Take Control of Your Culture - American Studies - Blog

Mosh

The song “Mosh” by Eminem is a perfect example of a war protest song. This song was released on November 2004 in his album “Encore”. At the time we were early in the war in Iraq and he felt it was a senseless war for oil. In the song he says, “No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil”. This quote says it all when talking about his view and many others view on the war. He also talks about how the war was originally over “Weapons of Mass Destruction” which were never found. He not only talks about his views on the war but he demands action from his followers when he says, “Stomp, push, shove, mush, F*ck Bush, until they bring our troops home (c'mon)”. As we’ve seen in the past, songs can be one of the most influential ways of getting a point across and war songs are no exception. -Luke G

I Aint No Fortunate Student No

The song Fortunate Son by Creedance Clearwater is a example of a war protest song. In the song he talks about people who are born to wave the flag or be patriotic. However, he then says that the people like that do not get drafted and the ones who don't want to go get drafted. Then in the next sentence he talks about people who are born with a silver spoon in their hands or born rich. They are never the ones going to war because they can afford to go to college and do something with their lives. It is the middle class working people who have to go to the war, hence the title, Fortunate Son.

ITAL(Roses)

The song ITAL(Roses)  by Lupe Fiasco is a song that protests on the views of todays society. This song was relased on Lupes Fiascos new album Food and Liquor: II. These days most rappers are concerned about smoking, women, and getting money. They promote all of these views in seventy-five percent of their songs. They rap about these things which encourages some of the younger generation to think doing these things might make them a bit more cooler. In this song Lupe is talking against this, he feels that we should talk less about doing drugs, disrespecting women, and spending a lot of money on nice things. A striking line in this song would be "Instead of asking where the hos is, maybe we can get some Roses for the Ladies". This line shows how degrading women is "overrated" in his eyes. He feels that men should be trying to not just sleep with women, but trying to respect them, and really "wow" them. This song wants tencourages the next generation to be more responsible and make the most reasonable decision. For instance, Lupe says in the song that people should buy a Camry instead of a Lambo. He says this because he wants us not to strive for unreasonable dreams. I really like this song because it has a positive message, a good beat, and Lupe is a great rapper from the Chi.

Lyrics:

Pills make you stupid and liquor do the same thing
'Raris too expensive and they way too hard to maintain
Get yourself a Camry, "nigga said a Camry?"
Watch that ho depreciate and then you'll understand me
It's called being fiscally responsible

Writing a Protest Song Just Comes Easily

Yet again I've chosen a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. What can I say they are not only a great band but they are also my favorite. Any way this week we were asked to blog about a song that either inspires us or is a way a war protest song. My song just happens to be both for me. The song I decided to use is the song "Easily" from the album Californication. This song has a very melodic and sort of peaceful chorus while the rest of the song is just intense and well...kick ass in my opinion. A couple of lines from the chorus that I really like are "The story of a woman on the morning of a war/Remind me if you will exactly what we're fighting for...Throw me to the wolves/Because there's order in the pack/Throw me to the sky/Because I know I'm coming back." These lines really impress me because of what they mean. When he says "The story of a woman on the morning of a war/Remind me will exactly what we're fighting for." its saying that recently with Vietnam(even though that was quite some time before this album released in 1999) that most people don't always know why we go to war. But then the next set of lines "Throw me to the wolves..." is saying it's sometimes ok to go to war because it's very structured, very organized, and even though there is a chance that you could die there's also the flip side that you could come back.

This song also inspires me because of the line "Lookin' mighty tired of/All the things that you own/Everything must go." I like this line because it's saying that we don't need all of these out side items or belongings and that really all they do is make things complicated. This song has some of my favorite lines of music and I recommend people who haven't herd this song before but enjoy good and interesting lyrics to look up other stuff by them because there are so many other possible songs that I could've chosen. Lyrics.

Free Your Mind

Free Your Mind by En Vogue is about stereotypes. The lyrics includes things like "I wear tight clothing, high heeled shoes. That doesn't mean that I'm a prostitute."The writers are protesting against judgemental people who assume things when they look at a person. When you see a girl wearing tight clothes and high heels people make the joke that they are prostitutes but that's just what you think they look like usually its not true and since the American mind is so judgmental En Vogue decided to make a song about how wrong these sterotypes can be. Another line in the song is "Before you can read me you got to learn how to see me. " They are saying before you get to know me you have to understand why I am this way. This song is trying to keep people from being judgemental.

MORE THAN JUST A SONG

The name of the song that I selected was Shout by Tears For Fears, and the album it is on is "The Bst of Tears For Fears". Some of the songs that might be related are Mothers Talks, and Everybody want the World. These three songs had, changed the way people viewed their music. Alot of people think that Shout is just another song about primal scream theory, countinuing concerned with political protest. It came out in 1984 when alot of people were still worried about the after math of the Cold War it was basically encourgous people to protest. It is also a song about the way the public accepts any old grief which is thrown at them. In violent times you shouldn't have to sell your soul. This line is saying that in times of war you shouldn't have to give up your life. I thought these lines were interesting because they have a certain way of explaning the meaning of the song but not giving it away. 

Where is the Love?

The band The Black Eyed Peas made a song that is called "Where is the Love?" This song was featured on their third album Elephunk that was released in 2003. For those of you that dont know, the Black Eyed Peas are a American hip hop band that also feature the artists Fergie and Will.I.Am. The song"Where is the Love," was written about the different things that were going on in the world and different communities, that were disturbing. Such as crime, violence, different things in the media that corrupt the minds of young children, the war that people didnt know much about, that was affecting the everyone, etc. These are a few of the lyrics featured in the song:

Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema

Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity

I feel that this song is important because its telling a story of the different tragedies that are affecting the world and most importantly the children that live in it. It's not only just talking about the crime or the violence, or drugs or gangs. It's talking about all of it, including the media that sort of pulls the wool over the world's eyes and ' really allow them to see the world for what it really is or what it's becoming. I think this song does a good job of bringing up a lot of issues that may not be known to some people. Not only that, but the video itself is very impactful. It shows glimpses of children and normal people in their neighborhoods having to deal with such things like police brutality or crime. I think that this song does a really good job of really making you think about what the world is coming to and what you may be able to do to help make it better.

 

 

Can Music Change the World? Protest Song Assignment

While military conflicts throughout American history have mobilized millions of troops, they also inspired millions of others who stood up and spoke up against these wars, either because of a pacifist morality or because of what they considered the unjust policies or conduct of a particular government at a particular time.

A big inspiration and motivation for those protests has always been music.  Through the power of song, artists have attempted to raise awareness and spark action.

And protest songs have commented about many more issues than simply war.  Songs have cried out against injustice in many forms, such as sexism, racism, economic inequality and political corruption, and have been part of many movements, from Civil Rights to Women’s Rights to Workers’ Rights.

Your assignment: on the blog (due this Friday, 10/23) introduce us to a protest song that inspires you.  It could be from the past, but it is probably more interesting if you chose one from the present-day, so we can discuss issues that matter to us now.

Your blog entry should include the following:

• an introduction to the song: the "title" of the song, the artist, and the album
• Provide context. Especially if the song is from an earlier era, what do we need to know about history to understand it?  But also let us know if the song is part of a “concept album” – a series of connected songs – or if knowing something about the songwriter would help us understand it better.
• link the title of the song to the lyrics. Do not just dump the entire web address into your post
• state the "what" -- the central idea or theme of the song.  What is the song protesting?  Who or what attitudes or policies is it criticizing? What is it trying to get the audience to understand?  What action is it asking the audience to take?  How is it trying to change the world?
• discuss the "how" – quote and analyze at least one set of lines from the song and discuss how the lyrics enhance the meaning and purpose of the song.
• You can quote more than one example, but do not dump a huge chunk of lyrics into your post.  Remember, when quoting poetry, you have two options: make it a blockquote, no matter how few lines, or integrate the quote into a paragraph but use dashes/to indicate line breaks.

B.I.G. promotes Jim crow stereotype

Tim M.

Notorious B.I.G. shows the present-day Jim Crow sterotype  in his song  "Party and Bullshit" :

Verse II:
Honey want to chat 
but all we wanna know is where the party at 
and can I bring my gat?  If not, I hope I don't get shot

The Jim crow stereotype is a black person only wanting to have fun all the time  and live life like a joke.  This song does indeed perpetuate this stereotype.  It shows this because that's all notorious wants to know is where the parties at.  Nothing else matters, not even a girl thats trying to talk with him.   

Chorus:
and party and bullshit and party and bullshit X 5
and party and bullshit and X 1

The chorus also betrays this stereotype.  The chorus is basically the Jim crow steroype itself  but in the words of Notorious.  Even though the Jim crow sterotype was more popular in the past it's still  brought up in the present day.   Not just in music but the news and in  books.   B.I.G. is not the only person who perpetuates the Jim crow stereotype in a song and  he certainly will not be the last.  It seems like the only way for black rappers to succeed in the rap industry is if they use the Jim crow sterotype in there music.      

 

Old Vs. New Music

I recently bought tickets to go see Bob Dylan on the 27^th and 28^TH at The Chicago Theater. This made me start to wonder, Is older music more meaningful than new music? If you listen to some of the lyrics in today’s hits they are all basically about the same things. I’m not saying all new music is bad, but most of it isn’t really digging very deep any more lyrics wise. If you listen to older music from the 50’s it’s mostly about cars and girls. When you listen to music from the 60’s it’s mostly about protesting the government, loving one another, music, weather and drugs. Now it seems like everything on the radio is talking about “ getting with “ so and so, or “ going to this club “.

People should actually think of something meaningful to say in a song before making one, Instead of just putting anything on the radio. If you write a song, and it doesn’t have any meaning or the meaning is degrading than what’s the point of writing a song at all? Depending on the person, listening to a good song for the first time could change your entire life. Can you think of anything on the radio right now that could even come close to changing your life? Sure – some of the music today is catchy and fun to sing along too but music is much more than that.

Newly Revised Cultural Analysis

A major hit in the mainstream American’s eye is the new iphone. We have all seen the commercial, were a man shows us how convenient it is. He demonstrates the phone by first calling it a device, showing its video streaming and online capabilities. Then at the end reveals that it is also a phone, which is apparently supposed to be a big deal. They made this commercial to make the product feel like a technological break through. It was the first time people were able to view the product, after guessing how apple can make a better phone. Yet there are products just like it that have been out on the market up to a year before it. It is the whole Apple I-life hype that swept the nation when the ipod was released.

Apple feels that if they can create a basic mp3 player and sell so many, they can tap into the phone market and sell more. The commercial does make it look appealing, but it is just to get buyers attention. They don’t want you to find out about its flaws, only its amazing capabilities and awesome style. It makes it seem practical and easy to use, but after trying out the product, the touch screen is more trouble then its worth. All there is to say is Apple did a good job making the product to attract a bigger crowd, and the commercial had a major part in selling the iphone.

Revised Cultural Analysis: Today's Music

    Are you tired of today’s hit music being mostly focused on material items or the artist promotion of themselves?  Today’s hit music is mostly focused on two things, material objects, or how “great” the artist tells you they are. Almost every song played on MTV has lyrics on these two subjects. For example, Fergie has a hit song called “Fergalicious”. This song is completely about how sexy she tells us she is, and how her sex appeal makes men go crazy. The whole song is focused on promoting her image to the world, not about musical expression.  A lot of popular hip/hop that comes out today is totally focused on these subjects as well. A lot of the time the chorus lines in these song will be totally about how wealthy or great the artist is. I am speaking of chorus lines such  as, “I’m so fly”, or “ Bet you can’t do it like me”. Music is not about materialism or promoting how “cool” you are. I believe that these artist have very low self esteem and need to reassure themselves on how great they are or how wealthy they are. Music should be about true feelings or subjects, that have interest or make you think. Today’s music is going to lead to a very superficial generation to come. A generation that believes that money and nice cars are what leads to true happiness, or a successful life. What happened to songs having real, raw emotion, or having the subject matter be on a real, important issue. Now a days most music will be the artist telling the audience that he’s a hardcore criminal or gangster, which they usually turn out not to be. Popular music these days will also be about a dance move, or useless shallow information that just shows the audience tons of low self esteem. The audience usually doesn’t use their brain and just conforms to what is popular, not really taking time to think about what the level of originality the music is. The big issue is besides the fact that the music is giving the youth of America not only immoral and very ignorant messages, it is also developing an attitude towards their generation’s music. It happened to the kids that grew up in the 1980’s and it is going to happen to this generation. We don’t want another generation like the 80’s where people look back at the music and consider it a joke full of poppy, ignorant, poor quality music. Music that is driving the use of the human brain, musically, into the ground.

Dear Mr. President

Some of you might be familiar with the song Dear Mr. President by Pink. In the song Pink is basically singing questions aimed  towards the president   asking him all sorts of things as to why he is doing some of the things he does. Such things like "How do you sleep while the rest of us cry."Another line that Pink sings is "Let me tell you 'bout hard work, you don't know nothing 'bout hard work." Now i know that the president may not be a lot of peoples favorite person but i think that Pink saying you don't know anything about hard work might be pushing it a little. I don't think that any president deserves to have said about them that they know nothing about hard work and they don't work hard when there life is there work and they are always living it.
Below is all the lyrics to the song Dear Mr. President by Pink
Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?
Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.
What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work,Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work,Hard work
How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

Music Genre Favorites

Music has been apart of peoples lives since hundreds of years.  Whether its from funk to fuji, or jazz to zulu jive, theres no dought that there hasn't been music since time of man.  All I wanted to know and ask the class is if they have a favorite kind of music genre and why is it you like it?  Another question I wanted to all was, if you have a weird genre of music you listen to like yodeling or scream-o.  I've also been wondering if now days generation evolves around two known genres rock and hip-hop, and how that kinda puts us into groups and how people look at you.

Do You?

When did it become O.K. for today’s music to be so vulgar and degrading? It seems to be a fad in today’s society, for music to consist of lyrics that are either degrading towards women or contain swearing or other derogatory terms. It is downright embarrassing and disrespectful towards not only people songs talk about, but the artist as well. Neyo, on the other hand, seems to have taken a different approach. In his latest single, “Do You”, Neyo is singing to an ex-girlfriend, on a mature, friendly level, and wants to know if she’s at all still cares for him.    

I know what we have is dead and gone.

Too many times I made you cry.

And I don’t mean to interrupt your life.

I just wonder do I ever cross your mind.

In this quote from the song, Neyo breaks the stereotype that men always have to be hard and tough, by accepting his mistakes and apologizing to her for it. In most songs today, by male artists, we will either apologize without sincerity, or won’t apologize at all. As a young man, I think we should all accept our own responsibilities and actions and act as men with them.