Within just one decade, there was a huge change in equality amongst men and women. Being able to spend a class on the 1950's and a class on the 1960's was really helpful to see these amazing changes. Women were always labelled as the housewives and they did all the cooking and cleaning around the house as their daily job. That's just how it was and it wasn't anyones fault for it being like this, it was just the way society was in the 50's. Well, over the years, we really were able to see the difference in women's attitudes about their lifestyles and how they felt about being a women around men.
The music that was written in the 50's versus the 60's by women, has very clear differences. The 1950's typical woman was very quiet and stuck by the rules that the man is always ran the show. In Patsy Cline's, "Crazy", she is saying she's crazy to think her love could make a man stay. She repeats over and over, "I'm crazy for loving you." That's not fair to a women for feeling so powerless when it comes to an intimate relationship with a man that they automatically "know" in their head that the man is running the relationship. No women should put up with a man wearing the pants in a relationship. We also listened to Dorris Day's, "Should I Surrender", and this song was more about women expressing two sides to themselves. At this day in age, women thought they couldn't have two sides and they always had to be these sweet, kind and loving women that would never voice an opinion or go against something. At the end of the stanzas she asks, "Should I surrender?" wondering if she should surrender and be the first to say I've had enough! Women shouldn't feel like they have to hide a part of who they are because society says they have to. Go against society and show who you really are.
Within the next decade, women change tremendously and they begin to have a voice for themselves. Throughout women's music they begin to see their worth and express their independence. In Helen Reddy's, "I Am Women" performance, you can tell she's happy and proud to be singing this song. She has a smile on her face and you can see the strength in her body language. Women began to stand by one another and stick up for themselves in situations they didn't want to put up with anymore. Dolly Parton said it really well in her song, "Dumb Blonde" trying to kill the stereotypes of dumb blondes. She sings in the song that men think she's going to wait around because they think she's a dumb blonde, but she isn't anyones fool. Blonde or brunette, no woman should stand around waiting for a man and it's unfortunate that men think they have that power to keep them hanging by their finger. No woman should give a man that power either.
It's incredible to see the growth that women made within the decade and today as women, all we want is to have one another's back so we can continue to show our strength and importance!
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Joni Mitchell, and Her Little Green
When having read about Joni Mitchell's song, and the unique story behind the it, I was intrigued to look further into the situation, and I was only further compelled to do so when listening a live version of "Little Green" in class. Joni talked so lovingly of the girl she may never know, and having only the best hopes in mind for her she put her daughter up for adoption. Little did she know that later on at the age of 32, the same girl now known as Kilauren Gibb, would have ended her 5-year search looking for her mother when they finally met.
Kilauren only found out she was adopted when she was 27, being cared for by David and Ida Gibb she was never quite told why she didn't have any baby pictures, or that she was adopted for a long while. The reason they kept it a secret, like many parents having adopted a child, being "They were nurturing, loving parents who wanted to protect me. They didn't tell me because they didn't want me to feel like an outsider. And, they were afraid they might lose me.", as told by Kilauren. With this information she went to the Children's Aid Society to find out more about her mother and father, such as their meeting in the art school named Calgary, and the fact that her other was quite the Canadian folk singer. Only a little after the fact of her friends joking about her similar appearance to Joni Mitchell, did Kilauren reach out to her agent as she had heard that the singer was in return looking for a daughter she had given up long ago.
Having been famous, a good amount of girls had already called Joni claiming to be her daughter, but when Kilauren faxed her birthing information to her employees she was trusted and called my Mitchell right away. They shared pictures to fill in the missing links, Joni spoke of some of her regrets in giving Kilauren up, and her daughter told her of the amazing life and childhood she has had as a result to make her feel better about her decision those 32 years ago.
On March 13th the two met in person, along with Ki Lauren's son so he could meet his grandmother for the first time. The three had a very pleasant time together, and Kilauren remarked on how naturally they had all clicked. She planned to meet up with her dad, Brad McMath, soon after in the summer that followed, to complete herself as a person. I hope that she did, as after having done more research I'm not entirely sure if that second meeting happened or not. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have learned that Joni and her Little Green finally met in a peaceful reunion, and I hope you are too!
Work Cited:
Joni Mitchell Library - How Joni Mitchell's daughter found mom and became whole: Toronto Sun, April 8, 1997. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=82
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
9/11 Responses
During the past week of classes we heard presentations about specific songs that were all about the same event. These tracks were all by different artists/musicians, and all had a different emotion and approach to the terrible attacks that occurred on September 11th in 2001.
It interested me, that there could be so many outlooks and attitudes over the aftermath of the same event. This shows we all experience things differently and deal with things differently, depending on who we are, and our outlook.
We saw an attitude of love and unity being expressed towards New York City by the Beastie Boys on their track about 9/11. Meanwhile, the Gorrilaz and D12 were expressing emotions of anger towards the conditions following the aftermath of 9/11. We also saw that the tragedy inspired musicians of all types to write music in response. Bruce Springsteen wrote a rock song, while James took a more indie rock type of approach to responding in the wake of 9/11.
These songs along with countless others all addressed the event in a way that was unique to each musician/band/group. It was eye-opening to see how everyone handles and responds to large-scale traumas in their own way. This allowed me to feel more in tune with other people's feelings and emotions, and be more aware of differences in the way people think.
It interested me, that there could be so many outlooks and attitudes over the aftermath of the same event. This shows we all experience things differently and deal with things differently, depending on who we are, and our outlook.
We saw an attitude of love and unity being expressed towards New York City by the Beastie Boys on their track about 9/11. Meanwhile, the Gorrilaz and D12 were expressing emotions of anger towards the conditions following the aftermath of 9/11. We also saw that the tragedy inspired musicians of all types to write music in response. Bruce Springsteen wrote a rock song, while James took a more indie rock type of approach to responding in the wake of 9/11.
These songs along with countless others all addressed the event in a way that was unique to each musician/band/group. It was eye-opening to see how everyone handles and responds to large-scale traumas in their own way. This allowed me to feel more in tune with other people's feelings and emotions, and be more aware of differences in the way people think.
Monday, October 22, 2018
NYC
9/11 was one of the worst tragedies that America has ever faced and it was definitely a hard time for everyone involved. Nearly 3,000 people died and thousands of others were injured, and healing from this was so difficult. I find it interesting how everyone who was alive at this time remembers where they were at the moment the towers were hit. In class we talked about all of the music that was written because of 9/11 and I find it interesting how large of a role music played. I personally think that people need music to heal because hearing someone else say the words of how you truly feel can make you feel better. I also liked how a lot of the music we listened to was more up-beat because it gives off a sense of hope and makes people think that they can truly move past this tragedy.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
9\11
For the past week we've been discussing in class about 9\11. We watched a news report when it first started. You can hear a lot of people were scared for their lives. After we learned about the falling man. A photographer took the picture of a man falling face down. One of his leg was up and the other was crossed. In opinion I don't really approve of someone taking a picture like that because that poor man was falling to his death. Who would want to see something like that? I remember in the video they said that it was in the NY times. I know when I first saw it, I just put my head down. Till this day no one can ID who he was. Which is really disappointing to me. I remember telling my best friend about it the same day, it was shown in class and it was the either one of us heard about the falling man. That same week, we were assigned a group presentation to do. It was about doing what our professor would. Usually she'll play a song then ask thoughts, reaction, and etc. Each group had a list of songs to pick and all the song was about 9\11.
For my group, the song that we choose was " The rising" by Bruce Springsteen. It's one of those songs I'd rather read than listen to it because I didn't like him singing it at all. My group and everyone else split up the stanza. Each of us had our analyzation of the song, the tone, and etc. The rising was a very sad song honestly and Bruce Springsteen kept using repetition toward the ending. For example he used 2 words that had the same meaning, which are sorrow and sadness. Most song writers actually does that, if you pay attention to the lyrics. My favorite presentations are group 3 and 4 because their song was all about sadness. It was about yes we will get through this and it's something you can actually listen to. I love the explanation of group 4 and they interacted with everyone in the class. I'd say we did pretty good on the presentation. As matter I though that everyone did a wonderful job. My old spanish teacher from high school used to say after you did a good job on something "give em a clap".
For my group, the song that we choose was " The rising" by Bruce Springsteen. It's one of those songs I'd rather read than listen to it because I didn't like him singing it at all. My group and everyone else split up the stanza. Each of us had our analyzation of the song, the tone, and etc. The rising was a very sad song honestly and Bruce Springsteen kept using repetition toward the ending. For example he used 2 words that had the same meaning, which are sorrow and sadness. Most song writers actually does that, if you pay attention to the lyrics. My favorite presentations are group 3 and 4 because their song was all about sadness. It was about yes we will get through this and it's something you can actually listen to. I love the explanation of group 4 and they interacted with everyone in the class. I'd say we did pretty good on the presentation. As matter I though that everyone did a wonderful job. My old spanish teacher from high school used to say after you did a good job on something "give em a clap".
Tragedy of September 11
This week in class we discussed the tragedies of 9/11 and the music that was released in solidarity of it. Our whole class was split into groups and given a list of songs relating to 9/11 to listen to and break down. After everyones presentations it was interesting to see how similar yet how different every song talks about 9/11.
Instead of talking about one song I thought it would be interesting to look into a couple of the songs presented and compare the similarities and differences while talking about 9/11. Im going to compare the songs "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen and "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. While obviously both songs are about 9/11 they have different perspectives and tones to them. Springsteen's song is told from the perspective of a firefighter and has more of a sad tone to it. The song starts off by saying "can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing behind me" referencing to the amounts of smoke and debris created by the towers being hit. It then goes on to say "lost track of how far I've gone, how far I've gone, how high I've climbed, on my back's a sixty pound stone, on my shoulder a half mile of line." This is talking about the firefighter in the building not being able to see how remember how far or high he has gone, and the amount of weight that is resting on him literally and figuratively. While the versus seem to be from the standpoint from a firefighter its almost as the chorus is referencing to those who lost their lives. The chorus says "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine." I feel like this is a reference to those who lost their lives and saying that they will rise to heaven and lay your hands in mine is referencing God taking them out of the horrible situation they are in. Overall this song has a message of sadness and fight during and after the attacks.
In the song "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. The story is told by someone who witnessed the attacks from home. The song starts off taking about an average day by saying “seven thirty a.m, Nurse the baby on the couch.” Reading these lyrics you can tell that the day of September 11, 2001 started off for people just as every other day would. The song then continues on to say “turn on the TV, watch the world explode in flames.” From this point on you can tell the story of the song will be based around the collapsing of the twin towers. The song then says "and the sky over head, is silent, waiting, clear blue holds its breath, and the heart is hit." This part of the song is talking about how it seems we were all waiting for that tower to fall and the attack to be over but instead we witness the second tower being hit. After it discusses the witnessing of the towers the song later says “And the president hides, While working men rush in, And give their lives.” This line talks about how so many people were risking their own lives to try and save others and prevent more deaths than what had already occurred while the president sat and hid in his office doing nothing but watching. Lastly this song has a repeated chorus which says why cant I get along?... No other direction for this to go and we all fall down.” I feel like this line was repeated because after this event everyone felt a sense of defeat and didn’t know where to go from there. Almost as if our nation was torn apart by this terrible attack. While the lyrics of the song seem sad and defeated like most other tribute songs, while listening you actually get a sense of fear and rage.
Both of these songs have such similar meaning but when listening to them you hear very different tones. Both songs pay tribute to the horrible events that happened that day and give us a look at the event from different perspectives. But overall Springsteen's song gives us a sense of sadness and determination while Kinney's song gives a tone of fear and rage. Its interesting to see how similar yet different songs about the same thing can be.
Instead of talking about one song I thought it would be interesting to look into a couple of the songs presented and compare the similarities and differences while talking about 9/11. Im going to compare the songs "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen and "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. While obviously both songs are about 9/11 they have different perspectives and tones to them. Springsteen's song is told from the perspective of a firefighter and has more of a sad tone to it. The song starts off by saying "can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing behind me" referencing to the amounts of smoke and debris created by the towers being hit. It then goes on to say "lost track of how far I've gone, how far I've gone, how high I've climbed, on my back's a sixty pound stone, on my shoulder a half mile of line." This is talking about the firefighter in the building not being able to see how remember how far or high he has gone, and the amount of weight that is resting on him literally and figuratively. While the versus seem to be from the standpoint from a firefighter its almost as the chorus is referencing to those who lost their lives. The chorus says "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine." I feel like this is a reference to those who lost their lives and saying that they will rise to heaven and lay your hands in mine is referencing God taking them out of the horrible situation they are in. Overall this song has a message of sadness and fight during and after the attacks.
In the song "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. The story is told by someone who witnessed the attacks from home. The song starts off taking about an average day by saying “seven thirty a.m, Nurse the baby on the couch.” Reading these lyrics you can tell that the day of September 11, 2001 started off for people just as every other day would. The song then continues on to say “turn on the TV, watch the world explode in flames.” From this point on you can tell the story of the song will be based around the collapsing of the twin towers. The song then says "and the sky over head, is silent, waiting, clear blue holds its breath, and the heart is hit." This part of the song is talking about how it seems we were all waiting for that tower to fall and the attack to be over but instead we witness the second tower being hit. After it discusses the witnessing of the towers the song later says “And the president hides, While working men rush in, And give their lives.” This line talks about how so many people were risking their own lives to try and save others and prevent more deaths than what had already occurred while the president sat and hid in his office doing nothing but watching. Lastly this song has a repeated chorus which says why cant I get along?... No other direction for this to go and we all fall down.” I feel like this line was repeated because after this event everyone felt a sense of defeat and didn’t know where to go from there. Almost as if our nation was torn apart by this terrible attack. While the lyrics of the song seem sad and defeated like most other tribute songs, while listening you actually get a sense of fear and rage.
Both of these songs have such similar meaning but when listening to them you hear very different tones. Both songs pay tribute to the horrible events that happened that day and give us a look at the event from different perspectives. But overall Springsteen's song gives us a sense of sadness and determination while Kinney's song gives a tone of fear and rage. Its interesting to see how similar yet different songs about the same thing can be.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
An Open Letter to NYC
For this weeks lesson on 9/11, Our group decided to analyze the song "An open Letter top NYC" by the Beastie Boys. The topic of 9/11 never fails to be a very heavy one. It was one of the first huge terrorist attacks the people of this nation had ever endured. It shook our nation so bad, no one really even knew how to react. Some people too the root of sadness, constantly in mourning and just feeling a generally large depression towards our nation. Others took the path of anger, starting war with the middle east, and anyone who is descended from there, and just making our land a big blood bath. The country was in a split of emotions. The Beastie Boys however, took a different approach on the tragedy. They took it as an Opprotunity to life their city up and remind them who they truly are. The song "An open letter to NYC" basically highlights the different parts of New York and what makes them amazing. The song reminds the citizens that just because this tragedy has happened to them, does not mean this is who they are now. It's far from that. The people of New York truly needed this message. The Beastie Boys have made a lasting impact on listeners all around, and I truly had an amazing time analyzing this.
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