The song “Internationale” tries to bring a lot of pro-activist and more of anti-oppression movement fillings. As the songwriter, and till this day a left-wing activist, Billy Bragg was encouraged to make an English verse from one of the French successors of the song, Pete Seeger. (It is important to mention that Eugène Pottier (born in France) was the original author of the song who composed it somewhere at the end of the 19th century, and due to its popularity, has gone all around different musicians afterward). Of course, Mr. Bragg could not resist the offer, and so he created an English version. It is well known that sometimes the translation changes and varies from artist to artist, yet two (Billy Bragg and Pete Seeger) collaborated so there would be no mistakes or misinterpretations. While listening to the “Internationale,” from the first second, the sensation of communism fills your ears, …show more content…
Those who have had an experience with any Soviet tunes can agree that a particular manner of repletion takes its presence in every ever made Soviet Union song. Therefore, Pete Seeger has succeeded in transferring a morbid sound of the Soviet Union history. Before starting the analysis of the particular lyrics, one should be informed that the lyrics do not rhyme whatsoever, and as previously mentioned, are monotone. As specified in the stated question above, “Internationale” was sung by the Soviets the most; including other communist countries as well. Therefore, for the accomplishment of this examination, the major example of the usage of this song, will be based on the history of the Soviet Union. In the first verse, a phrase of “Don’t cling so hard to your possessions,” tries to emphasize that the
To begin with, this book educated the reader about the past. Everyone in the Soviet Union looked up to the leader, Stalin, even though he wasn’t a good leader at all. He caused many problems for the citizens including uncomfortable living conditions. This book educates the reader by showing that back then even when people were treated badly, they still had to look up to their leader even though he was the cause of all
To understand the message and methods of Pete Seeger one must first understand his past. Pete is the son of the famous musicologist Charles Seeger. His mother taught violin at Julliard School of Music in New York. He dropped out of Harvard in 1938 to travel the country as a vagabond. He roamed the small towns and cities alike, learning songs unknown to the mainstream world. The obscure roots of Seeger’s music made him relatable and representative of blue collar communities across
According to Statistics Canada in the 2011 census, Midale, Saskatchewan has increased its population by 21.6%. This is an incredible response from the 2006 census where Midale had seen a drop of 6.9% from the previous census. Of course, this may be due to the recent development of oil resources in the area. Nevertheless, it could possibly be due to the tenacity of the farmers in the area that are reflected in singer/songwriter, Brad Johner’s, song, The Farmer’s Back. Midale was incorporated as a town just about 115 years ago. Agriculture has been an important resource since its beginning. Johner grew up in this area of southeast Saskatchewan and writes about his fond memories and rural lifestyle in many of his songs.
1. “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger, which is an inspirational song that talks about a middle-aged man who encounters frustration in his aging problem. Also, he reminded back to his youth life to reflect memories and compare with now differences. There a lot of shots to focus on the men’s emotion and react; for example, he is smoking and playing the guitar. Around twenty years later, he has got a lot of things, but he still cannot find his own feeling when he was young, such as passion in playing music, rock. Finally, he knows that it cannot change anything and it should have a position to face challenges in his beginning life. In this song recommend many times “like a rock” that means no matter now who you are, people have their own opportunities
Music has been a long standing form of expression for hundreds of years. More recently however, it has become a way for artists to make social commentaries on the society they live in. During the 1970s, Punk bands and Ska bands emerged in England and rose to become a major source of social commentary through their upbeat music. Specifically looking at music from The Stranglers, The Specials, and The Clash, it is clear that lyrics clouded with anger and passion can be best communicated through upbeat sounds and melodies. Each of these groups communicates a need for radical change in society; but each one goes about this in a different way. Through the songs, “I feel like a Wog,” by The Stranglers, “A Message to you Rudy,” by The Specials, and “White Riot,” by The Clash, these bands point out that there is a common enemy in Society. They are forcing the mainstream to realize unpleasant truths about the culture that they inhabit. The future of England was unknown, and these songs were written during a time where people were worried about their place in the world. Faith in the system was dying and these bands gave way to a future generation to improve upon society that will present a more positive and equal multicultural Britain. Through the music it is clear that multicultural Britain was complicated; there were tumultuous times that these bands were commenting on, which pitted races against each other but also brought them together in fighting back against suppressive societal
Were it a testimony to the rigors and cruelness of human nature, it would be crushing. As it is, it shatters our perception of man and ourselves as no other book, besides perhaps Anne Franke`s diary and the testimony of Elie Wiesl, could ever have done. The prisoners of the labor camp, as in Shukhov?s predicament, were required to behave as Soviets or face severe punishment. In an almost satirical tone Buinovsky exclaims to the squadron that ?You?re not behaving like Soviet People,? and went on saying, ?You?re not behaving like communist.? (28) This type of internal monologue clearly persuades a tone of aggravation and sarcasm directly associated to the oppression?s of communism.
Most audiences view music as a form of entertainment only, so society tends to overlook the messages behind the music. Some artists use music to promote their beliefs or inform their listeners about unnoticed issues. Music can spread awareness about misfortunes in the world, and Martina McBride uses her celebrity status to promote her own concerns about child abuse. In 2002, Martina McBride recorded a song titled “Concrete Angel” to spread awareness about child abuse. Her song addresses the general population, consisting of bystanders, because most people are aware of tragedies such as child abuse, but they ignore the problem. Through emotional appeals, characterization, imagery, and foreshadowing, “Concrete Angel” illustrates the story of a young girl’s abuse in order to call the bystanders to awareness of the societal problem.
Many generations view music as a form of entertainment only, so society tends to overlook the messages behind the music. Some artists use music to promote their beliefs or inform their listeners about overlooked issues. Music spreads awareness about misfortunes in the world, and Martina McBride used her celebrity status to promote her own concerns about child abuse. In 2002, Martina McBride recorded a song “Concrete Angel” to spread awareness about child abuse. Her song exists for the general population that consists of bystanders because most people are aware of tragedies such as child abuse but refuse to report them. Through the elements of plot, characterization, and foreshadowing, “Concrete Angel” illustrates the story of a young girl’s abuse in order to call the bystanders to awareness of the societal problem.
From Stalin’s Cult of Personality to Khrushchev’s period of De-Stalinization, the nation of the Soviet Union was in endless disarray of what to regard as true in the sense of a socialist direction. The short story, This is Moscow Speaking, written by Yuli Daniel (Nikolai Arzhak) represents the ideology that the citizens of the USSR were constantly living in fear of the alternations of their nation’s political policies. Even more, the novella gives an explanation for the people’s desire to conform to the principles around them.
The Cold War was a worldwide conflict from 1948 to 1989 which put socialist states against communist states around the world. This was a time of political hatred and for musicians this was a time of uproar and crackdowns by the government. One of the largest communist states at the time was the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) and within this state there was the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Although this group were not law makers they did hold a great deal of power within the state. “The Central Committee’s membership was elected by the party congress in which this membership ordinarily went to the holders of the most important positions in the Soviet government and economy, thereby enabling the committee to serve as the party’s chief tool within the government” (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). In 1948, this group had made a special resolution to music which criticized many famous Soviet composers. Through this resolution there would now be strict criteria for which music was acceptable including the music had to use traditional harmony, should not be too discordant, should include folk and popular idioms, should have words, and many others. These criteria would keep the music in line therefore keeping the artists and from there the people in line. We have seen through this course that music is a very powerful motivator for not only the artist but also for the audience.
The song highlights these peoples’ views in regard to the war, by illustrating the immense urge to not go and fight, that “it ain’t me”. I feel as if this song shows us a turning point in the US government’s approach to the war itself. With its release closely following Nixon’s silent majority speech, the song was able to go against what Nixon said by screaming to the American people that we as a country need to end this conflict, despite whatever our elected officials
Pete Seeger was an American singer, song writer, and activist. He used his music as a social commentary on what he witnessed during the 1960s. Throughout this time, Seeger popularized many influential songs, many of which became popular anthems for different movements, most notably “We Shall Overcome.” Seeger’s songs were normally protesting violence and war, as well as supporting the emerging counterculture and the environmental movement that was seen during the 1960s. With all his music writing, Pete Seeger influenced many other singer/song writers and left a lasting impression on the 60s.
“We Shall Overcome” by Peter Seeger, many would describe to be the anthem for the Civil Rights Movement or 1960s Civil Rights Movement (sometimes referred to as the "African-American Civil Rights Movement" although the term "African American" was not widely used in the 1950s and 1960s). It encompasses social movements in the United States whose goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the Constitution and federal law. During this period many folk and blues artistes’ music were protest songs, to speak out against the justice of Blacks and other unconstitutional acts. These music not only protested the injustice but it brought together people of all ethnicity/race, social class and regions, in solidarity to form a major campaigns of civil resistance. The conventional protest melodies in the United States goes way beyond the nineteen century and into the colonial period, the American Revolutionary War and the corollary. In the nineteenth century topical subjects for protest songs included abrogation, subjugation, destitution, and the Civil War among different subjects. In the twentieth century civil liberties, women 's rights, financial injustice, governmental issues and war were among the well-known subjects for protest songs. This paper will explore the protest song “We Shall Overcome” and its impact on the civil rights movement and the
For example, Smash Mouth writes,”i ain’t the sharpest tool in shed/ She was looking kind was looking kind of dumb with her finger in her thumb.”(Smash Mouth) This lyric describes the singer’s personality. He might not be the smartest person and people might judge him, but The singer is smart enough to make his own decisions. This is a great example of a hypole. Another examples of literary devices in the song is,”Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.”(Smash Mouth) This lyric is an example of personification. It’s personification because it’s giving human traits to the rules. The lyric give detailed information about the singer listening to the rules, but people make fun of him for listening to every rule. That will not stop him for doing his best.
Analysis: In this song Pete Seeger uses repetition to convey the theme of war being an ongoing cycle that does not break. When Seeger is repeating “Where have all the flowers gone?,” this is show that history is repeating itself over and over again. “When will they ever learn?,is showing that there is a failure to break a continuous cycle, this cycle is war. “Where have all the young girls gone?, is showing how the girls grow into women and get married. “Where have all the young men gone?,” this line