This is a blog devoted to the ideas and analysis of BSU students as they discover, listen, read, analyze the works of various musical artists, across various genres, whose music centers on political, social, and/or cultural issues. The ultimate goal of the class, other than focusing on the students' writing skills, is to allow them the space and time to express their own opinions and ideas, to expose them to music that can and has made significant change.
This week the Bikini Kill documentary really fascinated me because of a previously unknown factoid about another famous band Nirvana and more specifically Kurt Cobain. Bikini kill lead singer, Kathleen Hannah, wrote on his door, “Kurt smells like teen spirit”. This was then used for the title of nirvana’s eventual most popular song. As a musician who takes extreme inspiration from Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl, and the story of the band’s origins, any new information is eagerly collected and stored in the memory banks.
I didn’t know Bikini Kill existed until Tuesday but I almost instantly fell in love with them as I will any band with a driving story and purpose. I also loved the power behind Hannah’s vocals. Most people are unable to reach that level of expression in their music for lack of talent or fear of failure. Hannah delivered until she was literally too sick to do so.
In class this week we looked at many different empowering women in music but the one or the group that stood out to me the most was Bikini Kill. My music taste is very wide but I never in a million years thought I would be impressed by a punk band. But Bikini Kill are well for a lack of better words, kickass. After watching the documentary on the lead singer Kathleen Hanna I was very impressed with her background and what her and the rest of her band stood for. They were in a sense the “Third wave of feminism” and they took it to a whole new level. Other female artists had gone from singing about how to keep a man to being okay with being by themselves. But Bikini Kill was all about the above and more, they talked about how it was not okay for men to be sexualy abusing women, which is kind of a known fact but the way that they sang about it was so in your face and powerful. Also, Kathleen Hanna has a very interesting voice because she has a valley girl accent but all of the words that she said had so much power. Which is cool because when you think of a valley girl you think they are airheads, but she was not an airhead in the slightest. Plus they were really advocating for women when they made sure at their concerts that women would stand in the front where men would typically be standing. They also strived to ensure women's safety at their concerts because they knew that typically punk concerts involved mosh pits that would result in people getting seriously hurt.
On Tuesday my group decided to analysis and present on the artists, Lil Kim and Hole. I volunteered to pick a song by Hole and analyze it. I won't lie, at first I hated them, I played a few of their songs and didn't even last 30 seconds listening to it. But knowing that I had to do pick a song, I continued searching. I stumbled upon the song, Doll Parts, and really liked it. The song just had such a calm but powerful message, it was a perfect blend of power, emotion, and fluidity. The songs melody wasn't too much, a nice tranquil melody with just a few instruments allowing all the attention to be on the words that Courtney Love sings. Courtney sounds very passionate about the song where you can hear the hurt and pain that she feels; projects it through the song. The song also flows like a river, there isn't any abrupt stops or cuts, it has increasing and decreasing intensities which make the song flavorful, and soothing to the ear. Prior to Tuesday, I have never heard of the group, and when I started to explore about the group I hated it, but the song Doll Parts really changed my view on it. Given the time I may go back and explore some more songs by Hole.
As we were going through the different artist analysis on Thursday, hearing No Scrub by TLC really stuck out to me. It's always been a song I love listening to but I feel like it really speaks to the women's unit and how the way women should act. It's a song about women knowing what she wants and how no one should settle. This is the attitude anyone should have and everyone deserves to be with someone who works hard and shows effort.
As TLC describes in the song, a scrub is a guy that just sits around waiting for what he wants to just come to him. He's broke and thinks he'll get what he wants without working for it. That isn't someone ideal for anyone. In order to be successful in life, you need to have good energy around you and even if you are hardworking, they could eventually bring you down and you may lose your ethic. Or if you stick to your morals you have and continue to be hardworking, it could be frustrating to always be around someone who just sits around all day and doesn't work for anything. You want someone to have goals in life and be working towards them in order to be their own kind of successful. Everyone's definition of successful is different but everyone needs to work for it.
Once you get to a certain age, there are things that you stop doing because it just doesn't fit your age anymore and you need to grow up. TLC says, "Hangin' out the passenger side of his best friends ride, tryin' to holler at me." This line is stressing that it isn't cool to be doing this anymore and it's time to start doing something during your day a bit more productive. No one wants to be with a loser in their 20's that has no aspirations.
Everyone deserves a successful partner that has goals and aspirations in life. No one needs anyone by their side but if you choose to have someone, you deserve someone hardworking building a life for themselves. It's important to always know that and never settle for anything less than what you deserve.
Rihanna was an artist my group picked for our women in music unit. Rihanna came out with "Rated R" album in 2009, and brought a different feeling this time. This album was more explicit and arrogant. This was due to her relationship with Chris Brown, with the abuse, leading to this album. Abuse can change someone, but Rihanna chose to come back stronger. She made sure to use this album as a way to say she is Rihanna and nobody is going to take that away from her. I enjoy the straight forward tone in the song "Hard", which my group also chose. This song was clearly towards the media trying to tear her down and she calls them out directly. I love the way she went against the stereotype of women being "soft", because that is not always true. Women can be tough and "hard" too. Confidence is shown throughout the song when calling herself "the hottest b*tch", and mentioning she is "brilliant, resilient", yet also popular with "fan mail from 27 million". The music video of this song played along with the description of being "hard" as Rihanna plays as a part of the Army. When you think of being tough, the Army is a great example. I love this songs meaning, video, and catchy chorus. It is a song you can jam to but also can get you pumped up. As a woman, it is nice listening to a song taking a stand for other women, making us united and strong.
After listening to a bit of the girl group TLC's song "No Scrubs" in class, I realized how catchy it was even though we only listened to a little bit of it. I went on to go home and listen to the whole thing, and sung it for the next hour and a half, while looking into their music as a whole as well. Not only does this group have the ability to make anything into a jam, but I was glad to see they have recently released a song that turned the dreary day I was having right around! This song is called "It's Sunny", and as I go into a little analysis of it, I encourage anyone reading to listen to it first!
The song starts off with a confident, ever-changing chorus, claiming the bad days are behind these girls and anyone who's listening, with a peppy beat behind them...
"Now the dark days are gone And the bright days are here I can finally see the sun appear Look at how far we've come Everything is so clear Can't believe it's been another year"
Its pretty apparent that this is meant to be another feel good song to join the ranks, but who's complaining when the girls mention...
"Your darkest days all fade away That's why we say (Can't stop me now) If you believe in destiny then you will see (Ain't no stoppin' now)"
Whatever bad day you've had, it's behind you now and to believe in the future is to move ahead without anyone stopping you!
"Everybody sing Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Come on and sing Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Everybody sing Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Come on and sing"
My absolute favorite part about this song, is the acapella they sample from Earth, Wind, and Fire's song September which only added to how light hearted and fun this song already was!
"Now the dark days are gone And the bright days are here Don't be trippin' all over your fears Cause the good comes after bad First you cry and then you laugh As we head into another year"
The chorus arrives a second time, but the group reminds you this time to stop getting caught up in all your fears and worries, because eventually good will follow whatever events are causing you such stress! I could go on, but I'm sure by now whoever's reading gets the point of this song. I wrote this blog post purely to cheer myself up with a newfound song I just discovered, and I hoped that it might reach someone else in a bad mood as well. TLC is a group of inspiring, kind, and powerful women and they are just as capable as an all men's group to write a memorable and cheery song for people all around the country.
Listening to the different women musicians presented in today’s class made me realize how diverse women are in music. We listened to people like Missy Elliot and Lil Kim who are more on the expletive side of women’s music and share how the feel and relate to their listeners in a more sexual way. We also listened to Dixie Chicks who are a country band and Janet Jackson who talk about controversy going in the world. Back in the 50s and 60s however, women didn’t speak about the same things as they do now. Most singers would talk about worrying of their husband leaving them, and other insecurities. Women have progressed in confidence throughout their time in music and tend to speak about their opinions and make a difference and inspire other young women.
