Music

Music. Music. Music. There are thousands of different genres, so many that no one should be able to say that they don't like music. Granted, the majority of music on the radio is commercialized garbage. For me, I prefer bands that play their own instruments. Write or at least perform songs with their own personalities behind them. The songs should be have some meaning, some message, some story that relates to my life or an idea I can comprehend. They show a bit of charisma, and confidence in their art form and do not need to be digitally mastered to perfection. For the most part, I would say my favorite genre is Folk music.

Eve of Destruction performed by Barry McGuire.
This song was written by P.F. Sloan in 1965 and has been performed by many different musicians. Barry McGuire's version is probably the most popular, and the vocals really show the passion of the lyrics and their critique of society. Openly addressing social issues is a key element of folk music. The historical context of the song is crucial. It came out during the height of the Vietnam War. Threat from the Cold War and nuclear warfare was on everyone's mind as well. These are fears that are just as relevant today, although the names have changed. Now there is a War on Terror, and the nuclear threat has moved away from Soviet Russia. The song also touches on some of the ironies of the American policies. The voting age at that time was higher than the age needed to be drafted into the army, racism was rampant within our borders, and numerous other atrocities.

One idea of how to teach this song would be to have students get into groups. First, they would listen to the song, while they read through the lyrics. They would talk about the issues that the song mentions. They would then write a remix to the song, adding in more modern happenings that have the same type of social impact. Then the groups would share there song (hopefully willing to sing it) and then explain their choices in lyrics.

Analyzing a Music Video

Mumford and Son's Little Lion Man

The video starts out with an empty stage, then zooming in on the instruments. Flash to an empty auditorium. Shadowy faces playing the instruments, zooming towards stage but never too close on to the faces. Everyone is jamming to their instrument, really feeling energetic. In the middle of the song, you start to get close ups of faces, but no one is really playing to the camera. They still are focused on singing. Shot of ceiling leading down to the stage, front and back views. Flashing lights where a crowd would be during the crescendo of the song. It ends zooming up from the stage into darkness.

This all portrays what folk music is really about. It is about the music itself. The zoomed in shots of the instruments and the lack of focus on the musicians shows where it all comes from. The fact that they are playing to an empty audience shows that they are there for the love of making music, not the fame.

The lyrics to the song go along with this interpretation in a way. They deal with someone messing it all up all due to his own fault. Often artists lose what they have because they try to be something they are not and lose the mentality they had when they started.

Mumford and Sons are growing popular rapidly, so they must be doing something right. Their simplicity of their music is something that I really enjoy, and the video really highlights that. It is simply done, just the band playing music and loving it. It is what I feel when they play, just real enjoyment.

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