Popular Consumption of Music: La Vie Boheme - Essay Example

? Prof’s La Vie Boheme Popular consumption of music has long been influenced by the stage – but perhaps not more so than in the modern era of super-popular Broadway musicals. It is in some ways easy to dismiss such musicals as somewhat venal entertainment, more akin to Hollywood than Mozart, but their immense popularity demands that they receive some attention. Perhaps no musical has been as widely popular as Jonathan Larson’s magnum opus, Rent, and perhaps no song is more indicative of both that musical and the feelings that it inspires in its viewer than “La Vie Boheme,” an homage to Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme, on which Rent was based. Songs in popular musicals often struggle with the blending of text and music; the text is often so important that music takes a back seat, or else an emotional moment of music is required, and text is written just to have something happening during that moment. I would argue, however, that “La Vie Boheme” effortlessly combines both musical and textual elements to create a pleasing cocophony that relates intrinsically to the philosophical underpinnings of a Bohemian lifestyle. In short, it represents the certainty of death, the chaos of life, and Bohemianism as a response to simply having too little time on earth. Life and death are the central themes to this work, both textually and musically. The song begins with a character explaining that he had had “a death in the family,” his dog, “Evita” had died. He then goes on to explain how beautifully the neighborhood would change if people would give up their bohemian lifestyle. During this period the music is light, delicate, ordered and lively, with a high, major key melody played on a piano. He closes by telling the other characters that “Bohemia is dead.” This moment represents the first change between life and death that occurs in the work. The music then launches into a funeral dirge, with the character of Mark launching into a funeral sermon regarding the death of Bohemia. While he speaks, an interesting musical and textual event happens during the background. Two basses begin singing what sounds like a traditional funerary chant in Latin, which sounds almost like a Gregorian chant. A closer analysis of this chant will come later, but for the moment it serves to especially emphasize the deathly nature of the beginning of this song. As the sermon goes on, however, its mood shifts, the organ music finishes playing a minor key dirge, and opens into a major key melody. As this transition occurs, Mark almost seamlessly stops talking about death, and begins talking about birth, the birth of Christ. This transition wholly encapsulates one of the fundmanental aspects of Bohemian behavior – the recognition of death. Bohemians live with constant awareness of death – it is an awareness that spurs them on to live as fast and hard as they possibly can, to extract every ounce possible of experience out of life before it ends. The song then launches into a chaotic manifesto in defense of Bohemianism. While the opening clearly pushes one Bohemian theme, awareness of death as a cause for living in a Bohemian way, it also pushes another theme: conscious rejection of authority. The chant, which appeared to be Latin at first glance, helps develops these themes more fully. On a close inspection, only the first line, “Dies irae! Dies illa” or “Days of wrath and doom are coming” are Latin. Traditional words of death. The pair of basses then launch into a new language, Greek, keeping the same Gregorian style, “Kyrie, eleison” or, “Lord of have mercy” before closing in a final different language, but the same Gregorian style “Yitgadal v’yitkadash,” Hebrew meaning magnificent and sanctified. Firstly, using three languages demonstrates an awareness and expression of value of diversity – a theme that is more fully developed later in the song. But more importantly, the song thus smoothly connects Latin, Greek and Hebrew liturgy into a neat package, and connects them inherently with death, an inherently negative thing. Old liturgies, religions, principals etc. are death, and death is what drives people to Bohemianism. This represents an outright rejection of authority, a rejection that is mirrored later in the song when the characters deride one of their fellows for writing a song that sounds like “Musetta’s Waltz,” which here represents classic, authoritative motifs in music. Thus, by naming then rejecting both classic liturgy and older music, the song demonstrates Bohemianism’s critical rejection of authority – a rejection that understand authority fairly deeply before utterly rejecting it. “La Vie Boheme” combines its musical and textual elements to fully develop two Bohemian themes: the awareness of death that prompts Bohemian life, and the critical rejection of authority that seeks to fully understand it before outright dismissing it. Appendix: Full Text ANGEL Who died? BENNY Our Akita ANGEL, ROGER Evita BENNY You make fun - yet I'm the one Attempting to do some good Or do you really want a neighborhood Where people piss on your Stoop every night? Bohemia, Bohemia's A fallacy in your head This is Calcutta, Bohemia is dead MARK Dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes COLLINS & ROGER Dies irae - dies illa, Kyrie eleison Yitgadal v'yitkadash MARK Here she lies, no one knew her worth The late great daughter of Mother Earth On these nights when we Celebrate the birth In that little town of Bethlehem We raise our glass - you bet your ass to - La vie Boheme ALL La vie Boheme La vie Boheme La vie Boheme La vie Boheme MARK To days of inspiration Playing hookey, making Something out of nothing The need to express- To communicate, To going against the grain, Going insane, going mad To loving tension, no pension To more than one dimension, To starving for attention, Hating convention, hating pretension Not to mention of course, Hating dear old Mom and Dad To riding your bike, Midday past the three-piece suits To fruits - to no absolutes- To Absolute - to choice- To the Village Voice- To any passing fad To being an us for once ... instead of a them!! ALL La vie Boheme, La vie Boheme MR. GREY Ahhemm MAUREEN Hey Mister - she's my sister WAITER So that's five miso soup, four seaweed salad Three soy burger dinner, two tofu dog platter And one pasta with meatless balls ROGER Eww COLLINS It tastes the same MIMI If you close your eyes WAITER And thirteen orders of fries Is that it here? ALL Wine and beer! MIMI & ANGEL To hand-crafted beers Made in local breweries To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo To Huevos Rancheros and Maya Angelou MAUREEN & COLLINS Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion Creation, vacation MARK Mucho masturbation MAUREEN & COLLINS Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new COLLINS To Sontag ANGEL To Sondheim FOUR GIRLS To anything taboo COLLINS & ROGER Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunnigham and Cage, COLLINS Lenny Bruce ROGER Langston Hughes MAUREEN To the stage BOHEMIANS To Uta. To Buddha. Pablo Neruda, too. MARK & MIMI Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow To blow off Auntie Em ALL La vie Boheme MR. GREY Sisters? MAUREEN & JOANNE We're close ANGELS & COLLINS Brothers! MARK, ANGEL & MIMI Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens, Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman German wine, turpetine, Gertrude Stein Antoniotti, Bertolucci, Kurosawa Carmina Burana ALL To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstacy Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC To no shame - never playing the Fame Game COLLINS To marijuana ALL To sodomy, it's between God and me To S & M BENNY Waiter ... Waiter ... Waiter ....... Waiter! ALL La vie Boheme COLLINS In honor of the death of Bohemia an impromptu salon will commence immediately following dinner ... Maureen Johnson, just back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the eleventh street lot, will perform Native American tribal chants backwards through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric cello - which she ain't never studied. ROGER And Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability to hold an erection on the high holy days. MARK And Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap, will perform her famous lawn chair-handcuff dance to the sounds of iced tea being stirred. And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song. (Roger plays a solo) That doesn't remind us of "Musetta's Waltz!" COLLINS Angel Dumott Schunard will model the latest fall fashions from Paris while accompanying herself on the 10 gallon plastic pickle tub. ANGEL And Collins will recount his exploits as anarchist - including the tale of the successful reprogramming of the M.I.T. virtual reality equipment to self-destruct, as it broadcasts the words: ALL "Actual reality - Act Up - Fight AIDS" MIMI Excuse me - did I do something wrong? I get invited - then ignored all night long ROGER I've been trying - I'm not lying No one's perfect. I've got baggage MIMI Life's too short, babe, time is flying I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine ROGER I should tell you MIMI I got baggage too ROGER I should tell you ROGER & MIMI Baggage ALL Wine and beer! MIMI AZT break ROGER You? MIMI Me. You? ROGER Mimi Read More