The Influence of War and Politics on British Music Scenario - Research Paper Example

of institute The Influence of War and Politics on British Music Scenario The impact of battles, wars and international and British political events on music compositions Author [Pick the date] Contents Contents 2 Introduction: ?     3    3 The profound impact of Britain’s wars and its army’s gallant and heroic tales on the music scenario: 3 Brief explanation of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, its origins, and development in the UK: 4 Examination of significant compositions 4 Two Minutes to midnight: 4 The Trooper: 5 Aces High: 6 Overview of Literary Context of Heavy Metal Music in Musical Compositions: 6 References: 8 Introduction: ?        The profound impact of Britain’s wars and its army’s gallant and heroic tales on the music scenario: The report focuses on the impact of world affairs, Britain’s wars, international politics and the pre and post world war scenarios on the music scene in the UK. It has led to the evolution of a offshoot of rock into a genre known as New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and popular 80’s rock. The bands like Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and other popular contemporary Rock bands have drawn inspiration from the stories of bravery and heroism of the British Army, the infantry, the air force, the navy. The epic battle of the British Infantry (the light brigade) in the deadly cold Russian winter has been a source of inspiration and a literary basis for many compositions of British bands especially Iron Maiden. Similarly global political scenario and the historic speeches and decisions of Britain’s political leaders like Sir Winston Churchill have also been the literary backbone of compositions. These factors have influenced and given rise to a new sub-genre of existential rock music and influenced popular genres of music like NWOBHM, psychedelic rock, alternate rock etc to step out of the comfort zone of literary contexts and include burning issues, current affairs and write songs on the prevailing national circumstances etc. The report will be discussing the impact of the war scenario of the first half of the 20th century (mainly the first two world wars and the cold war) in the compositions of British Rock and Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden. Brief explanation of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, its origins, and development in the UK: The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a heavy metal uprising that originated in the 1970’s and got global attention in the 1980’s with most number of compositions reaching the top in the international music ranking charts. It was spearheaded by bands like Saxon, Motor Head, Diamond Head, Iron Maiden etc. This genre came into being due to the gradual demise of popular and influential heavy metal bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath etc. the lighter and casual elements of the genre of heavy metal were omitted and the sound was re-upholstered to give it a more tough appearance and gigantic stature in terms of heavy usage of guitars and the synthesis of keyboard, guitars and drums. Examination of significant compositions Two Minutes to midnight: The song two minutes to midnight written and performed by Iron Maiden in several international and country tours over the decades is influenced by the concept of the Doom’s Day. It was a song that has heavy influences of the prevailing Cold War during the eighties after the dismantling of the Axis Powers and peace treaty signed by leading allies in both opposing camps that caused the two greatest wars in the history of mankind. The song is based on the cold war and the bitterness in international relations looming large at the wake of a new future after the end of the world wars. It talks about the gradually advancing dooms day. The dooms day would be nothing but a nuclear holocaust due to nuclear capabilities of nuclear powers spiralling out of control. The song says, “The golden goose is on the loose” which hints at the lurking threat of a nuclear catastrophe due to an unannounced nuclear strike by either party. This was the major fear in the hearts and minds of different nations and its citizens after the end of the two great world wars. The song talks about the inordinate desire and the growing madness of the superpowers of the globe to rule the world by indulging in the ways of war and killing. Through the lines, “Kill to maim or shoot to gain, but we don’t need a reason” and “Blackened pride still burns inside the shell of bloody treason. So I take my gun for a barrel of fun for the love of living death” clearly reflects the fanaticism of the aligned superpowers i.e., the Axis and the Allied forces. Two Minute’s to Midnight describes the prevailing situation across the globe during the Cold war and how close the world had come to having a huge holocaust that could have destroyed the world and cause a deathly nuclear winter, which would have made the planet sink into darkness due to nuclear plumage and nuclear cloud covering the skies for years. The phrase "midnight is all night" talks about the aftermath of the nuclear destruction. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is referred to in the song through the timing “Two minutes to midnight”. This clock reached as close as 2 minutes to midnight during the Cold War in the year1953 when the US and the USSR tested thermonuclear devices just within nine months of each other. (Song Meaning 1) The Trooper: A musical adaptation of the poem the Charge of the Light Brigade by famous poet Lord Tennyson the song title Trooper brings out the passion and force of the British infantry stuck in the deadly jaws of intolerable cold in the snow capped mountains and valleys of erstwhile USSR. The song is another example of the influence of wars and battles fought by Britain on the music created there. The emotion, struggle and ultimate victory under toughest conditions is brought to life through the song and its lyrics. The lines, “the bugle sounds the charge begins. And in this battle field no one wins. The smell of acrid smoke and horse’s breath, as I plunge on into certain death” is a direct influence of the emotion brought out by the lines, “Into the valley of death, rode the six hundred”. The entire battle is narrated through the song heavily influenced by the war and by the poetic representation by Lord Tennyson in his poem: “The charge of the light brigade” Aces High: Aces high draws inspiration and literary context from Sir Winston Churchill’s famous address to the nations in the face of emerging threat during World War II. The creative backbone of the band, bass guitarist, lyricist and song writer Steve Harris was always intrigued by and interested in World War II and battles. This explains a sequel of songs in tribute and appreciation of the British Army, Navy and the Air force. The song aces high has Sir Winston Churchill’s speech in the beginning followed by the aggressive sound track and the narrative description of the air strikes carried out by the British Air force. The phrases “Rolling, Turning , Diving represents the air acrobatics performed by the air force to confuse the enemy air force, defend its land and hit targets. (Lyrics Interpretations 1) Overview of Literary Context of Heavy Metal Music in Musical Compositions: Thus in the above descriptions of the literary background of the songs we can see a heavy influence of the World Wars, crisis and battles fought by Britain in the music and songs of the post war period (i.e., the 60’, 70’s and 80’s). The literary background is derived completely from the heroic deeds of the defenders of the nation and their awe inspiring stories of gallantry, bravery ad fearlessness. Other musical compositions like Mother Russia describe the battled waged by Russia and its immense stature. A heavy influence of global politics, alignment of the two global opposing camps of the Allied and Axis powers and political decisions taken by leaders across the world especially British politicians can be observed in Iron Maiden’s songs. The world war has influenced other bands like the German band through compositions like “Humanity”. In this song the most prominent phrase says, “ at the end of the day you’re a needle in the hay” meaning that no matter what we do and how much power we acquire we will still be small and miniscule in front of nature and God. It says that our first responsibility is humanity and letting people live rather than waging war and destroying the earth. Wars and battles have influenced other bands and artists like Black Sabbath vocalist Oozy Osborne in composing the song, “Dreamer”. The song talks about dreaming about better days. Black Sabbath songs also represent the UK music scenario after the world wars. This song in particular talks about the growing hatred, inhumanity and war countries have been waging against one another and about the simple dream to break boundaries and live the dream of a peaceful earth. Conclusion: From the careful examination of the compositions and the pieces we can conclude that wars and battles waged by Britain have had a considerable impact on the literature of the songs, shaping the genres and giving rise to new genres of music like : New Wave of British Heavy Metal etc. It has also paved the way for a different form of lyrical prose and shape the literary basis of many compositions inducing the feeling of pride and patriotism in the hearts of British people as well as a reflection of the gallant deeds of bravery of British Defence Forces. References: 1. Lyrics Interpretations. Aces High Meaning. 28 April 2012. Web 8 May 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/Iron-Maiden/Aces-High 2. Song Meaning. Two Minutes to Midnight. (2005). Web 8 May 2012 Retrieved From http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/16936/ Read More