Reading Country Music and Folk Songs - Assignment Example

Folk Songs Assignment HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG VARIANT Happy Birthday to you you live in a zoo you look like a monkey andyou smell like one too! The wording in this song differs from the original though the song assumes the same tune as the original version. The song can be sang at birthdays or it can also be sang in jest. I heard it sang at a friend’s birthday party by one of the guests. Where she learnt it is unknown Assignment 2: Wayne Erbsen. Rural roots of blue grass. Songs stories and History ©Mel bay publication 2003. Print. The author tries to describe the history and the foundation behind blue grass music. He ventures into a description of the inspiration writes had in coming up with the various songs. With his history in the teaching of application of music the writer tries to make the reader familiarize with the context of the music to try and better understand the emotions and thoughts of the originator of the music. The author tries to bring out a brief history of the authors and also describes short narratives that could be the base root of the songs captured in his music. He is inspired to create an appreciation of songs and music and create in his reader a need to want to understand the root of a song. The book is a collection of songs from different composers with varying experiences and views plus methods of performance. Other than the lyrics themselves the author has produced the notes to the songs that will facilitate in accompaniment during performance. Cecilia Tichi. Reading country music: the steel guitars, opry stars and honky tonky bars. Duke university press. 1998. Print. The author enables the reader to discern the controversy in country music. In her collection of country music, she provides an in-depth analysis of the songs, their meaning and motivation. In one instance she gives a description of one song a ballad in particular that its gothic nature may be attributed to having its roots in British ballad and broadside tradition. In trying to relate situations with the lyrics of the song, the book clearly brings out the mood of the song and the composer. She has done a stupendous job in compiling works from various musicians and assessing their music. This book would work well as a repository for music and trying to understanding the logic of each song. Assignment 3. Victoria (2006) states the popularity of red heads in various cultures in the past and even in the present. The stereotyping of red heads is not an uncommon practice. Various authors and practitioners have taken up the role of attributing certain claims to redheads. Some cultures relate redheads to temper and being tempestuous people. Some even believe Judas Iscariot to have been one not to mention Napoleon among other renowned personalities. Christoph Reilly (2014; p 14) a blogger also asserts that the red haired person has also been assumed to possess high sexual drive and moral degeneration when compared to other hair colours. He supports his view by alluding to one author Jonathan Swifts of the famous Gulliver Travels novel who in Part 4:”A voyage to the country of the House hymns” creates a satire on the issue of red heads by writing “it is observed that the redheads of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest whom yet they exceed in strength and activity”. Patricia (2004: 392) relates red hair in mythology to be associated with fairyland. Fairies used red and green but the former was a more predominant colour for trooping fairies. Also she makes the assertion that red haired people were considered to be bad luck e.g. it was bad luck to meet a red haired woman first thing in the morning. Assignment 4: "Is This Love” by Bob Marley I wanna love you and treat you right; I wanna love you every day and every night: Well be together with a roof right over our heads; Well share the shelter of my single bed; Well share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread. Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that Im feelin? Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that Im feelin? I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now! I got to know - got to know - got to know now! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I - Im willing and able, So I throw my cards on your table! I wanna love you - I wanna love and treat - love and treat you right; I wanna love you every day and every night: Well be together, yeah! - with a roof right over our heads; Well share the shelter, yeah, oh now! - of my single bed; Well share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread. Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that Im feelin? Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that Im feelin? Wo-o-o-oah! Oh yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now! Yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I - Im willing and able, So I throw my cards on your table! See: I wanna love ya, I wanna love and treat ya - love and treat ya right. I wanna love you every day and every night: Well be together, with a roof right over our heads! Well share the shelter of my single bed; Well share the same room, yeah! Jah provide the bread. Well share the shelter of my single bed - [fadeout] The song is a contemporary neo love song performed by the artist Bob Marley. Unlike traditional love songs and poetry this song belongs to reggae genre of music with roots mostly Jamaica. Smith, suggests his songs could be important educational tools, his themes mostly revolved around peace, freedom and togetherness which was frequently coined as togetherness. Born and raised in the streets of Kingston Jamaica music was a way of escape from the “sufferahs” way of life he had grown accustomed to. Most of his songs are a testament of the experiences he had in the streets of Kingston. “Is this love”, is just one of the many songs lyrics he composed and performed during his lifetime. It bears the all fundamental questions which every man or woman in any relationship would ask. A challenge of emotion and the onset of logic; to question the position of one’s heart. The song bears the usual characteristics of any love poem or song. Wooing is an evident element of the song, romantic gestures, promises and everyday issues of the couple in love. It builds the impression of sharing a life with the one you love. Characteristic of most contemporary Jamaican music there is mention of Jah, a common reference in Rastafarian religion. Most of Marley’s songs are inspiring, informative and fascinating. As smith would put it that to an uninitiated mind, most of Marley’s lyrics would seem as mumblings of a “ganja” marijuana user but to the keen listener they carried a lot of weight in them. As a love song, this song carries with it the structure as well as the allure of a romantic gesture. Assignment 5 It is a commonly held perception that three events are the hallmarks of a person’s life; birth, marriage and Death. Of the three death bears the greatest of influence. In death communities come together, neighbours huddle, colleagues hurdle and it is also the time that family draws closer together for death is a reminder of the mortality that exists in each and every individual. Traditional African burial practices vary greatly depending on the tribe, the region and the social cultural influence. Even among communities there sometimes is no modality in how death is handled. In my culture death is a responsibility of the whole community. In death all hands join together in one accord to facilitate the bereaved family. Death in itself is more of a ceremonial event. Feasts will be held to commemorate the life of the departed, even then different faiths may come together console the bereaved. Depending on the status of an individual, a burial ceremony may be conducted with differ protocol. Age, sex, position both in community and the household will greatly influence the activities at any funeral. A chief will receive a send-off representative of his status, a young man yet to unwed will also receive a send-off worthy of his status, at one point I remember losing a friend to lymphoma and as we took the body home a dirge was sang; a lamentation of how this young man had embarrassed his clan by dying without ever having to sire any progeny. Music also an essential in any society dealing in death. In my society a funeral is performed at the ancestral home of the deceased. If a man or woman dies in the city, his remains will have to make an arduous journey to his ancestral home where they are to be interred. The preparation for a funeral in an African setting requires a lot of planning and foresight. In the period of mourning people must come together to ensure all goes well. Sometimes the funeral may turn out to be very costly but to society the send-off a person is given should measure proportionately to his status. In death will you be remembered? Assignment 6; In stanza one of the song it is the devil that approaches the man and in standard two he is the same that wants to take the farmer’s wife (“The Devil and the Farmer” verse 1) . Whether she is a brawling woman or not it is not given or explained. Only when the woman is taken to hell does he respond to her adversary. From stanza two the third line the devil points out the woman as the cause of torment in the man’s life an indication that the woman may be having some trouble with the husband (“The Devil and the Farmer”, verse 2). Having been taken to hell she takes on the task of making even hell unbearable forcing the devil to return her back to her husband. In conclusion, the farmer’s wife was a brawler References Cecilia Tichi. Reading country music: the steel guitars, opry stars and honky tonky bars. Duke university press. 1998. Print. Christoph Reilly. Redheads: Myths, Legends, and Famous Red Hair. Retrieved on 25 April, 2014 from http://christophreilly.hubpages.com/hub/Redheads-Myths--Legends--and-Famous-Red-Hair http://christophreilly.hubpages.com/hub/Redheads-Myths--Legends--and-Famous-Red-Hair Patricia Monaghan. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Page 392 Published by facts on file, 2004. Print. Victoria Sherrow. Encyclopaedia of Hair: A Cultural History, 2006. Print. Wayne Erbsen. Rural roots of blue grass. Songs stories and History ©Mel bay publication 2003. Print. Read More