Author: onyxhelleborus

Music like society has changed drastically in terms of including human rights. For this post I will be showing how music has helped and shown the transformation of women’s equality. I believe this is an important feature in our society and I wanted to know how songs throughout history have shown growth and strengthening of equality for women over the years. Not only that but I also wanted to know how music has let women advocate for themselves and there rights. I thought it would be an interesting topic and also let me appreciate how far we’ve come.

March Of Women – 1910

Quick history recap: The 19th amendment is the right for a citizen of any sex to vote. This was put into place on August 19th 1920. This is important background information for this next song because it was composed in 1910. It is called “March of Women” and it was made by Ethyl Smyth and Cicely Hamilton. This song was the anthem of the Women’s Social and Political Union along with suffragettes in the UK. It was the song sung at most rally’s and political protests including the protest on May 9th in 1914 by the Congressional Union for Woman. This protest was a major contributing factor to getting the amendment passed and the song was how they got there message across.

Musical Elements:

This song is in 4/4 and I could not find its BPM anywhere online but I’s say it is at a good walking pace or at least adagio (66-75 bpm). The soloist also reaches quite an impressive range in this version of the song. You can almost feel how passionate they were about their cause in the song . Personally I don’t think it is “catchy” as the song more modern songs I like to listen too but it makes up for that in meaning.

I am Woman – 1971

“I am Woman” was sung by Helen Reddy in 1971. It is the perfect transition song between the 1910 song and the 2019 song to understand what was revolutionary in terms of pushing social boundaries. While Reddy’s song did not pass any amendments it was a song of empowerment that reached many women. In fact it hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. I became the unofficial anthem of the second wave feminist movement. Lines like “I can do anything” and “I am woman, hear me roar” are some of the best examples of why this song was so powerful and iconic. “I am woman . hear me roar” became a very well known saying in the media that symbolized that woman will be acknowledged.

Musical Elements:

It is sung as 171 Bpm or presto (168-208). Also the song screams 70’s by the beat alone and even more so by the sound quality in the music video. It is also much more “catchy” once again with a definite chorused really great back-up singers. The back-up singers particularly emphasize the words “strong” and “invincible” in the chorus which is definitely not a coincidence. Reddy also tends to emphasize or linger on the word “woman” quite a bit throughout the song.

Like a Girl – 2019

This is “Like a Girl” by Lizzo released just this year. This was the song that inspired me to write about this topic in the first place. It is one of my favorite songs currently, because of the pace and lyrics. I also think it is important to note that Lizzo herself is becoming a feminist icon as she preaches body positivity and uses her role as a celebrity to share that every girl should be comfortable with however they look. She talks on The Daily show with Trevor Noah where she describes how she makes songs about “body positivity” for herself and not to start a revolution. She said in the show “I am literally here making music so I can live a more positive, healthier, happier life, and if that changes the world one song at a time then so be it.” Her cover for her album is purposefully made with the intention to show that point.

Musical Elements:

The tempo is 144 BPM in Lizzo’s “Like a Girl” and once again in 4/4 time. The song has a strong chorus that is repeated 3 times which makes you remember it and personally makes it good song to listen and sing to. It also has a really strong bridge at the end with really strong lines like “So if you fight like a girl, cry like a girl, do your thing, run the whole damn world.”

Conclusion:

Throughout the years it is very easy to see that respect and equality for women has grown. It started with a goal to get something as basic as the right to vote with the suffragettes. Then to Helen Reddy advocating the fact that women should be heard and respected equally as our brothers. Fast forward to Lizzo preaching about how girls should always be accepted and confident in their bodies. These singers and so many others, paved and are paving the way for future generations of girls, so that they can be proud, confident and treated with respect.

Overview of this Course and Blog Experience:

I was so excited to find out when I started this class that it meant I got to write down my thoughts on music online. It totally lived up to my expectations! I had so much fun writing these posts and my knowledge of the music world has expanded greatly. I appreciate all those who read them because I know I can ramble and I am sure there were some grammar errors along the way. During this coarse I got to look at my peers’ works and got to listen to songs they chose. I read so many good songs and facts about the people and cultures that they originated from. This will most likely be my last post so thank you for reading!

Work Cited:

“Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Union_for_Woman_Suffrage.

“The March of the Women.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_March_of_the_Women.

Bologna, Caroline. “17 Feminist Songs That Were Ahead Of Their Time.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 5 Dec. 2016, http://www.huffpost.com/entry/17-feminist-songs-that-were-ahead-of-their-time_n_56fc6b46e4b0daf53aeeaf5a?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALC90Y9dnaQ9qp_lOndPYBLsr3pl9sAG723U2mILoW4SgMYAQpvPhKcuNNsN8J79Um56aq6jZhUoNtJZ8EVtF6cB6IFBPaKfdjcdU-xhidTtrgon1bPm-gZL8FWY7PhCstfngqVqfjFMn5rDsEqUyX1luUWEnJp4BHBPLbOloOjV.

Rosenberg, Sari. “December 9, 1972: Helen Reddy’s ‘I Am Woman’ Hit No. 1.” Lifetime, 9 Dec. 2017, http://www.mylifetime.com/she-did-that/december-9-1972-helen-reddys-i-am-woman-hit-no-1.

Bohemian Rhapsody is the movie and song tittle I will be analyzing in this post. The movie Bohemian Rhapsody came out just last year and it is about Freddie Mercury and his musical journey. Obviously the song I picked from the sound track was also Bohemian Rhapsody. I picked this movie because it is amazingly well made and I definitely recommend everyone sees it. Also the song is one that I listen too throughout most of my life. I would sing it loudly with my friends in high school in the hallways and it always comes up when my family does road trips for some reason. It’s a unique song that I think has every emotion inside it which makes it versatile and somehow also catchy.

Bio/History of the Song:

The Movie came out November 2, 2018 but the original song was released in 1975. The movie was produced by 20th Century Fox, Initial Entertainment Group, and Regency Enterprises. It is about mostly Freddie Mercury(lead vocalist) and the band including: Brain May(keyboard), John Deacon(bass guitar) , and Roger Taylor(Drums).

The story starts out with Freddie joining the band and they play smaller gigs in places like bars in London. Then it jumps ahead a year later to when they record their first album, which gets them recognized by a manager. They eventually do a tour of America. When they get back they propose to their publishing company (EMI) that they do an album that has a twist of opera in it called “A Night at the Opera”. So they go to a remote recording studio in the country side to “get away from all distractions”. There they come up with Bohemian Rhapsody. They bring the song and the album back to EMI and the publisher hates it and they leave the company.

Social Message:

Like a lot of Queen’s songs it probably has to do with or symbolizes aspects of the band member’s lives. In this case it is about Freddie and it has something to do with death. I won’t go breaking down the whole song but verses like “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me” (Beelzebub being satan), and “I don’t wanna die”. There are also two possible references to god in the parts referencing Galileo which also according to Quora is the name of Jesus Christ in Ancient Rome. As well as the term “Bismillah” which is Arabic for “In the name of God”. He could be him asking god to let him into Heaven because the phrase “Let me go” is repeated numerous times. It’s a hard song to decipher and I think they meant for it to be that way but to me it is Freddie asking god to let him into heaven and the devil saying he will never let him go.

My Opinion:

Obviously I love this song but I’ll delve a little deeper. It has an Intro, a ballad, an operatic section, rock section, and then an outro. I can’t list all of the meter changes because there are too many. Most websites say that you play the song in C major at 104 beats per minute. There is no chorus, no continuous beat and, key changes. However it is still something you can sing along to, despite all of that. It’s its own story and play in a single song with words that are seemingly meaningless that you can remember the lyrics too anyway.

Works Cited:

“Bohemian Rhapsody.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 24 Oct. 2018, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727824/.

“Bohemian Rhapsody.” Queen Songs, http://www.queensongs.info/song-analysis/songwriting-analyses/no-synth-era/a-night-at-the-opera/bohemian-rhapsody.

RunPee, Jill FlorioCo-Creator of. “What Is a Scaramouch? The Meaning Behind Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen.” RunPee, 13 Apr. 2019, runpee.com/what-is-a-scaramouch-the-meaning-behind-bohemian-rhapsody/.

For this assignment tittled the Role of the Performer I thought it would be perfect to talk about Elton John who has recently just had a movie produced about him. He is a musical genius however if you did not know already he did not write most of his songs. Those lyrics we know and love are written by Bernie Taupin but I’ll get into that later on.

Elton’s Musical Bio:

Starting at the early age of 4, Reginald Kenneth Dwight was teaching himself piano. Deciding on the musical path he attended London’s Academy of Music but stopped just short if graduating to pursue a job with Dick James Publishing Company. On his off hours of he would sing and play piano at bars. At the company in 1986 he met Bernie Taupin. However before they started making songs publicly Elton joined a band called “Bluesology”. He created his stage name Elton John after a combination of multiple band members names including Elton Dean (the saxophone player)and Long John Baldry (the lead singer). After that he started making songs with Bernie and he came out with their first album “Empty Sky” which pretty much bombed financially and most people would not recognize any of the songs from it. However the second album titled “Elton John” had the hit song “Your Song”. From there he took off. They eventually released “Rocket Man”, “Crocodile Rock” and “Tiny Dancer”.

His Role as a Performer:

The musical world would simply not be the same without him. He released a total of 7 number 1 albums. Plus is just iconic and eye catching with his outfits and signature crazy glasses. Not to mention his social impact when he first cam out as bi then gay which did stunt his music career. However he bounced back with his reach of his hit “Candle in the Wind” which he played at princess Diana’s funeral. He sold over 30 million copies and donated the money to a charity made in Diana’s name.

Under are two songs: His first hit song “Your Song” and my personal favorite “Rocket Man”

Work Cited:

Holden, Stephen. “Elton John.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 July 2019, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Elton-John.

“List of Songs with Lyrics by Bernie Taupin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_with_lyrics_by_Bernie_Taupin.

“Elton John Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/John-Elton.html.

My family recently tried ancestry.com and we found out we are mostly Scandinavian so I thought I would try to tie this music post into that somehow. Scandinavia encompasses Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. I’m deciding to focus on a type of Swedish Folk Music because there is some pretty good information on it.

History:

Swedish folk music is typically characterized by its “blue tones”, which are quarter and half tones. Which give Swedish folk song a sort of eerily sung story telling sound. These tones originated from Kulning otherwise known as herding calls that were sung by women to call in some form of cattle from sheep to cows.

This is an example of how a kulning would be sung to draw in a herd. Also don’t mind the part at the end.

Around 1350 the Nyckelharpa was invented. This instrument also known as the “key fiddle” became popular and was integrated into Swedish folk music throughout the 15th and 16th century. However the fiddle entered the seen in the 17th century and quickly became the instrument of choice. Stringed instruments then became an essential part to this genre.

This next video is a great example because it is pretty much an evolved kulning and it is sung accompanied by a nyckelharpa. The kulning has been made more song like and has been transformed with the addition of the instruments melodies. I think it is really pretty however the music video gives it a sort of creepy feel to it.

Form:

This type of music is very distinctive because of its contrast of long and drawn out notes followed by short and louder bursts in pitch. In the first video where the singer is actually singing a traditional kulning it is very clear. It makes sense that the pitch is high because the call would need to travel very far in order to get the attention of all of the livestock.

Beat:

In terms of beat in the traditional video it seems really inconsistent mostly because it isn’t necessarily a “song”. But in the more modern version it is along the same lines in terms of being fairly slow paced. I could’t find anywhere online that had the beat of this song so I took out a metronome and found it was around 48 bpm.

Not all too important but I thought it was cool to know that kulning was used in the soundtrack in the movie Frozen.

Work Cited:

Vartan, Starre. “Kulning: The Haunting, Beautiful Swedish Herding Call That’s Also a Song.” MNN, Mother Nature Network, 5 June 2017, http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/kulning-haunting-beautiful-swedish-herding-call-thats-also-song.

“The Evolution of Swedish Folk Music.” The Evolution of Swedish Folk Music | Swedish Press, http://www.swedishpress.com/article/evolution-swedish-folk-music.

What is Electro Swing? :

It is a music genre in which artists sample vintage music and mix it somehow with pop, EDM, and electronic dance.

Origins:

According to a few websites electro swing’s point of origin was 1990’s hiphop. A few hiphop artists decided to to try something new and integrate jazz samples into their songs. Some of these artists include: Guru (with his song”Loungin”), US3 (with “Cantaloop”), A Tribe Called Quest (with “We’ve Got the Jazz”), and Madlib’s Slim’s Return. The best example of these to really hear both genre’s was Slim’s Return. It came out in 2003 which isn’t the earliest song I could find but it shows the best example of using Jazz.

This really is the perfect example to show the origins of electro swing because its all about reusing vintage music and adding a modern twist (or at least modern in 2003 for this example). In the music video he even spends a lot of time looking through vinyl records to use in his music (starting at 0:23.) Also starting right at the intro of his song (0:12) he splices in the stringed instruments from some old jazz music. Then he does it throughout but you really notice is again in the outro with the same string sample.

I still much prefer modern electro swing over the jazz hop songs. For example this song is really repetitive and mellow-sounding . Plus there aren’t really any words except “what”, “yea”, and mumbling. I tend to enjoy songs I can sing along too.

Changes in the Direction:

Pretty soon after the 1990’s, the early 2000’s gave us artists like Caravan palace, Parov Stelar, and more. Parov Stellar’s first electro swing album in 2004 and Caravan Palace came out with their first album in 2008.

Artists saw and are still seeing the possibilities of this genre and developing it. My personal favorite band still is Caravan Palace but I’ve already played some of their music in the blog and there are two artists that needs the spot light specifically for their song “Lost in the Rhythm”. This is by Jamie Berry featuring Octavia Rose.

This is such an amazing song to me because it automatically makes me want to dance. Also you can sing to it which I love even more. It gives me gramophone vibes and I may be taking “color of the music” too literally in this description but, it makes me think of black and white movies but littered with bright colors from the pop aspect of it. Anyway it is almost completely different from “Slim’s Return” except for the fact that they both take inspiration from the past.

Thanks for reading!

Works Cited:

Altieri, Ashley. “A Brief Introduction To Electro Swing.” The Odyssey Online, 21 Feb. 2018, http://www.theodysseyonline.com/introduction-electro-swing.

Leng, Karen. “5 Great Songs Where Jazz Meets Hip Hop.” Double J, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 June 2019, http://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/lists/5-great-songs-where-jazz-meets-hip-hop/10273320.

“Caravan Palace.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 June 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravan_Palace.

“Parov Stelar.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 June 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parov_Stelar.

This is such an amazing song with a story behind it that makes you really feel the lyrics. There is a video where one of the band members tells you the reasoning behind the lyrics which I highly recommend you watch ( video attached right under this). But to sum it up it is a song about a female taxi driver who has lived an unfulfilled life. When she was young she wanted to marry a man but her father dies and around that time is when he asks her to marry him. She doesn’t respond to him and he leaves her. Each verse in the song a an a significant event in her life.

Beat:

This beat also has a fairly fast paced tempo for how sad the song is. The chorus is about how she is late for various events in her events in her life but you slowly realize she is reflecting on her life. But the band member who explains the song’s meaning says that Cleopatra “isn’t this person’s name this is this idea that when we’re young, we feel … like we are destined for something bigger than our small town or destined for greatness or something.” So I think the pace is fast to show ho she is remember this idea or way that she felt, how happy she was to be married.

Meter:

This song like most is in common time or 4. The guitar surges in between some of the meters to identify when it changes.

Pitch:

There are few changes in the pitch for the guitar but he mostly plays the same note two notes over and over again. The change is a half step and part of what I think makes the song so catchy. You can hear it right from the being in the intro.

Range:

The song is sung by a male singer in Eb4-Ab5 which is the range of a bass singer and or a baritone. He usually reaches the highest range in the middle or the end of the meter or phrase that he is singing and starts off the meter in a mid to lower range. Nearing the end he emphasizes the words late in the chorus and die which shows some significance to those words in particular to the meaning of the song.

Timbre:

While the singer does have a pretty average sounding voice, it fits really well with the story telling and folky aspects of the song. The female back up singer gives the sound a beautiful light harmony to go with the upbeat tone of the song.

Works Cited:

Michaela, et al. “Vocal Range Chart.” BecomeSingers.Com, 16 Mar. 2019, http://www.becomesingers.com/vocal-range/vocal-range-chart.

“Unit 2 – Elements of Music.” Explorations in Music, Lisa Kljiach, mus200x.community.uaf.edu/2-elements-of-music/.

Jeremiah, et al. “The Lumineers ‘Cleopatra’ Sheet Music in Ab Major (Transposable) – Download & Print.” Musicnotes.com, http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0167596&cmpid=sem_roirevolution&gclid=CjwKCAjw3azoBRAXEiwA-_64OmEAOnbZTtFGXMEm6w-aGRDoOue373atDMs_HW0uPfNg3c0wFfBgXhoChdUQAvD_BwE#ProductDetails.

I’ll start of my musical analysis with my favorite song of all time. Dirty Paws sung and written by the band Of Monsters And Men. I can listen to this song over and over again never get tired of it. The beat is fairly fast paced which gives is an air of happy-ness but at the beginning the vocalist sings in a sad tone. It makes me feel like a kid probably because it is such a nostalgic song. Plus folk music just sounds homey to me.

Origins:

The band is icelandic and the song was released April 12, 2012. Of Monsters and Men’s genre is an indie, folk, pop, hybrid.

Meter, Tempo, and Harmony:

Dirty paws is odd in the sense that it only has three verses, however it is still about 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. It has no chorus and no bridge. The rest of the song is instrumental and “La”s. The song’s meter is 4/4 and played at 112 BPM. The guitar melody that you hear in the intro travels through the whole song aside from the instrumentals and the “la”s.

The song starts of with a beautiful guitar melody and then on the ninth meter the vocalists begin with a harmony that gives me goose bumps every time. The female singer in much more predominant, however the male’s voice is an amazing contrast the the song wouldn’t be the same without.

Lyrics:

It paints a story that you can follow and picture in your head (even if the story sounds a little weird and like it was written while the writer was possibly on something but what good song doesn’t sound like that?). I’m one of those people who doesn’t listen to the lyrics as much as the beat and rhythm. So when I finally tried to break this dong down to understand the story behind it I was entirely confused. I had always thought that it was about a battle between the sexes because it is a battle between the birds and the bees because “the sky wasn’t big enough for them all”. But then it goes on to talk about a dragonflies and mowing lawns and creatures of snow and I got confused. I looked online to see if the band had an explanation but they didn’t and all I could find were fans tryin to come up with their own explanations. Ranging from WWII to a cat on an adventure.

Lyrics:

Jumping up and down the floor
My head is an animal
And once there was an animal
It had a son that mowed the lawn

The son was an okay guy
They had a pet dragonfly
The dragonfly, it ran away
But it came back with a story to say

[Verse 2]
Her dirty paws and furry coat
She ran down the forest slopes
The forest of talking trees
They used to sing about the birds and the bees

The bees had declared a war
The sky wasn’t big enough for them all
The birds, they got help from below
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow

[Refrain]
La la la
La la la, la
La la la
La la la, la

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]
So for a while, things were cold
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men
And that’s how the story goes
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws

[Refrain] x2
La la la
La la la, la
La la la
La la la, la

-“Of Monsters And Men – Dirty Paws Lyrics.” SongMeanings, songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858883535/.

-“Dirty Paws.” Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men | BPM | Key | Find Song Tempo, findsongtempo.com/artists/of-monsters-and-men/songs/dirty-paws-c271061f-a694-4f60-a0ea-5aabdcf8c07d.

-“Of Monsters and Men – Dirty Paws.” Genius, 12 Apr. 2012, genius.com/Of-monsters-and-men-dirty-paws-lyrics.

Thanks for joining me!

        My favorite flower is the Onyx Odyssey and my theme for this blog site. I think it is the perfect name for this blog because I see music as timeline or a way to track our lives, an “epic journey” or odyssey. Anyway, enough of that, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Jade and I live in Anchorage Alaska. I love drawing, hiking, my dog Finn and anything if it’s got chocolate on it. My current relationship to music is borderline obsessive. I listen to music doing pretty much everything: working, cleaning, doing homework (so now), walking Finn, showering, while I’m breathing… you get it. My musical taste is all over the place though. I hate to admit it but most of the music I listen to is from youtube nowadays from that little recommended feature. I listen to genres from indie to alternative to pop and all in-between and around. Right now (meaning within the last month) I am listening to electro-swing. I love this genre because It comines elements of fast paced pop-ish music and old-timey sounding effects. But I’ll probably get into that more later. For now here are some songs by Caravan Palace that are some of my favorites. Enjoy!