XTC’s composer Andy Partridge considered Easter Theatre as one of the most perfect songs of his career. Featured as the Lead Single in Apple Venus Volume 1, Andy intentionally designed the lyrics uniquely, purportedly to exorcise the ever-present influences of the Beatles and the Beach Boys’ Brain Wilson. It is commonplace in rock music that every band has to espouse some Beatles-que lyrics and of course borrow to some extent from the genius of Brian Wilson, who is regarded as the greatest composer of all times. This paper investigates whether Andy was successful in avoiding such common influences, and more so those of the Beatles’ Penny Lane, which was done by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
To a great extent, it is apparent that Penny Lane
The hippie aesthetic era was an important time in rock and roll during the late 60’s and on into the early 80’s. It was a time were rock had a sense of purpose. They sung about the issues that plagued the country. It was also a time where technology would play an important roll in the sound of music, with the advancement in recording and synthesizer technology (Covach, “The Hippie Aesthetic”). The hippie aesthetic was not immune to the advancement of music. This essay will go over three songs that represent the different aspects of this era. It’ll will review a song that is predominately hippie aesthetic, a song that is a little of both, and finally a song that has no trace of hippie aesthetic.
With every aspect of our lives we are making a point, arguing a belief, or refuting some other aspect of our existence. Aesthetic pieces, most avidly poems and songs, argue a message both in the lyrics and in the meaning posed between the lines. “American Pie,” in a multitude of ways, argues that American lives and memories are closely intertwined with the music of the time period. Not only does “American Pie” argue a message it also pulls many generations together. Today, thirty years after the initial release, “American Pie” still has an effect in our music and continues to be popular with all age groups. Don McLean accomplishes this task through using the context of the time period, placement of words, the words
Gay musicians felt this John song was a message to Brian Epstein, featuring a Dylan influenced folk rock sound. It is...
In this essay I will be critically analysing and evaluating ‘The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album in relation to their associated genre, their lyrics, their musical creativity, their social and political context, their overall impact on music and popular culture and
When we hear the song Brown-Eyed Girl, it is safe to assume the majority of us think of the Van Morrison version that was first introduced in his album Blowin’ Your Mind, released in 1967. Since that time the song’s legend and popularity have grown to unprecedented heights. Many artists have redone the song, some with a similar music style to Morrison (like Jimmy Buffet), and others of a completely different genre like the punk rock band Green Day. In my essay I will argue that the stylistic differences between the two songs are not a barrier. Rather, in combination with the similarities associating with cover songs, they form a bridge between two genres. In this case, it is achieved by
This music is not useful as background music. It cannot be used in the same way the 30 years worth of Miles’ previous music can be used. It demands attentiveness. It is militant and arrogant. It is sometimes more a display of audacity and an assertion of absolute independence then a lovely palette to summon dreams. The dream is over. All the romantic ballads and pleasurable entertainment is history. With this sound he describes a new reality for which he invents a
From the sounds of Elvis many other important bands of the sixties were inspired, even people a thousand miles away from America. One of these important bands was the Beatles. The Beatles took the rock sound and added more lyrical and musical complexity to the sound. The Beatles were the starters of the “British Invasion” in 1963 when they released “I want to Hold Your Hand” (Kallen, 2012, 31). After their first single they had immense success with other hits such as “She Loves You” and “Woooo!” The Beatles continued to reinvent their music on the various other albums throughout the sixties delving into complex, heavy existential concepts and psychedelic elements, becoming the most relevant influence for modern rock.
On November 4th, 2016, my best friend and I went to see the play at the Charles Winter Wood Theatre. This play is set during the 1950s, and the scene takes place in a night club in Chicago. This play was sponsored by FAMU’s Essential Theatre, and it was quite entertaining. It presents realistic situations such as the affairs, jealously, and debt in relationships. The director, Maurice Kitchen, wrote this play to present the Black artists who used their talent to escape the difficulties they have faced. The main character, Billy Gamble, was a show host and performer, who used his patients with musical talents to be on his show. Important aspects seen in the play were love and fame. The musicians expressed their feelings within their music.
There have been many people, known as artists, who have tried to change the world through their art. “Art” can be paintings, music, dances, sculptures, literature, or photography. There are many ways to communicate and express ones feelings but The Beatles did it through their popular music. Although they didn’t focus on changing the world of politics or try to protest through their music they have songs that focus on those exact two things.
Songs are written to evoke emotion, feelings, to be relatable. The creation of a song is an art form. It is carefully crafted to not only entertain an audience but to also evoke an emotional response. There is a variety of emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, and so forth. Songs are not only the instruments or machines creating sound in the background, but the lyrics. The instruments reflect the tone that is set in the lyrics. In order to extract the meaning of the song, one must listen to the words. Two strongly contrasting songs are Heathens by 21 Pilots and Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World. Heathens and What a Wonderful World have different backgrounds, meanings, and themes. There are some literary similarities but there are
The paper will focus on comparing two different songs by discussing their context and highlighting the similarities and differences between both chosen songs. The comparison will be based on the background information for each song as well as peripheral information about the albums. The comparison will also include any contextual similarities and differences between the songs. The two chosen songs for the comparison are: 'Woodstock' by Joni Mitchell and 'The Times They Are a-Changin' by Bob Dylan.
Many say that music has evolved over the years. This essay shall explore the elements of two versions of one song. It shall discuss the correlations and disparities of these songs and confer how it has been revolutionised to entertain the audiences of today.
The fact that replicating a seventeen-years-old song can still become a hit in 2017, demonstrates that there is a pre-designed pattern for popular music in which changing a few characteristics to make a new songs sound “unique” can still result in success. For this reason, Adorno argues that the music industry produces music in an “industrial” way--popular music is centralized in its pattern and modifies some characteristics to seem “individualistic.” Though Shape of You and No Scrubs contain different keys, tempo, and of course, lyrics, they both rely on a chord progression of i-ic-VI-VII in a common time (MusicNotes, 1 & FindSongTempo, 1). Shape of you takes advantage that the audience is accustomed to listening to the same pattern and it is modified to fit the current era and thus, result in a significant monetary income.
Believe it or not, on January 1st of 1962, the group known as The Beatles flunked their audition at Decca Records in London, England. The label’s executive, Dick Rowe, brushed them off like they were nothing. He simply stated that “guitar groups are on the way out.” Little did Rowe know, The Beatles would soon conquer modern society and alter the course of pop and rock music. There have been no other entertainers in the history of music that has been so popular, influential, or as groundbreaking as The Beatles. In the early 1960’s, their popularity was often called “Beatlemania,” as thousands of screaming fans would crowd their concerts and sing-along with the Fab Four. They sold over 600 million albums internationally and had 20 Number One hit singles – a Billboard record that has yet to be broken. The band took over the entertainment media with music videos and films, but also influenced sociocultural, political, and fashion movements throughout the sixties and seventies. From experimenting with several different genres to incorporating classical elements into their melodies, The Beatles still reigns as one of the most creative and successful bands several decades later. Today, fifty years later, The Beatles and their music are still engraved in the hearts of many.
Rituals and theater, which are both cultural performances, have similarities such as serving the purpose of entertaining teaching the audience, belief from audiencce, use of props, use of space, and repesentaion. Since during this time period many commoners did not know how to read, the church had to present these rituals in order to teach them about events in the bible like the Crucification of Jesus Christ. Similaritly, a play will serve the purpose to teach the audience a certain idea that the playwright believes is necessary for the audience members, the audience vary depending on the time this play was written, to learn or understand. Unlike a play, which has no certain time frame to be perform, a ritual is perform during certain time of the liturgical year; for example, the passion of the cross