Music and the Politics of Identity

I want to preface the presentation of my CD by saying that I don’t know if a CD like this would make sense to anyone outside of our class. But I hope you guys like it!

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Race
1. “Say It Loud (I’m Black and…Proud)” James Brown 2:46
2. “Ebony & Ivory” Stevie Wonder/Paul McCartney 3:43
Class
3. “Working Class Man” Jimmy Barnes 4:01
Gender
4. “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” Shania Twain 3:54
5. “Independent Woman pt 1″ Destiny’s Child 3:41
6. “Video” India.Arie 4:10
7. “Fairytale” Sara Bareilles 3:15
Sexuality
8. “I’m Coming Out” Diana Ross 3:54
Religion
9. “Lions” Lost and Found 2:57
Nationality
10. “The Universal Soldier” Buffy Sainte-Marie 2:21
11. “American Idiot” Green Day 2:54
12. “Same Thing” Flobots 3:29
Ethnicity/Diaspora
13. “Englishman in New York” Sting 4:34
Resistance
14. “We Shall Overcome” Joan Baez 3:31

Liner Notes:

The premise of this CD is that identity is a choice. Turino defines identity as “the partial selection of habits and attributes used to represent oneself to oneself and to others by oneself and by others” with “emphasis on certain habits and traits…relative to specific situations.” (2008:95) While “self-presentation” and “self-selection” of emphasized habits are vital to the construction of one’s identity (2008:102), one also cannot ignore habits that develop through the socialization process of picking up habits from people around us that we go through when we are young (2008:100). Often people make assumptions about what an individual does or believes in because they perceive someone’s identity as being associated with behavior characteristics that are often reflective of specific “cultural cohorts” (social groups that identify with specific habits that members of other social groups may not identify with). (2008:113) While such characterization of people’s identity according to a certain cultural cohort is not always intended to be negative, it is important to remember that a person has the ultimate power to determine their own identity, regardless of the labels that being associated with cultural cohorts might put on them.

All of the songs on this CD either reject negative characteristics or proudly affirm positive characteristics of identity labels foisted on the singers or the people they represent in their songs. These aspects of identity include race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, ethnicity/diaspora and resistance.

RACE
American popular music of the 20th century frequently contends lyrically or musically with issues surrounding race, a social category that the American Anthropological Association recently declared “doesn’t” officially “exist.” (Class lecture.) Though there is no biological basis for race, the color of one’s skin used to dramatically affected the privileges and behaviors afforded to them, and often still does. “A history of musical silence and racial exclusion” (Radano 2000:44) gave way in the United States of the 1960s to social movements powered by frustration and weariness with oppression and unfair treatment. Protest songs of the civil rights movement, which had its peak of activity from the mid-1950s to the mid 1960s, initially focused on obtaining freedom from oppression and ending the dichotomy between “white” and “black” Americans, but by the end of the 1960s protest songs like James Brown’s “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” were more popular, even with white audiences. “The unrelenting power and appeal of ‘race music’ ” (as songs by black Americans were often described) made talking about race with relation to differences in forms of popular music unavoidable as the century went on. (2000:21)

The persistence of racism in the USA even after the victories of the civil rights movement led to the 1982 release of “Ebony & Ivory,” a duet by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney that asks why people with different skin colors have trouble co-existing. The song shows how “music may be one of the few social practices that can truly fill” the “social spaces that [still] exclude the Other” race from the dominant, majority, wealthier and powerful class. (2000:44) This potential quality of music is one of the reasons why I was inspired to compile this CD and become a music history major, as prejudice and discrimination based on solely on the imaginary category of race still exist in the United States today. Songs like I’m Black and I’m Proud and Ebony & Ivory celebrate and recognize differences but not without calling for equality and fairness in spite of these differences.

CLASS
The nature and separation of different levels of class across the globe is a controversial issue that depends a lot on factors such as race, location, and education level, among others. Smethurst suggests that the genre of music associated with a certain class is defined by the positive “thematization of a class experience as well as the associative sounding of it.” (2006:77) An excellent example of such thematization (that really speaks for itself in terms of positive affirmation of the identity of a man who takes things “one day at a time”) is Jimmy Barnes’ “Working Class Man.”

GENDER
The historical dichotomy of afforded rights and respect between male, female and everything in between with regard to gender identities cannot be overlooked when considering the construction of identity in music. The other largest cultural cohort, in addition to that around race, to have been most oppressed for much of the 20th century is that of women. The woman’s liberation, or second-wave feminist, movement of the 1970s led to “increases in the power and access of woman…because women…demanded access to power” in spite of a lot of power coming traditionally from males. (Robertson 1987:243) Another tenet of the movement that became more recognized as the movement got stronger and affected the music of women is the recognized “right of all people to determine their own sexual, political, and spiritual selves.” (1987:240) The songs on this CD reflect the views of woman who strongly affirm this tenet. Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like a Woman, though it recognizes a distinction between gender roles of men and women, challenges the idea that “public display of power and presentations that exert social control” occurs only “in the male domain,” (2008:226) as her song focuses on strong, independent woman who don’t need men for the positive assertion of their identity. Destiny’s Child and India.Arie also capitalize on the image of the strong, independent woman in “Independent Woman pt. 1″ and “Video,” with India.Arie providing a more broader, “love yourself” no matter what idea that all people can just “get in where they fit and go on to shine.” Finally, Sara Bareilles’ “Fairytale” reflects the idea that women’s music can “create a catharsis of the spirit, both for [the performer(s)] and their communities” (2008:245) by expressing her frustrations with typical male approaches to the mythicized treatment of woman as beautiful and helpless people by creating alternative stories about the heroines in traditional fairytales, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. Bareilles suggests that these ideas are male-created and also that these feelings are universal by singing that the traditional “maiden” is not content with her current life but is “waiting on the next best thing” with constant hope for a change in the attitude of traditional society towards the perceived role of women.

SEXUALITY
“I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross is recognized as an anthem of the gay pride movement. For many people who identify as gay or lesbian, the song represents encouragement to “come out of the closet” and make their sexuality known, even in spite of the possibility of severe disapproval by family members, friends, or society.

RELIGION
Among the earliest known and documented music is religious music for worship purposes. Though music is still a key component of worship services today, artists often embrace their religious beliefs and affiliations as essential aspects of their identities that they choose to emphasize in songs distinct from music used for worship. In “Lions” by the band Lost and Found, the duo affirms their Christian belief that though they may be persecuted in body, their souls are saved by Jesus’ power. This is a positive affirmation of the singers’ belief that does not speak negatively of any other religion.

NATIONALITY
Some contemporary songs of resistance have rejected the idea that pride and belief in the dominant ideologies of one’s nation are an essential component of one’s identity as a citizen of their country. The necessity of war and military strength is challenged in “The Universal Soldier” by Buffy Sainte-Marie which provides an overview of the many wars that mostly young men have fought and died in. The popularity of songs such as “American Idiot” by Green Day show that a “symbolic umbrella of community” (Jenkins 2002:118) is just as present over American citizens who were or are still discontented with the country’s policies, not just over those who support all of their country’s policies unquestionably. “Same Thing” by the Flobots represents the desire of this community for changed, more humanistic policies that focus on increased access to healthcare and welfare and antiwar/terror policies such as the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

ETHNICITY/DIASPORA
The assertion of one’s ethnicity in their own country or in a different country, where one might also identify as a member of a diaspora, represents pride in the customs of one’s town, country or cultural cohort of origination. “Englishman in New York” by Sting represents the different habits that can be distinguished as markers of different identities between different people. Interestingly, recent shifts in thinking about ethnicity with a focus on different habits and processes instead of on groups “construe[s the] reality, power and significance” of ethnicity “in a different way” (Brubaker 2002:168) so that ethnic characteristics do not just represent political boundaries of countries but a “constellation of habits” (Turino 2008:101) of a certain social group. These habits are also reflected in diasporas as “a network of people who share and perpetuate amongst themselves the idea of a similar ‘homeland’ ” (Class lecture) in countries all over the world. Ethnicity and diaspora in music may be perceived by the musical and lyrical depiction of habits that are connected with mainstream ideas of a certain social group or “homeland.”

RESISTANCE
A live singalong version of We Shall Overcome led by Joan Baez is included at the end of the CD. “We Shall Overcome” is probably the most globally well known song of protest and a general call for the freedom of all people from oppression. The song has been employed in many different American social movements, particularly the labor unionizing and civil rights movements, and reflects the power of even simple songs to provide a unifying sense of resistance against policies or labels that are widely believed to be hurtful and wrong.

FINAL WORDS
I would argue that the connection between “the Possible and the Actual,” as originally suggested by James Lea and expounded on in Turino’s book, is the motivating force behind the compilation of the tracks of this album. All of these artists either push their listeners to see what could be in terms of a more accepting world or affirm positive aspects of preformed social identity labels even in spite of often negative imagery that surrounds these labels, so that the Actual way of life might reflect the Possible respect that could be afforded to all human beings, regardless of how they choose to define themselves.

-Anna Ernst
May 16, 2009

Buffy Sainte-Marie “The Universal Soldier”

Buffy Saint-Marie is a Native American singer who had many songs come out in the 1960s that protested the constant oppression of the Native American people in favor of a glorious positive history of the United States. Such songs included “My Country ‘Tis Of Thy People” and “Now That The Buffalo’s Gone”In “The Universal Soldier” she calls into question the ideology of war and puts the responsibility for its perpetuation on all individual citizens (”you and me”). A crucial musical moment of this piece is the fact that she chooses not to resolve the last chord, which suggests to me the idea that wars are still being waged even in spite of all the horrible consequences of them that she lists, and that they are not resolving fundamental human needs.

Lost and Found “Lions”

Religion is an aspect of identity that I don’t think we ever spent a lot of time discussing on it’s own in ETHN 210, though we must have discussed it in relation to other aspects of identity such as race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. My religious affiliation as a young Lutheran who grew up going to a church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a positive, very important part of my identity that I don’t think I often discussed in class. Lost and Found is a Lutheran duo whose songs I sang and concerts I attended at Lutheran youth gatherings I attended during my high school years; I love them because they are a lot of fun. This song is in a major key, has an upbeat 4/4 tempo and a repetitive chorus-verse structure with intermingling “Nos” (in reference to the fact that the lions as representatives of Satan aren’t going to get the singers’ souls because Satan is no match for Jesus’ power). In live performances of this song one of the singers uses a Slinky as a percussive instrument which means that I identify positively with members of my religious affiliation who recognize this “inside joke” and enjoy shouting “Slinky!” at key moments in the song. (Unfortunately, this version doesn’t have the slinky joke on it, but you can find more clips that do if you’re interested.)

Sting “Englishman in New York”

The coolest part of this version of this song is the quoting of jazz style (with the prominent saxophone player being joined by jazz drums, jazz piano and double bass) in the middle of the song as a musical index that reminds many listeners of the huge jazz scene in New York. Lyrical references to taking tea (instead of drinking coffee) and carrying a cane are symbols that remind me of my images of the British cultural cohort, that I probably acquired through socialization. The quote from the lyrics “Be yourself, no matter what they say” represents the main message that I hope to get across with the compilation of this album.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Brubaker, Rogers. 2002. “Ethnicity without Groups.” Archives Européenes de Sociologie 43(2): 163-89.

Jenkins, Richard. 2002. “Imagined but Not Imaginary: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Modern World.” In Exotic no more: anthropology on the front lines, ed. by Jeremy MacClancy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 114-128.

Radano, Ronald and Phillip V. Bohlman. 2000. Introduction: Music and Race, Their Past, Their Presence.” In Music and the Racial Imagination, ed. by Ronald Radano & Phillip V. Bohlman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1-53.

Robertson, Carol E. 1987. “Power and Gender in the Musical Experiences of Women.” Women and Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective, ed. Ellen Koskoff. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. 225-45.

Smethurst, James, 2006. “Everyday people: popular music, race and the articulation and formation of class identity in the United States.” In The resisting muse: popular music and social protest, ed. by Ian Peddie. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. 75-88.

Turino, Thomas. 2008. “Introduction: Why Music Matters.” In Music as Social LIfe: The Politics of Participation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1-22.

Turino, Thomas. 2008. “Habits of the Self, Identity and Culture.” In Music as Social LIfe: The Politics of Participation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 93-121.

MUSIC BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE
This CD is a compilation of different artists who boisterously expressed their political views and sexual identity through their music and made a difference in the social consciousness of present day society. The purpose of this CD is to show the powerful effect that music can have on people. Music can heal, cultivate, uplift, and can be used to overcome almost any obstacle. Whether it may be expressing your sexuality or trying to be treated with fairness and equality, music is a vehicle to achieving all these goals. When a specific culture is examined and studied its music is one of the first things that is considered and analyzed. Through music you can hear peoples ancestry and their influences. Take modern day “Reggeaton” which is sung in Spanish but the rhythmic elements are heavily influenced by African-American hip-hop and Jamaican reggae (I will talk more about these influences later when I describe “House” music). The socioeconomic status of different cultures has long been inseparable from their different musical styles. A person’s musical status can be determined by race, monetary class, gender or sexuality but, sadly these factors are used to judge anyone’s status not just a musical one. Even on a small scale within the same culture there are different levels of so called musical status, highbrow music versus lowbrow music. For example, in East India depending on what cast a person was born into they would only allowed to play certain instruments. Another example would be the so-called swing jazz players not wanting to play in the new Be-bop style of the 1940’s. While some artists were talking about their sexuality other artists embraced the musical status that was imposed upon them as a form of musical/political resistance.

JOSH WHITE AND ODETTA
Josh Daniel White (February 11, 1914 to September 5, 1969) better known as Josh White was a folk singer, guitarist, songwriter and civil rights activist. He grew up in the Jim Crow era and witnessed the brutal treatment of black Americans including the nearly fatal beating of his father. The racial boundaries were very defined and rigid in Greenville, South Carolina during Josh’s childhood and this upbringing had a profound affect on his outlook on life. Josh White was one of the first musicians to put African-American folk music on the professional stage. Folk songs are songs that the common people would sing but not necessarily perform. It takes a thoughtful mind to actively bring this cultural pride in the folk music of a downtrodden people to the forefront of cultural awareness. Through the medium of his music and with the help of the media, White was very productive in his music reaching the general public. White also was one of the first musicians to start singing and performing what would soon be called the “protest song”. These so-called protest songs directly challenged the image that was cast upon the African-American at the time and over the years had a large influence on the political and social attitude of American citizens.  An emotionally powerful song can raise a person’s consciousness and on a large scale can uplift a whole people’s consciousness and forge a new national identity. Some of his songs were very straightforward and the lyrics were critical of the racial policies in America. In the song “Freedom Road” he sang “ought to be plain as the nose on your face, there’s room in this land for every race”. Josh White was not afraid to talk about white and black and stated that nothing was going to get in the way of securing his own personal freedom and freedom for other African-Americans. He was open to unite in friendship with white Americans and fight against any form of hatred and discrimination. The fearlessness of his lyrics and the complete rejection of the racially constructed identity by white Americans were threatening to certain politicians in post World War II America. He was eventually accused of being a communist and banned from recording. White performed at many interracial venues and laid the groundwork for singers that followed him such as Odetta.
Odetta was a singer, guitarist, actress, and human rights activist. She was often referred to as the voice of the civil rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King called her the “Queen” of American folk music. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 31, 1930 and recently passed away on December 2, 2008. Unlike Josh White’s songs and lyrics, Odetta’s lyrics for the most part where not as blunt in content. One way in which Odetta expressed her protest was in the way she dressed. She did not conform to the usual way that American women dressed or even American black women. Odetta wore an afro and dressed more along the lines of traditional African attire. This was a conscious effort to regain a connection with her African roots. Odetta was also casting aside the image of a women being subservient to a man. She was a powerful woman with a powerful voice. A noticeable difference between Odetta and Josh White was that the “afrocentricness” of her stage presence was very clear.

FELA KUTI
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (October 15, 1938 to August 2, 1997). Fela was a West African musician who introduced the style known as Afro-Beat. These Afro-Beat orchestras where made up of approximately thirty musicians consisting of woodwinds, brass, guitars and many percussion instruments. The songs were very long usually over ten minuets in length. Most of the songs were vamps (which means not much chordal movement in the harmonic structure of the song). Fela began his musical career when he went to London in 1958 to study medicine but ended up studying music at Trinity College Of Music in Greenwich, London. In 1969 Fela came to the United States and discovered the Black Power movement. When he returned to Nigeria he became very politically involved in the affairs of the Nigerian state. Fela was in favor of Pan-Africanism and socialism. Most of his music was critical of the military regime in Nigeria during the 1970’s. Fela eventually declared himself independent from the Nigerian state, by forming what he called the Kalakuta Republic. Once he formed the Kalakuta Republic it became a micronation. Micronations resemble states but are not recognized by world governments. In Fela’s case this can be looked at as musical nationalism in one of its purist forms because, it was his music that formed and defined his nation. Fela was using his music as a tool to deconstruct the infrastructure of Nigerian politics. Fela sang his songs in Pidgin English so all ethnic groups in Nigeria could come together and understand his music (more than two hundred and fifty). Through this action, a culture and its people became one with their music and therefore are identifiable through Fela’s music. The Kalakuta Republic took the meaning of musical nationalism to new heights. In “Water Get No Enemy”, Fela was saying that water is a necessity to life. Everybody needs the water and everybody loves the water. In this song he uses water to relate how he feels about the urgency to change the political views of the government in order to live peacefully. Of course, Fela’s music was very popular with the Nigerian people but, the government was well against him. He used his music to reflect the struggles of the Nigerian people and expose the ruling government. In 1977 he released an album called “Zombie”. “Zombie” was extremely critical of the behavior of the Nigerian soldiers. This album would become one of his most famous and it would mark the end of the Kalakuta Republic. With the government enraged by the album’s content many Nigerian soldiers were sent to raid Fela’s housing complex. They severely beat up Fela and threw his mother out of a window; she later died. Fela’s music has and still does continue to influence many generations all over the world. On many occasions his music has been sampled into modern popular dance music.

HOUSE MUSIC
The social makeup of “House” music is predominately made up of two factors. These key elements happen to be sexuality and the spreading and mixing of cultural Diasporas. The undercurrents and following of this music are reminiscent of the “German Cabaret” of the 1930’s where the topic of homosexuality was discussed and performed freely through song and dance. During the 1980’s venues and clubs that played “House” music served as an outlet where gays could get together and express themselves freely. “House” music started to gain popularity around the late 1970’s and really took off during the 1980’s. It is said to have originated in Chicago, Detroit and New York. I will focus on its origins in New York City and the political aspects that surrounded this new type of music. Originally “House” music was not intend to go mainstream but inevitably became a vessel for political messages, one of which circulated around gays who were black. The idea of gender identification examines how we sexually portray ourselves and to what gender class we want to belong to if any. One of the main influences in “House” music was disco. In particular, a lot of “House” music comes from Latin disco. A great contributor to Latin disco was the record label called Salsoul Records. Salsoul Records was started by three brothers Ken Cayre, Joe Cayre and Stanley Cayre. Salsoul Records was based in New York and was most popular from 1974 to 1985. The word Salsoul equals Salsa+Soul. During the late 1970’s there was a dual absorption of cultures happening through the music. It was that of the Latin Diaspora melding into the African- American culture and being influenced by it but also having a direct influence on the culture that it was merging into. This double influence allowed the key elements of disco and Latin music to merge. In this new music drum breaks appeared where the lead singer and band (except for the bass and percussion) would drop out. During this break there would usually be a percussion solo most likely by a conga player. The drumbeat that house music is so greatly associated with is derived from the live drummers in disco using the “four on the floor” pattern. Little did the creators of this new music know that this combination of salsa and disco planted some of the first seeds to what would soon be known as “House” music.  In New York City this influence could have originated in the Bronx where there was and still is a large Latin population. Eventually within the genre of “House” there spawned subsets such “Deep House”, “Electro House” and many more. More recently, in 2005 in Chicago August 10th was named “House” unity day. “House” music continues to thrive and its main purpose is to spread peaceful vibrations.

TRACK LISTINGS.

Artist JOSH WHITE
1.  Freedom Road.
2.  Free and Equal Blues.
3.  Jim Crow.

Artist ODETTA
4. No More Auction Block For Me.

Artist FELA KUTI
5. Water No Get Enemy.
6. Zombie.

Genre HOUSE MUSIC
7. Disco/House late 70’s early 80’s style still a lot of elements remain from Disco.
8. House. Late 80’s early 90’s style House music.
9. Michael Watford. Early 90’s House

Photo courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jews_of_Salonika-1917.jpg

Greece’s Jews and Greek Jews – A Brief History

It’s midnight Friday in Thessaloniki.  A heavy hip-hop beat reverberates under the sidewalks of Nikis Avenue, as posh and primped revelers stroll through the waterfront Aristotelous Square.  Colored lights illuminating the entryways of competing clubs reflect off of the central fountain and onto the vibrating tide.  Ouzerias serve glass after glass of pale, milky cocktails to crowds of young partygoers celebrating the weekend’s arrival.  In Greece’s “hippest city,” it’s all about the glitz and glam — even on the Sabbath.

What does Shabbat have to do with a city whose Jewish population constitutes less than .004% of the citizenry?  Nothing, if you consult the deficient histories provided by most travel sources.  But beyond the compulsory tributes to Thessaloniki’s ancient ruins lies the rich and tragic – and largely overlooked – history of Greece’s most sizeable and influential Jewish communities.

The formation of “a mother-city” in the Mediterranean basin

With the council and advice of the eminent men and cavaliers of our reign, and of other persons of knowledge and conscience of our Supreme Council, after much deliberation, it is agreed and resolved that all Jews and Jewesses be ordered to leave our kingdoms, and that they never be allowed to return (from the Alhambra Decree, 1492).

With these bitter words, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain expelled the Jews from their territory, handed them over to the Ottomans, and forever changed the landscape of Jewish diaspora.  The Turks welcomed these uprooted “People of the Book” with open arms and pragmatically ushered them to Salonica (modern day Thessaloniki) as an exploitative measure to undermine the Greek presence there (Mazower 2004:48).  In order to assert global dominance over the Christian realm, Greek Orthodox presence in the region’s largest port city – Salonica – needed to be undermined.  The mass exodus of Jews from the Spanish imperial helped to accomplish this goal by diffusing the influence Christians had on Salonican life.  For all intents and purposes, the Ottomans were successful:  By 1520, “more than half of the city’s thirty thousand inhabitants were Jewish” and it had become a key eastern European commercial spot (Mazower 2004:49).

Even more significantly, with the influx of over 15,000 Sephardic Jews, Salonica had become a “miniature Iberia” that operated around the Jewish holy calendar (Mazower 2004:51).  The defining characteristic of this transplanted Spanish enclave was the linguistic predominance of Ladino, a variant of Judaeo-Spanish that combines Hebrew, Old Spanish, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, and Greek.  The potency of Jewish culture in Salonica became so overwhelming that the city took the name “Jerusalem of the Balkans” to indicate the closeness of its ties to the “mother-city” (Fleming 2007:63; Mazower 2004:50).  Indeed, it was not until Salonica officially came under Greek sovereignty in 1912 that the Greek language even entered the vernacular of the Jewish community.

A fragmented wider Greek Jewish “community”

Salonican Jews differ significantly from Romaniote (Greek-speaking) Jews in other urban centers such as Ioannina and Athens.  Jews have been living in Greece, or what is now Greece, since the first century C.E., long before Iberian Jews had arrived or noteworthy Christian settlements had taken hold (Fleming 2007:8).  These Jews, though initially part of the Judaic diaspora, fully assimilated into Greek culture.  Their immigrant communities eventually disappeared as they morphed into the larger Greek society.  When Greek Jews from Ioannina immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, they became part of the global Greek – not Jewish – diaspora.  A Greek tabloid, reporting on a Greek Jewish festival in Manhattan, described the “character” of the evening as wholly  “Greek…because Greek Jews speak, believe and feel as all Greeks and second, because they are Greek people” (Fromm 2008:15).  In 1935, when this article was written, Greek Jews in Salonica had only been learning Greek for twenty years.  (When Salonica became part of Greece in 1912, Greek language instruction became mandatory in all schools, even Jewish ones.)  Fluency in Ladino and Greek was common among the younger generation, but most Jews still only spoke Ladino.  In this way, the Jewish diaspora from Spain remained culturally isolated from the host country and managed to remain, in some way, non-Greek.

Further notes on diaspora

Certain elements of the Salonican Jewish community – namely the creation of a cohesive Sephardic community with its own language – mesh quite well with Turino’s discussion of diaspora (Turino 1994:5-7).  Others, however, due mainly to the finite nature of the exiling of the Jews from Spain, enter a gray area that renders the discourse on diaspora difficult to negotiate.  Jews of Thessaloniki kept as many ties to their “homeland” as logistically possible during the medieval period.  They “worshipped in synagogues named after the old long-abandoned homelands” and kept family names and traditions that “linked them to their past” (Mazower 2004:51).  Clothes, spiritual blessings, foods, business practices, and countless other ties preserved the bond between exiled Jews and the Spain they left behind.  One key element is missing: the desire to return to the homeland.  Sephardic Jews were much happier in a land that allowed them freedom to exist in (relative) peace than in one that expected them to adhere to religious and cultural practices that contradicted their own.  Mark Mazower expands the discussion to include the Jewish diaspora:

…only a few devout older people, usually men, were ever tempted to make the journey southeast to Jerusalem itself, even though it formed part of the same Ottoman realm.  As in Spain, the Jews came to feel – as one historian has put it – “at home in exile” and had no desire to uproot themselves once more, not even when the destination was the Land their holy books promised them (2004:50).

Indeed, to borrow from the Marrano poet Samuel Usque, Salonica “received them [the Jews] with love and affection, as if she were Jerusalem, the old and pious mother of ours” (Mazower 2004:50).  Despite this major differentiation from the standard definition of diaspora, I cannot see the Greek Jews of Salonica as anything other than a quintessential diasporic community.

Tragedy strikes

On April 9, 1941, 450 years after the first wave of Judaeo-Spanish outcasts fled Spain, German troops occupied Salonica and promptly began the process of targeting and harassing the city’s Jewish population.  The city, which had been deemed “one of the main Jewish centres” by one of Adolf Hitler’s closest “researchers,” was soon emptied of 98% of its Jewish population (Mazower 2004:410).  Soon after, all but a handful of the 45,000 Salonican deportees died at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (Mazower 2004: 411).  Upon release, most survivors immigrated to Israel or the United States.  The few who returned to Thessaloniki have tried to revive the city’s Jewish population by disseminating information about its vast, diverse Jewish history, but as can been seen (or not seen) from the cursory histories provided to modern tourists, there is still much of the story to tell.

A Salonican Musical History (Three selected pieces)

To Gri Gri – Tsifte Telli (The Little Fishing Boat) by Roza Eskanszi (Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ)

Roza Eskanszi (alternative spelling Eskanazi; née Sarah Skenazi) was a Greek Jew from Salonica who helped to shape Greek rebetiko music.  She also exemplifies the assertion of a Greek-Jewish ethnic identity within the context of a larger Greek nationalism that relies heavily on homogeneity.  The rebetiko movement in and of itself is based on a complex tradition of uniting “urban folk,” “proletarian” people in the artistic sphere (Cooper, Dawe 2005:50).  Eskanszi’s intimate involvement in furthering this movement is compounded by the fact that she herself was a member of an ethnic minority in Greece.  She was involved in providing shelter and food to Jews being pursued by the Nazis and was even involved in leadership positions in the resistance movement in Athens.

This song strongly alludes to the singer’s waterfront hometown through the extensive water imagery.  The tune is simple and structured squarely within the rebetiko mold, and Eskanszi’s performance outwardly reveals very little about a Jewish identity.  Eskanszi is considered “the Greek voice” (author’s emphasis) of her era but is consistently referred to as a “Jewish” singer even though there is scarcely any information about her involvement in the Judaeo-Spanish community (Nidel 2005:108).

Roza Eskanszi as a child with her family in Salonica

Photo courtesy of: http://www.btinternet.com/~judyin.london/rozaeskenazi/rozalife.htm

El Incendio de Salonica (The Fire of Salonica) by David Saltiel

This Ladino song tells the grievous story of the Great Fire of 1917 that destroyed nearly “three-quarters of the town within the city walls…and instantly created sixty thousand refugees” (Fleming 2007:76).  The entire city was in shambles, but the Jewish population was by far the most severely injured.

The Jewish community was worst affected for the fire had consumed its historic quarters: most of its thirty-seven synagogues were gone, its librarires, schools, club buildings and offices. … The damage was almost incomprehensible (Mazower 2004:300).

David Saltiel’s fervent baritone poignantly conveys the pain and suffering that Jews felt during that difficult time.  The Judaeo-Spanish text is a palpable medley of the requisite Hebrew, Old Spanish, and Greek, but the Greek infusion is highlighted by the bouzouki instrumentation.  Typically Ladino music is unaccompanied, but this song features both Greek and Sephardic accompaniment.  The steady hollow Sephardic drum provides a stabilizing contrast to the trembling bouzouki melody in a beautiful testament to the diffusion and mélange of musical flavors that make up the Greek-Jewish artistic identity.

Destruction from the Great Fire of Salonica

Photo courtesy of: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/Cities/Images/SalonikiFire1917.jpg

Etsi In’ I Zoi (Έτσι είναι η ζωή) (That’s the Way Life Goes) by Marinella

Before World War II, Sephardic “otherness” and resulting distance from the traditional Greek Orthodox community characterized the Salonican Greek Jew identity.  Despite the fact that the Ottoman handover of Salonica to the Greeks resulted in a mass effort to “make the city Greek” in the years leading up to World War I, Greek Jews were never really considered fully “Greek” by their non-Greek counterparts (Mazower 2004: 377).  It was not until Greek Jews were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau that their Greek identity usurped their Jewishness.   The vast majority of Jews interned at Auschwitz were Ashkenazim.  The linguistic commonalities between Yiddish and German facilitated communication with their captors, but Greek Jews who spoke a multitude of languages (Ladino, Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, etc.) but not the “mother tongue” faced increased hardship (Sevillas 1983:35).  While the Greeks suffered in trying to overcome the language barrier, “testimony after testimony indicates that the one thing about the Greeks for which the German guards had any appreciation was their music” (Fleming 2007:24).  German guards repeatedly requested impromptu performances from the Greek prisoners.  They sang Greek “folk songs, Greek patriotic songs,” and on one occasion even “Greek Christmas songs” to herald in the New Year 1944 (Fleming 2007:24).  The Germans enjoyed the spirited, “exotic” Mediterranean tunes without knowing that oftentimes the Greek singers would change the lyrics to “blow off steam” (Fleming 2007:24).  This song, the final track on the CD, was often sung in the concentration camp, sometimes with its original lyrics, sometimes with circumstantially altered ones.  The title, however, always remained the same: “That’s the way life goes.”  Indeed, for many Greeks, it was this music that kept life going.

Alternative lyrics:

Τη φυλακή εγώ δεν ήξερα / και τώρα τη γνωρίζω
Μες στο κελί γυρίζω / τους τοίχους αντικρίζω.
Όλα στο νου μου έρχονται: / τα γέλια κι οι αγάπες
Όλα γίνηκαν στάχτες στο τρένο της ζωής.

Έτσι είναι η ζωή, κορίτσια,/ πάντα έτσι είναι η ζωή
Νάμεστε κλεισμένες μες στο Αούσβιτς.
Νιάτα που περνούν, χαρές που φεύγουν / πίσω δεν γυρνούν.
Κορίτσια, κάντε υπομονή, θα βγουμε
Από το Αούσβιτς.

I didn’t know prison, now I do
Trapped in the cell, I stare at the walls
All comes back to my mind, the laughter and the loves
All became ashes, on the train of life.

That’s the way life goes, girls, that’s the way life always goes
For us to be closed up in Auschwitz.
Youth that passes, joys that leave and don’t come back.
Girls, be patient, we’ll get out
Of Auschwitz.

Translated by Katherine Fleming

Greek Jews forced to perform calisthenics by Nazi troops in Salonica

Photo courtesy of: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sephardimsalonica.html

CD TRACKS:

1. Anixi Sti Saloniki/Primavera en Salonico (Spring In Salonica) by Savina Yannatou (Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου) [2:26]

2. Psila Ine to Feggari (The Moon Is High) by Savina Yannatou (Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου) [2:50]

3. Adonay Malakh – Psalm 93 by Congregation of the Ioannina synagogue [2:08]

4. Tora Ta Pulia (Now the Birds) by Anna Raphael [2:30]

5. Purim Purim by M. Cohen [1:25]

6. Thessaloniki mou (Θεσσαλονικη μου) (My Thessaloniki) by Vagelis Trikas (Βαγγέλης Τρίγκας) [3:37]

7. To Gri Gri – Tsifte Telli (Little Fishing Boat) by Roza Eskanszi (Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) [3:22]

8. Tou Psara O Yios – Serviko (The Fisherman’s Son) by Roza Eskanszi (Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) [3:15]

9. Miserlou by the Klezmer Conservatory Band [4:19]

10. Misirlou by Manolis Agelopoulos [3:59]

11. Nihtose Horis Fengari (Νύχτωσε χωρίς φεγγάρι) by Stela Haskil [3:30]

12. Et Sha’are Ratzon: A Moment of Grace (Time to the Gates of Salvation to Open) by A. Negrin [3:17]

13. Who Are You? by The Gerard Edery Ensemble [3:33]

14. Ya Salió de la Mar la Galana by The Gerard Edery Ensemble [3:17]

15. Morena Me Llaman by The Gerard Edery Ensemble[4:31]

16. El Incendio de Salonica (The Fire of Salonica) by David Saltiel [4:11]

17. La Galana y la Mar (The Bride and the Sea) by David Saltiel [2:31]

18. La Huérfana del Prisionero (The Orphan of the Prisoner) by David Saltiel [5:03]

19.  Etsi In’ I Zoi (That’s the Way Life Goes) by Marinella [2:25]

WORKS CITED:

Cooper, David and Dawe, Kevin.  2005.  The Mediterranean in music: critical perspectives, common concerns, cultural differences. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Fleming, Katherine Elizabeth. 2007. Greece – A Jewish History.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Fleming, Katherine Elizabeth. 2007. “The Stereotyped ‘Greek Jew’ From Auschwitz-Birkenau to Israeli Popular Culture.” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 25.1:17-40.

Fromm, Annette B. 2008. We Are Few: folklore and ethnic identity of the Jewish community of Ioannina, Greece. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

Mazower, Mark. 2005. Salonica, City of Ghosts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Nidel, Richard. 2005. World Music. New York: Routledge.

Sevillias, Errikos. 1983. Athens – Auschwitz.  Athens: Lycabettus Press.

Turino, Thomas. 2004. “Introduction: Identity and the Arts in Diaspora Communities.” In Identity and the Arts in Diaspora Communities. Warren, Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 3-19.

(Photo – thenewblackmagazine.com)

Since its inception in the South Bronx in the late 1970’s, locale and space have been central to hip-hop. At the beginning, hip-hop crews and posses were often identified with their territory, as gangs had been before them (Price 9). As hip hop has spread around the country and around the globe, it has retained a sense of importance in the “turf” and specific place, while becoming linked to the global hip-hop culture. As Tricia Rose, one of the first influential hip-hop scholars states, “Identity in hip-hop is deeply rooted in the specific, the local experience and one’s attachment to and status in a local group or alternative family” (Heath 863). Some hip-hop scholars have described the spread of hip-hop as the “Hip-Hop Diaspora” (Motley 1). Since it refers to the spread of an art form and culture instead of the spread of a people, it can’t actually be described as a Diaspora, though there are many aspects that liken it to a Diaspora. In the following study, I’ll explore the idea of the Hip-Hop Diaspora and the conflicting identities that emerge with the global spread of hip-hop including association with and resistance to national identity and the racial identity clash of a “black” art spreading around the world.

Most studies of hip-hop trace its roots to the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City in the late 1970s. From the beginning, it has been a global art, created by immigrants. Many of the first hip-hop practitioners, along with US-born Blacks, were first and second generation Latinos (Basu xxi). It grew out of the political and social atmosphere of the end of the Civil Rights movement (Price 2). In the beginning, hip-hop consisted of DJs, the producers spinning records and creating the music of hip-hop by layering breakdowns over other records, b-boys and b-girls, the dancers of hip-hop, graffiti artists, and MCs, the rappers who have now become the most well-known part of hip-hop. These four elements, spinning, breaking, graffiti and rapping, are still the four central elements of hip-hop.

One of the first pioneers of hip hop was DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican American who was the first real hip-hop DJ, looping the drum breakdown section of records over the entire song (Price 11). He inspired the first b-boys, b-girls, created the first crew, the Kool Herc and the Herculords, and created party venues for hip-hop (Price 12).

DJ Kool Herc

Along with DJ Kool Herc, other DJs began to adapt his style and start the spread of hip hop. Some of the most influential were Grandmaster Flash in the South Bronx, Afrika Bambaataa in the southeast, and DJ Breakout and DJ Baron in the north (Price 12).

Grandmaster Flash (pabuc.wordpress.com)

Afrika Bambaataa (earwaks.com)

Hip-hop really started with the DJs who noticed that the dancers liked dancing most to the drum breakdowns and so started to loop them (Price 22). These dancers, who were inspired by the breaks and then inspired the DJs, were known as b-boys and b-girls, or breakdancers.  Breakdancing included highly acrobatic moves, footwork, floorspins, freezes, and incorporated many other dance styles of funk, popping, locking, gliding, etc. The Rock Steady Crew was one of the most influential early b-boy crews. They spread breakdance around the globe through tours and features in films such as Flashdance, Wild Style, Beat Street, Style Wars, and The Freshest Kids (Price 180). They used battles to recruit and initiate new b-boys and b-girls and to publicly exhibit their moves (Price 181). They were the first breakdance crew to perform in Carnegie Hall and for the Queen of England (Price 181). In this video, the battle scene from Beat Street, you can see examples of “top rock” (the majority of the standing moves), “locking” (consisting, in this case, mostly of body waves), “up rock” (the standing style imitating fighting), “footwork” (the fast leg moves with your hands on the ground), and “power moves” (the acrobatic spins and flips).

Beat Street – Rock Steady Crew (blue) vs. NYC Breakerz

(Photo – jojo.blog.mn)

The art of graffiti was that that was most easily spread by hip-hop practitioners. It was a way for the subculture to assert itself in a public sphere (Price 28). Writing and murals would appear on walls, subway cars, trains, overpasses, etc. Graffiti has often been associated with gangs – using graffiti to promote their gang and mark territory (Price 28). Because of gang association and accusations of vandalism, graffiti has long been outlawed and suppressed by the authorities. However, often, graffiti artists were not gang affiliated, simply individuals who wanted to express themselves publicly (Price 31).

The element of hip-hop that has gained most widespread attention and commercial success is that of of the MCs (master of ceremonies), or rappers. The MCs have been described as urban griots, harking back to the West African tradition of poets and storytellers, spreading and passing on oral history and knowledge about society (Stapleton 220). Modern rappers are use “spoken or sung word to tell stories and teach ‘life lessons’” (Stapleton 220). Rapper Chuck D described rap as the “CNN of Black people” (Basu 3). In the beginning, DJs also acted as MCs, commenting as they spun records (Keyes 2). However, as rap became more widespread, they began to hire separate MCs to rap over their beats. The 1979 release of the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” is often used to mark the real beginning of what we now think of as hip-hop culture (Heath 849).

“Rapper’s Delight” – Sugarhill Gang (original 1979 promotion video)

By the late 1980s, rap music had been transformed into a multi billion dollar industry. At this point, it was also gaining international popularity and the different elements of hip-hop were being practiced around the globe. Some of the catalysts of the global spread of hip-hop were “Rapper’s Delight,” the 1980 releases of Blondie’s “Rapture,” and the Soul Sonic Four’s “Zulu Nation Throwdown” produced by Afrika Bambaataa, the 1981 release of “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel,” and then in 1982, the release of UK artist Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals.”

“Rapture” – Blondie

“Zulu Nation Throwdown” – Soul Sonic Four

“The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” – Grandmaster Flash

“Buffalo Gals” – Malcolm McLaren

“Buffalo Gals” was especially important as it united all four elements of hip-hop in one video. The video included scratching, rapping, breakdance, and grafitti writing and with its international popularity, it spread the idea of a unified hip-hop culture based around the four core elements of hip-hop.

Now, hip-hop is seen as a global phenomenon, a transnational culture that has been described in terms of the “Hip-Hop Diaspora,” the “Hip-Hop Nation,” the “Hip-Hop Globe” and the “Hip-Hop Generation.” From it’s global start as an immigrant art in the US, it has spread outward again, creating deep-rooted hip-hop scenes across the world in countries as varied as France, Japan, Cuba, and many others. As Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle state, “the roots of rap and hip hop have become (and arguably always have been) international” (Basu 2).

Carol M. Motley and Geraldine Rosa Henderson describe hip-hop culture as a global Diaspora because it spans “ethnic, linguistic, and geographic boundaries” (Motley 243). As Thomas Turino describes it, a Diaspora consists of a culturally unified community dispersed from a real or imagined “homeland” to various host sites. The community maintains a sense of connection with the homeland and various other sites throughout the Diaspora while also incorporating elements of local culture. In this sense, if hip-hop were a people, it would fit perfectly into this description. Hip-hop is a community with its homeland in the South Bronx of the United States. From there, it has spread across the country and throughout the globe with hip-hop heads in other countries identifying strongly with the homeland and other host sites. For example, rappers and b-boys in Cuba are aware of and appreciate their national hip-hop as well as that coming out of France and the original “old school” and contemporary hip-hop of the United States.

Since the commonly accepted definition of the term Diaspora applies to a group of people, not an art form itself, hip-hop cannot be unproblematically labeled a “Diaspora.” However, Motley and Henderson argue that it is a Diaspora with “commonalities among the members of the hip-hop Diaspora” and that “the core essence of hip-hop is shared by marginalized groups” (Motley 243). They also evidence the Diaspora saying that “hip-hop is malleable and is adapted to speak to members of multiple national cultures, and localized socioeconomic and political conditions: hip-hop youth culture is glocalized” (Motley 243).

The term “glocalization” refers to the necessary adaption of any global art, product, etc., to local tastes and interests (Basu 3). Using this idea, globalization intensifies localization (Basu 3). In hip-hop, this is often the case, with hip-hop heads around the world adapting global hip-hop culture to their own aesthetics. As Motley states, “while the core essence and elements of hip-hop are shared by all members of the hip-hop culture, the aesthetic is adapted to suit multiple national cultures, localized conditions and grievances” (Motley 248) In some instances, this translates into the celebration of local culture and art through the use of the cosmopolitan formation that is hip-hop. In other cases, it results in the use of hip-hop to criticize or reject local habits or the national situation. Often, what occurs is a complex mix of the two.

A good example of this nationalist sentiment in hip-hop can be seen in the Cuban hip-hop group Orishas. Orishas are a hip-hop group who started in Cuba under the name Amenaza (Threat). Most of the members immigrated to France where they reformed as the Orishas. There, they have become the most internationally popular Cuban hip-hop group, but are often accused of selling out to consumerism and capitalism. Their song “537 Cuba,” is a remix of the iconic Cuban song, “Chan Chan,” made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club.

“537 Cuba” – Orishas

This is a love song to Cuba talking about the artist’s nostalgia and affection for his homeland. Adding to the music’s iconic reference to Cuba through the song Chan Chan, the lyrics speak of all things Cuban with the title, 537 Cuba, referring to the area code of Havana. The video adds another layer of iconicity with its images of Havana.

Lyrics of Orishas’ “537 Cuba”

Vengo de donde hay un río
Tabaco y cañaveral
Donde el sudor del guajiro
Hace a la tierra soñar.

Soy de Cuba,
Lo que impulso
Y que se pega,
Y cuando llega
No despega,
Pega, pega lo que puso
El Ruzzo en el discurso
Que Compay Segundo puso
Entre tus cejas.

Ahora la distancia queda.

Si de mi lengua estoy viviendo y calmando mi fiel tristeza
De qué forma quieres tú que yo detenga
La sangre de amor y patria que me corre por las venas,
Generaciones vieja y nueva de corazón sangre y pulmón.

Allá lejos dónde el sol calienta más
Olvidé mi corazón, un arroyo y un palmar.
Dejé mi patria querida hace más de un año ya,
Por más que me lo propongo mi herida no cerrará.

Vengo de donde hay un río
Tabaco y cañaveral
Donde el sudor del guajiro
Hace a la tierra soñar.

Extraño mi tierra querida
Hablar de ella ni lo intentes.
Todo el tiempo está en mi mente
La tengo presente, entiendes.
Me habla el corazón que no me miente, hermano.
Flotando ando pasando la mano, “mano”
Sobre el mapa de este mundo
Y desde lo profundo de mi corazón siento nostalgia,
Una extraña sensación como añoranza
De esta distancia
Que se interpone.
Que regresaré bien se supone
Y eso me pone el hombre más feliz por un segundo,
Ya lo cantó Compay Segundo.
Y yo de nuevo escucha el quejo de mi gente chico
Bien te lo explico
Cubano cien por ciento prototipo.

Me arrancaré el corazón y esperaré mi regreso
Para sacarlo otra vez y colocarlo en mi pecho.

Vengo de donde hay un río
Tabaco y cañaveral
Donde el sudor del guajiro
Hace a la tierra soñar.

Cayo Hueso
Saliom Pordo
Buenavista,
Miramar,
Alamar,
La Victoria,
Habana Vieja,
Barrio Nuevo,
Bejucal,
¿Dónde estás tú mi Rampa?
El sol que canta,
La catedral,
El Capitolio se levante en el oído de estas voces,
23 y 12,
Vedado,
Paseo del Prado,
Tus leones lado a lado,
Forman parte de mis tradiciones,
Mis emociones,
Eres tú mi Cuba,
Como tú ninguna.
Kabiosile
Soy Yoruba,
Que no quede duda,
Que si lloro es porque la extraño,
No ver mi Malecón,
A mis amigos de mi zona,
Los que nacieron conmigo,
Los que jugaron conmigo,
Recordarlos sin tenerlos me hace daño,
Año tras año
Sueño con volver a ver
A estos amigos que añoraba.
Color de la campiña cuando llueve.
El Morro, cañonazo a las nueve,
El que te quiere nunca muere,
No, jamás, jamás.

Vengo de donde hay un río
Tabaco y cañaveral
Donde el sudor del guajiro
Hace a la tierra soñar

English Translation

I come from a place where there is a river
Tobacco and sugar-cane plantation
Where the sweat of the peasant
Makes the land dream.

I am from Cuba,
Which imposed itself
And hits you
And when you arrive
You don’t break away
Hit, Hit, what was put
That Compay Segundo put
Between your eyebrows

Now, the distance is left!

If I live from my mothertongue
And calming my faithful sadness
How do you want me to stop
The blood of my love and my country
That runs through my veins
Old and new generations
Of heart, blood and lung.

There, far away
Where the sun heats more
I have forgotten my heart, a stream and a palm grove
I have left my dear native land
More than a year ago
For how much as I put my mind to something
My wound will not heal.

I come from a place where there is a river
Tobacco and sugar-cane plantation
Where the sweat of the peasant
Makes the land dream.

I miss my dear land
Don’t even intent to talk about it
It’s on my mind, all the time
I have it present, understand
The heart that doesn’t lie to me, talks to me, brother
Floating, i put the hand
On this world’s map
And from the bottom of my heart, i feel nostalgia
A strange feeling like sense of loss
Of this distance that interposes
That I will return well, it’s supposed
And this makes me the happiest man, for a second.
Compay Segundo has sung it, and me again
Listen to the moan of my people, boy
Good, I’ll explain it to you
Hundred per cent Cuban prototype.

I will pull out my heart
And I will wait for my return
For pulling it out one more time
And put it in my chest.

I come from a place where there is a river
Tobacco and sugar-cane plantation
Where the sweat of the peasant
Makes the land dream.

I come from a place where there is a river
Tobacco and sugar-cane plantation
Where the sweat of the peasant
Makes the land dream.

Cayo Hueso, San Leopordo
Vuena Vista, Miramar
Alamar, La Victoria
Habana Vieja, Barrio Nuevo
Bejucal
Where are you my Rampa?
The sun that sings, the Cathedral
The imposing building rises
In the ear of this voices
23 and 12, Vedado, Paseo del Prado
Your lions side one by one
Are part of my traditions
My emotions
You are my Cuba
Like you, nobody else
Caviosile, I am Yoruba
No doubt!(Of course!)
If I cry is because I miss it
Not seeing my Malecón
My friends from the neighbourhood
The ones that were born with me
The ones that played with me
Remembering them without having them, makes me suffer
Year after year I dream about seeing again those friends that I yearned for
Your smell of the countryside when it rains
The Morro, Cañonazo of the Nueves
The one that loves you, never dies, never, never.

I come from a place where there is a river
Tobacco and sugar-cane plantation
Where the sweat of the peasant
Makes the land dream.

(lyrics partially from lyricstranslate.com)

The same group has been highly critical of Cuba and the problems in the government and society. In their song “El Kilo,” they talk about all the lies and deception that is Cuba.

“El Kilo” – Orishas

Lyrics to Orishas’ “El Kilo”

A mi estilo te canto mi negro
A mi estilo voy

Mentira no, tíralo, pásalo písalo, asereo
Se te olvido, que el kilo no tiene
Vuelto no, asereo

Entro mi flow, entro mi clan
Mi voz como Jackie Chan
Que es lo que dan, mil cuentos mil
Promesas que enganchan
Yo sí, yo fui lo que te digo pipo
El dinerito es el gobierno
Quien lo raba chico
Habla tu habla como si yo te fuera ajeno
Habla tu, habla política cochina vemos
Pero porque tu esperas
Si el que espera, desesperas veras
Así que juega por la acera verdadera

Estribillo

Es invento es la bala trazante
Que utilizan todos los cuenteros
Los que dicen verdad no son tantos
Dime cuantos y donde los veo
Dime cuanto les costo llegar
Y si son buenos
No es por nada pero no dan ya nervios ni miedo
La mentira puede correr años tiene
Genios eso no lo niego
Recordando los tiempos de ataño
Solo puedo quitarme el sombrero
Lo que tengo es musicalidad viene de lejos
No es robado, ni copiado es más
Es heredado, es otra edad

Estribillo

Te lo advertí más de una vez
Que yo no entro en el juego
De pendencieros mentirosos
Y embusteros viejos
Para el que se atreve
Esta poniendo en juego su pellejo
Tremendo bla, bla, bla, tremendo guaguanco,
Rumberito recoge al Viejo que su tiempo
Ya ha pasado
Y ahora camina de lado embustero

A mi estilo te canto mi negro

La mentira no pasa, si no esperas
Desesperas y que
Ya te paso una vez, son dos
Si no lo ves

Estribillo

English Translation

In my style I sing to you, my black
In my style I go
Lie not, throw it, pass it, step on it, asereo (slang – dude, guy, buddy, etc)
You’ve forgotten, the kilo hasn’t got
No return asereo

I go in my flow, enter my clan
My voice like Jackie Chan
What’s what they give you
What-many-thousands
Promises that hook

I did, I was what I tell you pipo
Little money is the government
Who steals it guy

You speak as if I was foreign to you
You speak, speak dirty politics we see
But why you wait?
If who waits despairs, you see

So play on the real curb

The invention is the tracing bullet
What all story-tellers use
Those who say the truth are not so many
Tell me how many and where to see them
Tell me how hard it was for them to get here
And if they’re good
It’s not for nothing but they are not scary or nervous?
The lie can run for years
It has genius I don’t deny it
All I can do is remove my hat

Remembering the old times
All I can do is remove my hat
What I’ve got is musicality from way back
What I’ve got
It’s not stolen or copied, it’s more
It’s inherited, is another age

I warned you more than once
That I don’t get into the game
Of trouble-maker liars
And old liars / story-tellers
For whom dares
It’s putting your skin on the game
All that bla-bla, what a big guaguanco,
Rumberito (rumbler?) picks up the old man
Whose time is gone
And now walks on his side (crooked), liar

The lie doesn’t pass, if you don’t wait
Despair and
It happened once, it’s two
If you don’t see it

Along with the issues of national identity within the global hip-hop scene, the spread of hip-hop has created conflicting racial identities and issues dealing with the association of hip-hop as a “black” art and its appropriation by other races. As Halifu Osumare states, “No investigation of hip-hop inside or outside the United States can be complete without the discussion of the issue of race, its place in America, and the resulting appropriation and exportation of ‘blackness’” (Osumare 8). Sometimes in hip-hop, class identity takes precedent over racial identity. In rapper Lupe Fiasco’s song “Kick Push II,” he describes the poor hardships of young urban life, not exclusively for Black Americans, saying “And see, his girl was a white girl / But, just cause she was white, see her life wasn’t light-world / She, too had the drama thick…”

Internationally, issues of race in hip-hop are highlighted by the clashing racial identities of hip-hop as an African-American art coming into places where racial relations and identities are very different than those in the United States. In some places, where there are substantial African-descended communities, hip-hop is seen as a way to connect to a Black racial identity. For example, in France, hip-hop is often strongly associated with African immigrant communities (Basu 151). There is an abundance of references to Africa in French Rap lyrics and one of the first French rap hits, “Les tam-tam de l’Afrique” by IAM deals expressly with issues of slavery and French exploitation of African people (Basu 151).

“Les tam-tam de l’Afrique” – IAM

Lyrics of “Les tam-tam de l’Afrique” – IAM

Ils sont arrivs un matin par dizaines par centaines
Sur des monstres de bois aux entrailles de chanes.
Sans bonjours ni questions, pas mme de prsentations
Ils se sont installs et sont devenus les patrons,
Puis se sont transforms en vritables sauvages
Jusqu’ les humilier au plus profond de leur me.
Enfants battus, vieillards tus, mutils
Femmes salies, insultes et dshonores.
Impuissants, les hommes enchans subissaient
Les douloureuses lamentations de leur peuple opprim
Mais chacun d’entre eux en lui-mme se doutait
Qu’il partait pour un voyage don’t il ne rentrerait jamais,
Qu’il finirait dans un port pour y tre vendu.
Il pleurait dj son pays perdu.
Trait en infrieur cause d’une diffrence de couleur,
Chaque jour nouveau tait annonciateur de malheur.
Au fond des cales o on les entassait,
Dans leurs esprits les images dfilaient.
Larmes au got sal, larmes ensanglantes,
Dans leurs esprits, longtemps retentissaient
Les champs de la partie de leur tre qu’on leur a arrache
Mais sans jamais tuer l’espoir qui les nourrissait
Qu’un jour, il retrouveraient ces rivages feriques
D’o s’lvent jamais les tam tam de l’Afrique
Les tam tam de l’Afrique {2x}
Perchs sur une estrade, groups comme du btail,
Jets de droite gauche tels des ftus de paille,
Ils leur ont inculqu que leur couleur tait un crime.
Ils leur ont tout vol, jusqu’ leurs secrets les plus intimes,
Pill leur culture, brl leurs racines,
De l’Afrique du Sud, jusqu’aux rives du Nil
Et prsent pavoisent les usurpateurs
Ceux qui ont un bloc de granite la place du cur.
Ils se moquaient des pleurs et semaient la terreur
Au sein d’un monde qui avait faim, froid et peur
Et qui rvait de courir dans les plaines paisib

English Translation

They arrived one morning tens hundreds
Monsters on the wooden bowels of chan.
No hello or questions, not even of Presentation
They settled and became the patrons,
Until the deep humiliation of me.
Then turned into genuine wild
Battered children, the elderly tus, mutilated
Dirty women, insults and dishonors.
Helpless, men suffered in chains
The painful lamentations of their oppressed people
But each of them he even suspected
He left for a trip do not fall it does not,
He cried dj lost his country.
It would in a port to be sold.
Trait in infrieur because of a difference of color,
Each new day was harbinger of doom.
At the bottom of the holds were piled o,
In their minds the images dfilaient.
Got tears in sal, bloody tears,
In their minds, long loud
The fields in that part of their being that they were hard
But never kill the hope that feeds
One day it will find these shores Férique
D’o s’lvent never tam tam de l’Afrique
The tam tam de l’Afrique (2x)
Perched on a podium, groups like btail,
Jets right left like straw fetus,
They have taught that color was a crime.
They have a flight until their most intimate secrets,
Pill their culture, their roots behind,
From South Africa, to the shores of the Nile
And this pavoisent the thieves
Those who have a block of granite instead of the heart.
They were laughing and crying sowing terror
In a world that was hungry, cold and scared
And who run in the plains paisib

(lyrics from LyricsMode.com)

In other places, where there is less of an African population, hip-hop racial identity is often reinterpreted and adopted by minority groups. They identify with the marginalization of African-Americans and the resistance to this marginalization in hip-hop. This idea of “collective marginalization” or “connective marginalities,” refers to the “historic context of American racism” and the ability of global meanings of blackness to “signify parallel issues of marginality and difference marked already in other countries” (Osumare 62). Hip-hop allows people to become part of a larger global community when they are on the outskirts of their own society. Communities who “might be viewed as at the fringes of their respective societies, historically oppressed,” can become members of the connective marginality of hip-hop culture (Motley 246).

In Aotearoa, New Zealand, the Maori, the indigenous people who have been historically the oppressed minority group on the island, have adopted hip-hop as a method of resistance to the dominant social order (Mitchell 1). They have established a syncretic style of Maori music, African-American music, and global popular music with lyrics often sung in Maori (Mitchell 1). Maori hip-hop has adopted the global hip-hop culture, but associate it with a very strong, sometimes militant sense of local racial identity as an oppressed indigenous ethnic group.

“The Revolution Will Not Be Colonized.” – Revolution MCs

This song, by the Maori Aotearoa hip hop group, Revolution MCs, denounces the destructive history of European colonization. Though it is done in English, there are many groups who use Maori language, such as UHP, the Upper Hutt Posse including Dean Hupeta, the first Maori rapper to release a recording (Mitchell 1).

“Ngati” – Upper Hutt Posse

Across the world, hip-hop is being used and adapted to people with many different identities and many different goals. However, despite the importance given to location and specific identities, members of the global hip-hop communities are all linked through the the cosmopolitan art and culture of hip-hop. Today, hip-hop is incredibly widespread, permeating many aspects of life for various communities. As rapper Snoop Dog once said, “Hip-hop is what makes the world go ’round.”

Bibliography

Basu, Dipannita and Sidney J. Lemelle (Ed.) The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture. Pluto Press. London and Ann Arbor, MI. 2006

Desai, Jemma. “Where does British Hip Hop Rank on the Global Scale?” The New Black Magazine. Birmingham, England. Friday, March 21, 2008.

Fresh, Mr. “History of Breakdancing” Breakdancing with Mr. Fresh and the Supreme Rockers. Bboy.org. 2004.

Heath, R. Scott. “True Heads: Historicizing the Hip_Hip “Nation” in Context.” Callaloo. 29.3. 2006.

Keyes, Cheryl L. Rap Music and Street Consciousness. University of Illinois Press: Urbana and Chicago. 2002.

Mitchell, Tony. “Doin Damage in my Native Language: the use of “Resistance Vernaculars” in France, Italy, and Aotearoa / New Zealand.” Local Noise. Australian Research Council. 2007.

Motley, Carol M. and Geraldine Rosa Henderson. “The global hip-hop Diaspora: Understanding the Culture.” Journal of Business Research. Elseiver Inc. 61. 2008.

Osumare, Halifu. The Africanist Aesthetic in Global Hip-Hop: Power Moves. Palgrave Macmillan: New York, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. 2007.

Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Duke University Press: Durham and London. 2004

Price, Emmett G. Hip Hop Culture. ABC CLIO: Santa Barbara, California; Denver, Colorado; and Oxford, England. 2006.

Stapleton, Katina R. “From the margins to mainstream: the political power of hip-hop.” Media, Culure & Society. SAGE Publications: London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi. Vol. 20: 219-234. 1998.

The Music Behind the Creation of Communist China

Chinese history has been intertwined with music since the time of Confucius. It has been said that Confucius could identify the character of a state by listening to its’ music (Tuohy, 112). During the 20th Century, China has struggled to establish a national identity, particularly in the face of foreign and local wars. In these liner notes I will explore the history of music’s role in the Chinese establishment of a Communist state. I will examine the close relationship between politics and music in China, as well as the increasing relationship between Chinese and Western music in the 20th century. Within this examination of the involvement of music in a Chinese national identity, I will integrate Thomas Turino’s framework for nationalism and musical nationalism.

In 1918 after the Versailles Treaty was signed, the May Fourth Movement, which consisted of intellectuals who had been frustrated with the state for sometime, took control of the cultural and intellectual spheres of China. Some of these intellectuals thought that the traditional music of local Chinese communities should be discredited, while others thought that traditional music should be brought up do date. One of the significant types of music that emerged out of this music was commercialized popular songs (Wong 383). Those that thought traditional folk music was important helped start the Folk Music Collection movement in 1919 (Tuohy). Musical and cultural leaders during this time searched for a national identity and a national anthem to represent this identity as China faced foreign and civil wars.

1921 marked the beginning of a struggle between the Chinese Communist party and the Nationalist party, which resulted in a civil war after WWII. The Communist party won and Mao Zedong announced the beginning of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Tiananmen Square (Wong, 385). Before the PRC won the civil war, several prominent composers began writing protest songs that combined elements of the folk song with Western musical styles. One such composer, Xian Xinghai wrote the “Yellow River Cantata” in 1939, about people who were struggling in the 1940s. In China, the Yellow River is a metaphor for the “nation, its beauty, power and hardships” (Tuohy, 113).

This cantata was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guang Weiran, whose lyrics were adapted as the lyrics in the cantata. The original version of the cantata is written in seven movements, entitled “Song of the Yellow River Boatmen,” “Ode to the Yellow River,” “Ballad of the Yellow Waters,” “Dialogue Song by the Yellow River,” “Lament to the Yellow River,” “Defending the Yellow River,” and “Shout Aloud, Yellow River!” The poem was written by Weiran, after he led the Third Resistance theatre troupe across the Yellow River to the center of anti-Japanese resistance in the Shanxi province. The music itself is full of militaristic themes in movements like the first, whereas in movements like the second, the “Ode to the Yellow River” there is a more calm reflection and collaboration with the speaker who is reciting Weiran’s poem often in an operatic manner. The orchestration is heavily influenced by Western styles of writing, as Xinghai studied under Paul Dukas at the Paris Conservatory, however there are elements of Chinese folk music throughout the whole piece. This piece, which began a popular symbol of resistance did very well in China and even lasted until the 1960s when a pianist, Yin Chengzong, adapted it for piano and orchestra.

Before I explore any of the other composers who wrote political music at this time, I will move briefly to a discussion of the collaboration between music, politics and national identity that pervades so much of this music. Turino defines nationalism as an entity that has aspirations to sovereignty and creates cultural commonality among various groups. The Chinese Communist Party has done just this in China in the last 2/3 of the 20th century. They currently recognize fifty-six ethnic categories within their definition of the Chinese nation. This national identity has been purposefully created, and just as music has played a critical role in Chinese history for thousands of years, it plays a critical role in the creation of the Chinese Communist State.

In Turino’s musical nationalist framework, music used for such political reasons is often militaristic and patriotic. This is precisely what the Chinese Communist state did in order to organize mass numbers of people into believing they were all part of the Chinese state. The new music of nationalism “was to present society through the eyes of the masses and to show the inevitable success of the revolution, so that the masses would be uplifted and be willingly mobilized for nation building” (Wong, 386). There were many such programs that worked to mobilize the masses through music, but I will just mention a few of them.

One program in the 1930s and 1940s organized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) formed music worker groups to work at the grassroots level to be involved with the kind of society the CCP was trying to create. An academy like the Lu Xun Academy in Yan’an in 1938 revised local folk music “with new ideological content, then brought it back to the people to disseminate, and organized musical troupes of all types to popularize the new music of the socialist state” (Tuohy, 113). The action by the state of revising local music and then disseminating with an ideological twist fits into Turino’s category called Reformist musical nationalism. This is when the local cultural practices are reformed to modern techniques.

Another fascinating program was the loudspeaker program that was heard all over the country before the 1990s. After 1990 this kind of program declined, but it is still heard in work places particularly in the rural areas. The loudspeakers were heard on the sides of public buildings, trains, residential centers and “they broke up the day into aurally marked temporal units that followed a schedule: morning wake-up music, exercise music” (Tuohy, 123), etc, and the speakers always played “The East is Red” every morning.

It is clear that China’s involvement of music in its formation of the Chinese Communist nation fits into Turino’s framework of musical nationalism. In his discussion of Latin American states, he discusses the role of the national anthem in the legitimacy of a state. Although China’s national anthem doesn’t hold the same kind of weight as a Latin American state because it is more established, the national anthems for China since 1949 can serve to tell an interesting story of transitions during communist rule.

In 1949 the “March of the Volunteers,” written by poet and playwright Tian Han and musician Nie Er in 1935, became the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. It lasted until the 1960s, when in the Cultural Revolution Tian Han was imprisoned and the song was forbidden to be sung. During this time the song “The East is Red” was used as an unofficial anthem. This song, having distinct association with Mao Zedong, was removed and replaced by the “March of the Volunteers” in 1978 by the National People’s Congress. This version of the march included no mention of Mao Zedong and this symbolized the fall of Mao and the ascension of Deng Xiaoping.

Throughout the transitions between these two national anthems, it becomes clear that both songs were used to represent the political aims of each party and its aims. The way that the “March of The Volunteers” lyrics were changed during Mao Zedong’s rule shows that the music was a tool of the government to maneuver and manipulate the masses. Here are the two versions of the “March of the Volunteers” lyrics, the first is the official and original lyrics and the second are the lyrics that were changed by Mao:

Arise! All who refuse to be slaves!
Let our flesh and blood become our new Great Wall!
As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril,
All forcefully expend their last cries.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Our million hearts beat as one,
Brave the enemy’s fire, March on!
Brave the enemy’s fire, March on!
March on! March on! On!
* * * *
March on! People of all heroic nationalities!
The great Communist Party leads us in continuing the Long March ,
Millions with but one heart toward a communist tomorrow,
Develop and protect the country in a brave struggle.
March on, march on, march on!
We will for generations,
Raise high Mao Zedong’s banner, march on!
Raise high Mao Zedong’s banner, march on!
March on! March on! On!

The music itself in the song is full of trumpet fanfares, and the overall style is militaristic and patriotic. There are a lot of dotted rhythms, drum rolls, and stately singing by a large choir.

The song that replaced the “March of the Volunteers” during the Cultural Revolution, “The East is Red” is derived from a local folk song, whose lyrics are attributed to Li Youyuan from the Shaanxi region. The East is Red also became a song and dance epic that promoted Communisim, in particular Maoism in the 1960s. I was unable to find a youtube clip of “The East is Red” song, so here is a portion of the song and dance epic. However, the naxos version of “The East is Red” starts with a trumpet fanfare and follows with a large chorus, just the same structure as the “March of the Volunteers”. The lyrics to the song are as follows:

The east is red, the sun is rising
China has brought forth a Mao Zedong.
He works for the people’s welfare.
Hurrah, He is the people’s great savior.

Chairman Mao loves the people,
He is our guide,
To build a new China,
Hurrah, he leads us forward!

The Communist Party is like the sun,
Wherever it shines, it is bright.
Wherever there is a Communist Party,
Hurrah, there the people are liberated!

Since “March of the Volunteers” basically sounds the same musically as the “East is Red”, the interesting aspect of these songs to compare is the lyrics. In the “March of the Volunteers” the lyrics describe the nation of China as a whole and emphasizes the force and strength of the country. In “The East is Red” the focus is on Mao and how he can lead the country, rather than the people of the Chinese state.

Before summing up these liner notes, there are several issues I would like to address. First, Nie Er was not only well-known for writing the music to “The March of the Volunteers.” He was a prolific composer of protest music, which is why he is so heavily featured in this CD. It is clear that with the collaboration of Western and Chinese musical approaches in these politically charged songs, the involvement of Western style of music was not frowned upon by the Chinese Communist parties. Bringing traditional folk music up to date for the Chinese included incorporating Western style of music. This can be seen clearly in the transformation of the Yellow Road Cantata into a piano concerto that is performed all over the world today by the best known pianists. It is even seen in the protest music itself, with works like the the “Yellow Road Cantata” that use western style operatic writing.

The creation of China’s nationalist identity in the 20th century involved many struggles against other countries and political formations within the Chinese state. One of the main ways the Communist Party achieved the involvement of mass amounts of people into the communist ideological approach to the state was through music and songs. The loudspeakers, protest songs and marches, creation of a Chinese musical Canon, and many other tactics all worked together to create a oneness and unification, which allowed the idea of a Chinese Nation as it is known today, to be born. In this CD, I hope to capture some of the collaboration between the traditional and modern, as well as the collaboration between the East and the West.

CD List
1. Yellow River Cantata (34 minutes) by Xing Xinghai
2. September Eighteenth Cantata (time unknown) by Xing Xinghai
3. Village Girl Beyond the Great Wall (7 min) by Nie Er
4. Leaving Southeast Asia (13 min) by Nie Er
5. Song of Mei Niang (6 min 38 sec) by Nie Er
6. March of the Volunteers (1 min 30 sec) by Nie Er
7. Song of the Newsboy (3 min 52 sec) by Nie Er
8. Song of the Borad Road (7 min) by Nie Er
9. Song of the Whirling Flowers (8 min 50 sec) by Nie Er
10. The East is Red (4 min 32 sec)
11. Blood-Dyed Gallantry (3 min) by Tie Su
12. My Motherland (4 minutes) by Chi Liu

Bibliography

Wong, Isabel K. F. “Nationalism, Westernization, and Modernization.” Provine, Robert C. et al., ed. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music volume 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. New York and London: Routledge, 2002.

Rees, Helen. “Music and Chinese Society: The People’s Republic of China.” Provine, Robert C. et al., ed. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music volume 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. New York and London: Routledge, 2002.

Tuohy, Sue. “The Sonic Dinensions of Nationalism in Modern China: Musical Representation and Transformation” Ethnomusicology, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2001: 107-131.

Turino, Thomas. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations” Latin American Music Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2003: 169-209.

hasta-la-victoria-record-cover-1.pdf

(photo of mural courtesy of Centro Cultural de Batahola Norte, Managua, Nicaragua, Spring 2007)

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

A CD with Revolutionary Music from El Salvador and Nicaragua

With additional revolutionary tracks by composers from South America

This album is a compilation of revolutionary songs written by and for the El Salvadoran and Nicaraguan people, as well as several tracks of revolutionary songs written by South American composers that is still listened to in El Salvador and Nicaragua today. Both El Salvador and Nicaragua had civil wars in the 1970s and 1980s, with overtones of anti-imperialist, grass-roots organized, guerilla based movements to overturn dictatorships and/or U.S.-backed military-invasions of their countries. Both used music as a vital tool within their arsenal of weapons to motivate, glorify, and stand by their side of the wars. Both countries continue to use selective revolutionary music to this day in patriotic marches, protest events, and large national gatherings. The identity of these newly liberated nations is intrinsically wrapped up in the revolutionary music that played a part of their re-birth, and continues to play into their nation-identity today.

To give some small amount of context, El Salvador is a country of 8,124 sq mi and an estimated 5.8 million people, making it the most densely populated country in Central America—it is slightly smaller than the size of New Jersey.

(from http://www.vmapas.com/Americas/El_Salvador/El_Salvador_Political_Map_2004.jpg/maps-en.html?map_viewMap=1)

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America, with 50,337 sq mi, and is just shy of the size of Louisiana. It the least densely populated country in Central America, with only 5.67 million people.

(from http://www.vmapas.com/Americas/Nicaragua/Nicaragua_Tourist_Map.jpg/maps-en.html)

There is a small but extremely accurate body of literature that treats the history of revolutionary song in both Nicaragua and El Salvador. One of the first authors who published on this topic was the eminent ethnomusicologist Robert Pring-Mill. He translates an entire letter written by Comandante Carlos Nuñez Tellez that discusses the various purposes of revolutionary music, addressing group Pancasán and their audience, which was published inside the cover of their first album ¡Vamos Haciendo la Historia! (We are Making History!) (1979)

Revolutionary song in our Country has been nourishment, light and stimulus for us to remember our fallen bretheren in difficult hours, and a stone with which to strike the enemy. It penetrated our people to enflame them in the bonfire of the insurrection, it aroused our youth in combat, it taught children to love the struggle of Sandinismo, and it helped to awaken a military fervour at all levels of the populace. Revolutionary song sprang from the throats of the people to urge us on in the hours of defeat, it gave shape to the thought of fallen leaders, it brought out of anonymity the thought of a great multitude of combatants from the hills and fields of the land, and it opened wide the doors of history in order to teach our people the contents of their epic [deeds], their role as protagonists [both] in history and in the revolutionary transformations of the Country of Sandino and Carlos Fonseca.
Song has [always] been one of the means used by our people to speak of its poverty, its sufferings [and] the exploitation to which it has been submitted for so long. While [working] in clandestinity, in conspiratorial activity [or] in the trenches of the war we have listened to these voices [of the people] singing about life and communicating their hopes for the future, demanding bread, liberties, a new regime, [and] a more just society (Pring-Mill 1987: 181).

While Comandante Carlos Nuñez Tellez outlines all of the functions of the revolutionary music in a concise, clear way, his main point, which all subsequent authors echo, is that “protest music was used by the popular classes as an ‘ideological weapon’ against the state-sponsored repression in the late 1970s and early 1980s” (Almeida and Urbizagástegui 1999:19). This simple idea, that music is itself a weapon used by the insurrection, carries through every single song written during this time period.
Song was an extremely useful weapon in El Salvador and Nicaragua during their civil wars, because due to the high illiteracy rates songs often “serve as a more powerful educator of movement strategy than written material” (Almeida and Urbizagástegui 1999:17). The songs themselves also encouraged group participation—as seen by many of the examples on this disc, live recordings include sing-alongs, vocal group shouted responses, clapping, and applause. Making music together provides “participants a sense of common purpose and collective identity, confidence, means of expressing dissent to target groups, and even an ideological weapon against state violence” (Almeida and Urbizagástegui 1999:19). It is this idea of a common identity, the “pueblo,” which was vocalized so strongly in all revolutionary songs, that bonded people from various sectors of Salvadoran and Nicaraguan society together to a common cause; and revolutionary songs directly contributed to that sense of a shared identity and common purpose.
The idea of the pueblo, or “people,” is the “key term or trope in the identity discourse of Central American revolutionary music,” states political scientist Fred Judson. “Inclusive, positive, respectful, empowering, and democratic are all inferential in the music’s articulation of ‘the people’” (2002:16). This dominant identity concept was in direct opposition to the concept of the militaristic oligarchies or dictatorships that had ruled Nicaragua and El Salvador for decades, with land, power, ownership, and political voice wrapped up in the hands of very few people. The idea of the pueblo was directly related to popular, that all people of the nation could participate, and one of the best ways to confer that idea was in folk-like songs with which anyone could sing along. Also inherent in the idea of pueblo is the dichotomy of class—even if the pueblo included every member of the nation-state, it set its group identity up to specifically exclude those from the very upper classes who had held power for so long.

The instruments of oppression and class rule, the military, police, state security and intelligence operatives, also fall under the category of enemies of the people, though often it is made clear that they are tools and could morally and patriotically redeemed…That is not the case with the ‘enemy behind the enemy,’ imperialism, the United States government (Judson 2002:212).

Thus, the clear delineation of identity into “us vs. them,” and the need to define oneself against what one is not—a concept we have discussed at length in this course—has definitive layers. The overarching ideology promoted by the revolutionary groups became a very well justified anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. government stance.
As the main purpose of the revolutionary guerrillas and musical groups was nationalism, that is, to definite themselves as a nation apart from the current dictatorship or oligarchy in power, or the towering neighbor to the north, the idea of the patria, or “homeland” (also known as fatherland, motherland) was also very important. “The identity of the pueblo, then, is ultimately linked with their patria, when that patria is liberated, when that patria is fully popular. Such an identity is pointedly political, in that it is only realized with access to state power, as well as being nationalistic and patriotic” (Judson 2002:219). Since the revolutionary cause was a nationalistic cause, many themes in the music itself reference a sense of place. Names of places, battles, or towns are very important; describing the landscape suddenly has a double-meaning; and singers claiming their land as their own, defining their space as belonging to them with revolutionary, nationalistic pride, runs as an overarching theme throughout many tracks on this disc.
The need to reclaim also carried over into the expression of the music itself. In Nicaragua, for example, just after the revolution won by the FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or Sandinista National Liberation Front) in 1979, a cultural campaign began to rescatar lo nuestro, or “rescue or recuperate that which is ours,” as the people felt a need to “salvage ‘authentic’ Nicaraguan culture that had been repressed and denigrated during the over four decades of rule by the Somoza dynasty” (Scruggs 2002:118). The new leftist Sandinista political leaders directly equated artistic freedom with a recuperation of national identity, as the new Minister of Culture proclaimed, “’The basic objective [of our Revolution] is the conquest of our national identity’” (Scruggs 2002:118). The way in which this national identity was to be formed was directly related to the Sandinista’s view of the masses, as “[t]he clases populares had been denied and oppressed…Economic and social liberation, then, should release, and be spurred forward with the flowering of repressed cultura popular (popular, or people’s culture)” (Scruggs 2002:118).
This meant that although the musical settings of the revolutionary songs were influenced by Anglo-American rock, including music from both white and black artists, as well as popular music from all over Latin America, there was a major dependence on local, Nicaraguan forms (Scruggs 2002:120). A typical instrumentation would include a “marimba de arco” trio, or a marimba player, a guitarist, and a smaller guitarria (Scruggs 2002:121). This was very important to the “authenticity” of the Nicaraguan folk idiom, as the marimba is claimed to be indigenous to Central America, and features prominently in almost every single track on this disc.
Lyrics, as well, were of utmost importance in the musical settings of the revolutionary songs. Paul Almeida and Rubén Urbizagástegui’s seminal work on Cutumay Camones, a revolutionary Salvadoran group created specifically by the guerilla-fighters FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) to “mobilize segments of the popular classes through music” (1999:17), which was achieved mainly through the use of explicit lyrics. The music disseminated by the FMLN was so potent that it was recorded clandestinely, played live only in zones of control by the FMLN, and distributed discretely by cassette tape and mini-songbooks (Almeida and Urbizagástegui 1999:20). The reason that the militarized state-government was so afraid of the popular music was due, in large part, to its lyrics. Like Tellez’s original statement of the purposes of Nicaraguan revolutionary music, Almeida and Urbizagástegui outline a trajectory of the intended purposes of Salvadoran revolutionary music throughout the war:

(1999:35)

It is clear that the themes and moods of the revolutionary songs are derived from a particular political context. The rhetoric of the lyrics of Cutumay Camones, literally the voice of the FMLN, shifted from justifying the armed resistance from a historical standpoint, to celebrating military victories, to explaining complicated military procedures and activities in songs, to advocating for dialogue and peace, to exalting martyrs, to warning its people to arm themselves to rise again in their eighth year. Similar purposes were promoted in Nicaraguan revolutionary music, according to Tellez (see above).

None of these varying political purposes would have been possible without the establishment of a group identity and purpose, and it was the music itself—the settings and the lyrics, together—that made the group identity and sense of belonging and marching forward towards a greater goal, possible. It was due in large part to the success of these revolutionary Salvadoran and Nicaraguan songs that their respective political parties were able to mobilize their pueblo and people, securing their patria and advancing, in the words of the FSLN, to victory always, or ¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

List of Tracks:
1. “Nicaragua, Nicaraguita,” written and performed Carlos Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua (3:57)

2. “El Sombrero Azul,” by Alí Primera, Venezuela (6:20)

08-el-sombrero-azul.mp3

This performance is sung by Alí Primera, the Venezuelan who composed this song for the Salvadoran people, and he is actually performing it at a peace rally in Managua in 1983. The inter-textuality of the song is self-evident: not only are multiple countries and nationalities at play, and multiple liberation movements, but it is interesting to note the high amount of energy that the Nicaraguans have, cheering for their neighbors the Salvadorans and hoping that their struggle, too, will end as positively as Nicaragua’s. Note the high amount of audience participation; each time Primera sings Dále (which is translated as “Go for it!” or “Give it up!” or “Let it rip!” depending on the context), the audience shouts it back at the end of the phrase and—although you can’t see it only the video—they pump their fists in the air. This is an extremely famous song in El Salvador, and was still being played in 2007 when I was marching in a parade to honor the international Día de la Mujer, or Women’s Day. It was being blared from the back of a truck, and every time Primera’s voice sang out “Dále,” hundreds of red and purple pom-poms would raise to the sky.

womens-march.AVI

Notice the folk elements of Primera’s performance–his dress, a solo guitar with a few back-up drums, very little electrical necessity in his performance, and his creation of a musical setting that appeals to group identity through sing-along. His lyrics are below:

El pueblo salvadoreño
tiene el cielo por sombrero
tan alta es su dignidad
en la búsqueda del tiempo
en que florezca la tierra
por los que han ido cayendo

y que venga la alegría
a lavar el sufrimiento (2x)

Dále que la marcha es lenta
pero sigue siendo marcha
dále que empujando al sol
se acerca la madrugada
dale que la lucha tuya
es pura como una muchacha
cuando se entrega al amor
con el alma liberada

(Coro)
Dále salvadoreño, dále
que no hay pájaro pequeño, dále
que después de alzar el vuelo, dále
se detenga en su volar (2x)

Al verde que yo le canto
es el color de tus maizales
no al verde de las boinas
de matanzas tropicales
las que fueron al Vietnam
a quemar los arrozales
y andan por estas tierras
como andar por sus corrales

(Coro)

Hermano salvadoreño
viva tu sombrero azul
dále que tu limpia sangre
germinará sobre el mar
y será una enorme rosa
de amor por la humanidad
hermano salvadoreño
viva tu sombrero azul

Tendrán que llenar el mundo
con masacres del Sumpul
para quitarte las ganas
del amor que tienes tú

(Coro)

(from http://usuarios.lycos.es/aliprimera/Sombrero_azul.htm)

And here is the translation found on the video above, which is fairly true to the original:

The Salvadoran people
has the sky for a hat
so high is its dignity
as it searches for the time
when the earth will flower
for those who have fallen
when happiness will come
to replace the suffering (2x)

Come on, the march is slow,
but it’s still a march
come on, by pushing the sun
the dawn gets closer
Come on, your fight is pure
like a girl
when she gives herself in love
with a free soul

(Chorus)
Come on, Salvadoean
there’s not a single bird
which, after taking flight
stops in midair. (2x)

I sing to the green
of your green corn fields
not to the green of the berets
of tropical massacres
the ones which went to Vietnam
to burn the rice fields
I cry for those lands
as I walk across them

(Chorus)

Brother Salvadoran
long live your blue hat
Come on, let your clean blood
spread across the sea
and become an enormous rose
of love for humanity
Brother Salvadoran,
long live your blue hat

The world would have to be full
of massacres of Sumpul
to stop your desire
for love

(Chorus)
If we focus on the lyrics of the song, they all fit into Almeida and Urbizagásgtegui’s reference frames for the purposes of Central American revolutionary songs. The most powerful imagery is that of Primera calling to the Salvadoran people to dále, or “keep going,” a motivational theme, saying that even a small bird will not stop mid-flight, i.e., the revolution must continue now that it has started. Primera also references martyrs, “those who have fallen,” and sings that the earth will flower for them, thereby glorifying their death, insinuating that it served a higher purpose. This fits into another Almeida and Urbizagástegui’s stated purposes of revolutionary songs, of honoring the martyrs that have died for the insurgents’ cause. He refers to the ideological reasons that they are fighting, saying that their fight is “pure,” which fits into yet another Almeida and Urbizagástegui purpose, that revolutionary songs further their own ideology by referencing their own reasons for continuing to fight. He refers to the overarching, oppressive “Other,” of the United States (the green berets that are burning rice paddies in Vietnam), and defends the space of El Salvador by saying that he cries when he walks over their lands of green corn fields. Finally, he refers to the historical massacre at Las Aradas, on the River Sumpul, which is when the Salvadoran army, backed by the United States, killed 600 innocent civilians on May 25th, 1980. Primera tells the people to keep going, as their larger goal of “love” for all cannot be stopped even by the atrocity of that massacre.

3. “Chilotito Tierno,” written and performed by Carlos Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua (2:41)

4. “Gloria al Señor,” written and performed by Guillermo Cuellar, El Salvador (4:25)

5. “La Tumba del Guerrillero,” written and performed by Carlos Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua (4:57)

6. “Homenaje a Monseñor Romero” written and performerd by Yolacamba Ita, El Salvador (4:51)

7. “Somos Hijos del Maíz,” written and performed by Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua (5:29)

8. “Hoy Nació El Día del Pueblo” written and performed by Cutumay Camones, El Salvador (3:56)

9. “Cristo de Palacaguina,” written and performed by Carlos Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua (3:00)

Carlos Mejia Godoy is perhaps the most famous singer-songwriter of all time in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan poet Julia Valle-Castillo wrote of him in liner notes to Mejia’s CD Monimbó (1980), “Carlos Mejía Godoy doesn’t sing to the people. The people sing in him, through him and with him. A popular voice. Voice and song of the people” (in Judson 2002:216). I was able to see Carlos Mejia Godoy perform live twice while I was in Nicaragua in Spring 2007, and his charisma is palpable—the audience adores him. His strength lies in his ability to synthesize so many aspects of the Nicaraguan pueblo—their storytelling, their turns of phrase, their aspects, their individualized vocabulary—and put them into his songs, making them undeniably Nica. Below are the words to one of his most famous guerrillero songs. I was taught this song in January 2008 by a former fighter, now farmer, Pilar, who not only remembered all of the words, but was able to pick it out on the guitar, as well, attesting to the power of music to motivate the soldiers of the party it promotes.

Cristo de Palacaguina (Cristo Ya Nació En Palacaguina) – Carlos Mejia Godoy

(from http://www.marcogiunco.com/Testi/002524_03.htm)

The key factor within the lyrics of this song is its blending of history and Christian imagery. It plays directly into the ideas of Latin American theology, which holds the basic premise is that Christ’s suffering is echoed within the suffering of the innocent people everywhere, and that Christ lived and died for the very people in poverty like those all over Latin America who pray daily for salvation. The idea that Christ is on the side of the people, and that they can fight for their own freedom (a la Christ wanting to become a guerilla fighter), was a new concept to many Salvadorans in the 1970s and began the entire social unrest and movement building that led to the outbreak of the war. The church played a vital role in the education of the campesinos in rural areas of El Salvador. The assassination of their most beloved champion of the rights of the poor, Archbishop Monseñor Oscar Romero, led to his ascendance into the most famous and celebrated martyr in El Salvador to this day.

10. “Rompe el Silencio,” written and performed by Perro Zompopo (4:15)

11. “Canción Urgente Para Nica,” performed by Sylvio Rodríguez, Cuba (3:02)

12. “Casas de Cartón” written by Alí Primera, performed by Los Guaraguao, Venezuela (3:59)

13. “El Himno de la Unidad” written by Sergio Ortega, Chile (3:02)

14. “Solo le Pido a Dios,” written by León Geico, performed by Mercedes Sosa, Argentina (4:42)

04-solo-le-pido-a-dios.mp3

This is a song that would have been listened to during large rallies in the 1970s and 1980s in both Nicaragua and El Salvador; listen for the “¡Viva Sandino!” or “Long Live [the national Nicaraguan hero/martyr] Sandino!” at the very beginning of the audio track only. The song is written by the famous composer León Gieco, who is from Argentina and moved to Los Angeles for one year—1978—due to political persecution (he had previously toured world-wide). While in L.A., he composed this song, which is by far his most famous composition. It is sung by Mercedes Sosa, whose full name is Haydee Mercedes Sosa, who is also from Argentina and was born in 1935. She is an extremely famous singer around the world, known specifically for her dark vocal color and her low range; she has a two-octave register. While she is not specifically from El Salvador or Nicaragua, the lyrics still remain close to the purposes outlined by Almeida and Urbizagástegui of motivation and “staying strong” for the revolutionary cause, as well as the reconciliation and peace themes that were prevalent at the end of the wars in both countries. She also would have performed in Central America during this time, and this song, like tracks #12-15, are part of the pan-Latin America revolutionary canon.

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el dolor no me sea indiferente,
Que la reseca muerte no me encuentre
Vacía y solo sin haber hecho lo suficiente.

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que lo injusto no me sea indiferente,
Que no me abofeteen la otra mejilla
Después que una garra me arañó esta suerte.

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que la guerra no me sea indiferente,
Es un monstruo grande y pisa fuerte
Toda la pobre inocencia de la gente. (2x)
<solo de armónica>
Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el engaño no me sea indiferente
Si un traidor puede más que unos cuantos,
Que esos cuantos no lo olviden fácilmente.

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el futuro no me sea indiferente,
Desahuciado está el que tiene que marchar
A vivir una cultura diferente.
<letras.terra.com>

And here is my translation of the lyrics:

I only ask of God
That the pain does not make me indifferent,
That dry death does not find me
Empty and alone, without having done enough.

I only ask of God
That the unjust does not make me indifferent,
That they do not slap my other cheek
After a claw scratched me out this luck.

I only ask of God
That the war does not make me indifferent,
It is a great monster and strongly tramples
All the poor innocence of the people. (2x)
<harmonica solo>
I only ask of God
That the deceit does not make me indifferent
If a traitor can go farther than a few people,
That those few won’t forget it easily

I only ask of God
That the future does not make me indifferent
He is evicted, the one who has to march
To live a different culture.

Notice that Mercedes, like Primera and Godoy, includes a large amount of audience participation; again, this would have helped the group identity and pueblo mentality that so pushed forward revolutionary music during this time. She chooses to perform with only acoustic instruments–guitar, harmonica, voice, and drums. This is a gesture towards the instruments that would have been available to the masses at the time, referring back to the idea of música popular, and making the music as reflective of, and accessible to, the masses as possible. The lyrics themselves, like Primera’s, push the idea of motivation and staying with the revolutionary cause, praying for strength and stamina through a long war that “strongly tramples the poor innocence of the people.” The repetitive nature of the song and the easily-singable melody means that it is ideal for more audience participation, and it is easy to hear the audience clapping and singing along; taking ownership of this song for themselves. The tempo is slow, but accommodates both the long lyrical lines of the voice as well as small instrumental improvisation, and a driving guitar/percussion beat. Although this song is not written by or performed by a Nicaraguan or Salvadoran, it would definitively have been performed in both of those countries, and fits beautifully into the purposes of Central American Revolutionary music as outlined by Almeida and Urbizagástegui, Scruggs, Pring-Mill, and Judson.

Works Cited:

Almeida, Paul, & Rubén Urbizagástegui. 1999. “Cutumay Camones: Popular Music in El Salvador’s National Liberation Movement.” Latin American Perspectives 26(2): 13-42.

El Salvador. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9110098. Last accessed May 13, 2009.

El Salvador Tourist Map, VMaps. http://www.vmapas.com/Americas/El_Salvador/El_Salvador_Political_Map_2004.jpg/maps-en.html?map_viewMap=1. Last accessed May 13, 2009.

Judson, Fred. 2002. “Central American Revolutionary Music.” In Music and Marx: Ideas, Practice, Politics, ed. Regula Burckhardt Qureshi. New York: Routledge, 204-235.

Letras.mus.br. http://letras.terra.com.br/mercedes-sosa/63324/. Last accessed May 12, 2009.

Lycos. http://usuarios.lycos.es/aliprimera/Sombrero_azul.htm. Last accessed May 12, 2009

Nicaragua. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9110104. Last accessed May 13, 2009.

Nicaragua Tourist Map; VMaps. http://www.vmapas.com/Americas/Nicaragua/Nicaragua_Tourist_Map.jpg/maps-en.html. Last accessed May 13, 2009.

Pring-Mill, Robert. 1987. “The roles of revolutionary song—a Nicaraguan assessment.” Popular Music 6(2): 179-189.

Scruggs, T.M. 2002. “Musical Style and Revolutionary Context in Sandinista Nicaragua.” In “I Sing the Difference: Identity and Commitment in Latin American Song: A Symposium in Honour of Robert Pring-Mill, ed. Jan Fairley and David Horn. Liverpool, UK: Institute of Popular Music, University of Liverpool, 117-134.

———1999. “‘Let’s Enjoy as Nicaraguans’: The Use of Music in the Construction of a Nicaraguan National Consciousness.” Ethnomusicology 43(2):297-321.

The Fast Folk Musical Magazine. Mark Guico. http://www.marcogiunco.com/Testi/002524_03.htm. Last accessed May 13, 2009.

http://www.eurovisionary.com

http://www.esctoday.com

Check out this NYT article on Eurovision for a particularly American take on the event, predictions of the winners, and tales of woe.

The recent discussion on gender identity, while insightful, has left me confused and with a lot of questions. It has been constructive in that I no longer know what is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ because of a growing awareness of the constructedness of these forms. I have chosen to further explore these questions and the issue of gender as a construction and a performance through Annie Lennox, an artist I grew up listening to. I have a dynamic relationship with her and her music. My memory of her in her early career and in my youth is filled with images of her in a suit, red-lip stick and heavy eye-makeup. Because she was so admired by my mother and older sister, I chose not to entertain questions about her curious dress. My mom is a clothing designer who finds a lot of influence in mens-wear. Her admiration of Lennox (along with my inability as a youth to grasp the message of her music, vocal style, and dress) made her simply stylish and cool in my mind. Now of course I can admire her for much more. But I value having grown up admiring  a female musician who wasn’t a sex symbol and who was constantly changing her identity. In her early work as a one of two members of the Eurhythmics as the lead singer and focal point in performace with a male backup performer is the less talked about but still blatant subversion of stereotypical gender roles in pop music.

Though Lennox is often described as simply ‘androgynous’, I would argue that it is more the assumption of characters, both male and female, that are central to her performance. In other words, she is more effective in her challenge to the construction of gender by constantly changing her identity, via performances, music videos, album covers, and award show appearances,  rather than employing a gender-neutral look. In entering the pop world as a member of the Eurhythmics, Lennox was concious of and uncomfortable with being  pigeon-holed into a sexualised female. Early on in her career she presented a number of characters that were based on gender stereotypes. Always present is the tension between sexual freedom and repression.

In the video for ‘Love is a Stranger’ which comments on obsession with love and loss of self-control, she transforms from a woman to a man. She starts out as call-girl, forms in  and a dominatrix (each transition ending with a de-wigging), into the man who buys their services, and finally into a puppet being controlled by Stewart. She gives life to each character, while the transformation reveals the absurdity of their constructedness, while simultaneously under-mining them.

In the video for “Sweet Dreams”, Lennox and band-mate Dave Stewart donned matching suits, and Lennox revealed her short orange hair. In the 1980’s it was fairly common for men to dress in a drag convincingly. Her red lip stick and eye make up make you question whether she is a man in female drag or a female in male drag. Her movements are what would be read as masculine. While the suit hides any indication of a female body, I read this for so long as heightening her femeninity based on residual sentiments about her as a fashionista in my youth. I think you could still argue that while she is blurring gender lines, she may or may not be seen as taking on a different sort of sexuality in her performance.

Lennox employs vocal and musical styles that  do not fall into neat female pop star slots. In “Sweet Dreams”  her voice is recognizable as a female, but the majority of the sung lyrics are in a lower, chestier voice with a narrow range and backed by an even, steady and heavy synthesized beat. This is juxtaposed by more sweeping, higher pitches in the background that are still quite powerful sounding but more ‘female’ in their higher range and melodic meandering. The broadening of her vocal range is further testimony to her identity range.

In her later career she moved away from overt masculinity (after generating several male character such as Earl, an Elvis look-alike), as she could no longer rely on the shock that she was not what she appeared to be. She continues to avoid becoming a sex-symbol by employing camp, performing and parodying stereotyped identities humourously and with exaggeration, yet seriously and artfully. She has performed a number of female stereotypes without sticking with one for too long, from butch women and drag-queens to Minnie Mouse, refuting the possibility of a fixed identity and displaying the constructedness and performance of gender.

Lastly,  I think it’s important to point out that Lennox’s female characters are equally as costumed as her male characters-making neither one “natural”. She is powerful nonetheless, without adhering that quality to men or women exclusively. She remains in my mind stylish and cool, all the more so, having grown to appreciate the importance of the elements that made her appear that way to me.

of BBC news!!!!

Is everyone scared of Putin or what?