FINAL PROJECT! Defining Ourselves: Popular Music of Resistance and Affirmation
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!
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.
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