation of rebellion. Two prominent figures of the movement, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, met in 1944 at Colombia University and went on to form a circle of friends that subsequently became the ‘Beat Generation’ (Russell, 2012). The word ‘beat’ itself, was originally meant to describe people who have been beaten down and walked all over (Rahn, 2011). However, as Kerouac later discussed, in the context of the Beat Generation, “beat” not only described those who were beaten down, but also those who were willing to stand-up and take part in the “revolution in manners in America” (Kerouac, 1959).
At the core of the movement, was the notion of questioning. Authors of the Beat Generation such as Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac, all questioned the materialism of society, the destructive nature of capitalism, the prudery of their parents, political unjustness and all else that plagued society (Rahn, 2011). As Rahn states, these authors were “in opposition to the clean, almost antiseptic formalism of the early twentieth century Modernists.” (Rahn, 2011). On this basis, they set out to intertwine the themes of drugs, crime, gay sex and racial integration, into their work and subsequently present a world that had previously been shunned and isolated.
The writers of the Beat Generation, known as the Beats, shared many common qualities. Firstly, the majority of them were well-educated men from middle class backgrounds (Rahn, 2011). Although it is awfully ironic, by being middle-class and educated, they were actually given an insight into the capitalist, materialistic and politically corrupt world of which they were a part of. In result, many of them grew heavily dissatisfied and frustrated, hence the work they produced. Ginsberg’s 1956 poem ‘America’ is a clear example of this. “Are you going to let your emotional life be run by Time magazine?” (Ginsberg, 1956). Ginsberg is asking if Americans are going to let a news magazine, and all magazines for that matter, dictate how they feel. This is a direct critique of American media and the naivety of American citizens, to willingly ingest and accept it.
Other common qualities that the Beats seem to have shared, include excessive “drug” and “alcohol” intake and “supposed sexual deviance” (Rahn, 2011). Many academics have noted that these addictions may have been a source of inspiration for their work and on the flip-side, a symptom of being truly dissatisfied with the “antiseptic” and “capitalist” world in which they lived (Rahn, 2011; Raskin, 2004).
Ultimately, the Beats had a unifying sense of discontent with America and the world. This discontent translated into their poetry, and their poetry translated into protest. Although there has been a lot of reform since their time, their work has remained popular and as Russell notes, this is because their words are still relevant. “Drugs are still demonised, homosexuality is still frowned upon, hetero sex is only permitted if it’s selling something and the sensor still guards us,” (Russell, 2012, p.1946). This means that more than half a century later, the Beat Generation and their messages are still relevant because there are still those of us who sadly haven’t been able to receive them.
References
Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl and Other Poems. San Francisco: City Lights Books.
Kerouac, J. (1959). Origins of the Beat Generation. United States: Playboy.
Rahn, J. (2011). The Beat Generation. Retrieved June 9, 2017, from http://www.online-literature.com/periods/beat.php
Raskin, J. (2004). American scream: Allen Ginsberg's Howl and the making of the Beat generation. United States: University of California Press.
Russel, J. (2012). The Beat Generation. United Kingdom: Oldcastle Books.
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
ReplyDelete1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
A Wasteland is an unused area that has become barren.
"The Waste Land" has for quite some time been viewed as T. S. Eliot's masterpiece. In its five areas, he digs into topics of war, trauma, frustration, and death enlightening the overwhelming delayed consequences of World War I. The poem last line, in any case, calls for peace with the reiteration of "shantih" (the Sanskrit word for "peace").
Part I opens with the well-known line, "April is the cruellest month." The speaker, Marie, is a young lady who takes the stand concerning the physical and passionate destruction caused by the war.
Parts II and III describes the inside of a rich lady's room and the junk filled waters of the Thames, separately. Part IV eulogises a drowned man named Phlebas.
In the fifth and last piece of the poem, the speaker "interprets" the thunderclaps breaking over an Indian wilderness. The ballad closes with the repetition of the Sanskrit word for peace: "shantih."
When Eliot wrote The Waste Land, World War I had quite recently finished, and the impacts of this contention on Europe and rest of the world were gigantic. Seriously...huge. The war left entire segments of some of Europe's greatest urban communities, including London (where Eliot invested a lot of his energy), in remains. These occasions impacted Eliot significantly, and we can see the war-torn cities of WWI prowling behind the ruinous scenes we locate everywhere on Eliot's lyric.
The world had changed, and Eliot wasn't the only one in feeling like verse expected to change too with a specific end goal to mirror the experience of another, baffled era. Elliot, alongside a gathering of writers called the innovators, started growing new standards for writing and poetry and the results of their efforts amounted to nothing short of a revolution
The themes of the waste land poem are disillusionment. There are just two two themes in the poem, which thus, create many sub-topics. The first of this significant theme is disillusionment, which Eliot demonstrates is the present situation in current society, particularly the post-World War I Europe in which he lived. He shows this unavoidable feeling of frustration in a few ways, the most striking of which are references to richness ceremonies and sad sex. To begin with, Eliot draws on the sorts of ripeness legends talked about in Weston's and Frazer's books. For instance, in the start of the principal area, he utilises an expanded picture of a breaking down corpse lying underground in winter, which "kept us warm, covering/Earth in forgetful snow, feeding / a little life with dried tubers.”
A tuber is the fresh piece of an underground stem, yet here it is human flesh, sustaining new plants. Human culture is disillusioned to the point that it has experienced an ethical death, a thought on which Eliot plays all through the poem. Actually, in the second stanza, Eliot offers a complexity to the primary stanza, which at any rate offers "a little life." In the second stanza, be that as it may, the land is all "stony rubbish," where roots and branches don't develop, and "the dead tree gives no shelter," and there is "no sound of water." Eliot also expresses disillusionment through episodes of joyless sex, such as through the example of Philomel, upon whom sex is forced.
The Waste Land (1922), is recognised as the most compelling poem of the twentieth century. It is maybe the most critical, most acclaimed and adored a bit of present day verse in the English language. The author, T S Eliot, is held in similarly high regard in the literary world as the poet who most influenced and changed the way of the poem and abstract feedback in the modern world. After much debate over his poem in the 1920s, his reputation progress and his influence attested its power in the 1930s. Eliot won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948 for his work on a modern poem. There are several characteristics that make The Waste Land a great poem and account for the impact it has had on modern poetry. The foregoing tries to draw attention to only a few of them.
DeleteReference:
e notes, (n.d.). The Waste Land Summary. Retrieved from: https://www.enotes.com/topics/waste-land/themes
Poetry Foundation, (n.d.). The Waste Land. Retrieved from:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poe