HOPE
The album HOPE is a compilation of songs that are all pro-Obama. It is a pro-Obama culture that exists not only in America, but around the world. To show this, there are a few different types of styles on this album; there are associations with these styles that show the diversity in the types of people that support Obama.
One example of this is “Yes We Can” by will.i.am. This song is about hope., though it is not specific about what to be hopeful for. The video implies to be hopeful for a better future and that Obama will give that hope to America. The video also implies that there already is hope in America. The style of this song is associated with both the Caucasian population and the African-American population. The reason for this song being associated with the Caucasian population is the actual style of the song: there is acoustic guitar and it is used in the same way that the Plain White Ts use it in their song “Hey There, Delilah”. The reason that this song is associated with the African-American population is because of the style of singing in some of the celebrities involved in the song. Some of the singers use a sort of fusion between soul and pop in the timbre of their voices.
In the song “You Rock, Barack!”, the singer states actual specific political messages. He wants Barack Obama to “End the war in Iraq, Bring our brothers and sisters back”. It is pretty safe to say that this is a view that is shared between all Obama supporters. It is even safe to say that this is a view that is shared not only between all democrats, but also most republicans as well. In this way, it is great that the singer relates to the other political party, because this could have potentially made someone re-evaluate their favored candidate. This song is also one that could be associated with the Caucasian population. The instrumentation and timbre of the voice says “Caucasian” all over it; it is an acoustic guitar, harmonica, and a white man singing. To me, the harmonica is associated with the Caucasian population because of its association with bluegrass and even country. These are obviously genres associated with the Caucasian population. Also, again, this song uses the guitar acoustically kind of like the Plain White Ts use it in “Hey There Delilah”.
“Obama Song” by Michael Franti and Spearhead is much different than either of the songs “You Rock, Barack!” and “Yes We Can”. Most of the styles involved in this song are African-American. For starters, there is some Civil Rights Movement footage in the video. There is also some rapping. In fact, a whole verse is rapping. Another African-American aspect of this piece is the way the woman sings. She sings in a soulful way, sort of like Etta James in “Sunday Kind of Love”, which is a staple in black progression. And to add on to that, there is even another aspect of African-Americanism in this song. The male singer (not rapper) is also singing in a way that could easily be associated with the African-American culture. He is singing in a sort of reggae style. The music even goes along with his reggae singing, though it seems like a kind of fusion between reggae and American (Caucasian) pop/rock. So this song is not completely African-American styled. These are interesting points, because even though this song is in a typical form of any American pop song (a few verses, refrain, and a bridge), each verse is different in terms of style.
The lyrics of this song are uplifting, even though there are no real political points in it. They are saying “yes we can” and “we all come together” over and over, along with “Barack Obama”. Even though it seems silly and pointless on paper, when I watch the video, I feel like I could do anything with Barack Obama as my president. The words with the images of the Civil Rights Movement footage must be the things that, together, help get this message across.
These are only a few examples of the diversity of styles (and people) in Obama songs and supporters. So even though these songs all have the same basic form, they all use different styles since they are not all from America.
The form of these songs is not the only thing they all have in common. All of these songs are strictly (or mostly) presentational. The form is pre-planned and there is an audience/artist separation. However, there are differences between some of these songs within the presentational parameters.
The audience’s attention to detail could vary from song to song. In a song like “Yes We Can” by will.i.am, the audience would want to pay more attention to the words because there are so many different celebrities that they recognize and respect. Also, Obama’s voice comes on, and since the song is about Obama and people that support him, it is only logical the typical listener would want to hear what he has to say. However, in a song like “Obama Song” by Michael Franti and Spearhead, the beat is so catchy and the words so much less meaningful that the words do not matter as much to an audience.
Even though all of the songs on this album have presentational characteristics, there are some participatory characteristics as well. The recordings of people talking about Obama were put into the song “Yes We Can” afterwards. There was no script that was written out for all of those people. Will.i.am just inserted the voices and statements that he wanted, and decided where they went after he made a recording. But he knew that he was going to use the recordings in the song. He wanted many people to participate in the song, and this is one of the only ways that so many people can participate in a song.
There are also some aspects of high fidelity music in some of these recordings. In some recordings, there are people cheering or clapping. Sometimes the audience is clapping for the song, and sometimes the audience is clapping for Obama (after a quote of a live performance). Also, in the video for the song “Change” by Manze Dayila and Nago Nation, people seem to just join in on the dancing while the song is being sung. This makes the recording seem live, though it obviously isn’t.
Studio Audio Art is another thing that is included in this album. Some of these songs would be impossible to perform. Will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” is a perfect example of this. This song was compiled almost primarily by splicing. He took a bunch of sound and music clips and put them all together to make a song that makes sense. So when the recordings of all of the celebrities’ voices were made, they had no idea where they would fit in the song. He didn’t even know until he was finished. The song was created to be listened to, not to be performed.
So as you can see, the pro-Obama population is very diverse. There is anything from an Irish-styled song to a rap. And it is also clear that not all of these songs are made or sung by Americans. And not all of these artists agree on the way in which Obama should be represented in a song, but they all agree no the message: Obama is the best candidate.
Citations:
Turino, Thomas. 2000. Four Fields of Music Making. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
http://stefanobloch.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/obama-hope-sheppard-feirey1.jpg. Last accessed May 14, 2009.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44643000/jpg/_44643269_obama_ap466b.jpg. Last accessed May 14, 2009.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2008-11/43200271.jpg. Last accessed May 14, 2009.
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