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[ambresong]

Amy Winehouse downward spiral

For todays post, I am going to talk about a singer you probably heard of : Amy Winehouse. I a am not a big fan of her songs but I particularly interested in what she was dealing with and how it reflected in her soundtracks. 

A little background

Everything started when her parents split up. Amy Winehouse declared her independence and started to get tattoos, cutting school to smoke marijuna and the only thing that kept her going was her future as a singer and he poured her soul into writing deeply confessional lyrics and singing around London. Indeed, she was a big fan of jazz and she had the voice of a soul singer. From a general aspect, her music is music is a mixture of styles such as jazz, blues and soul which are inspired by African-American culture. Her first album untitled “Frank“ which came out in 2003 was a hit especially a song called “Mr. Magic“ which was about substance abuse. This album was a trigger to her dependance on narcotics and alcohol and she became an addict and  the more she wrote and realized songs the more we could see the effect of drugs on her lyrics. Some even said that pain was her muse because after a while she started takings hard drugs such as heroine. 

Rehab 

Her most famous song is “Rehab“ and we can already see in the title what the song will deal with. Her closest circle tried to convince her several times to go to rehab but she was convinced she had no need to go into rehab. This song became her most iconic tracks and an anthem for her way of life. Once she went to rehab, she had no inspiration left to she used drugs again 

“Black in Black“

This song was Released in 2007 and at that point she was fully in the grip of substances. Moreover, the media used her appearance (hairstyle, tattoos and make up )  and depression, addiction, bulimia and several arrests for drug possession to represent her as this pin-up depraved singer.

An English  newspaper even called her “the singer smoking crack“. All her life she went back and fourth to rehab and on a night in June 2011, she was found dead inner home, she died of alcohol poisoning. 

What I find interesting is that addiction was her kryptonite, it inspired her and without it she said it herself, she had no imagination, no words to express. And as I think of it, there are many artists today that find their inspiration in alcohol bottles and  illicit substances.

[ambresong]

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Hello everyone, 

I think you all  once heard this song and todays I wanted to talk about the political issue that inspired it. 

“Sunday Bloody Sunday“ is a song by an Irish rock group called U2 which I never heard of until I went in Ireland and that on of the grandsons of a Bloody Sunday victim told us what happened that day.

The song is extracted from their third album untitled “War“ released on the 1st of March 1983. It was created in honor to what happened In Derry in 1972.

 Indeed At the beginning the 30th of January 1972 was only a pacifist march against violence and the carrying of weapons turned into a bloodbath. Unarmed people ended up shot at by the British army in the middle of the street without any warning. The march which was organized by a man called Ivan Cooper in order to ask for the end of the discrimination of the local authorities towards Catholics people in Northern Ireland (Derry). Fourteen people died that day, 27 people were wounded and what I find shocking is that seven of them were teenagers. However, none of the British soldier who attacked those militants were injured. The action led on that demonstration was premeditated. This day is know remembered as “Bloody Sunday“. 

The song was originally written by a singer called The Edge and co written by Bono. 

“I can’t believe the news today 

Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go, away“

“Broken bootle under children’s feet 

Bodies strewn across the dead-end street 

But I won’t heed the battle call 

It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall“

“Sunday, Bloody Sunday“

It tackles with a political event and delivers a pacifist message so we can related this song to the chapter of politics in the Negus. “Sunday Bloody Sunday“ has been performed more than 600 times by U2 and is considered a peace anthem. Moreover, the group also dedicated the song to the victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was used for the bombing in Bali in 2002 as well as for  November 13th  2015 attacks in Paris.

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For the them of today’s post, I decided to talk about something which is particularly close to my heart and that is in the current news : ecology. 

As we currently we all face a common enemy: Global Warming.

I hesitated for a long time between Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson who both wrote engaged songs and I chose top speak about Marvin Gaye and more specifically about a music he wrote untitled “Mercy Mercy Me…“ for his eleventh album called “What’s Going On“ . I think that the album has a very enunciating title which refers to what’s going on in the world. 

I don’t think I need to introduce Marvin Gaye but I will do a brief presentation anyway. 

He was an African- American songwriter and singer from the 1960s who helped to develop a style of music called Motown which is a kind of blues. In fact, he was sometimes called “The Motown Prince“ or “The Prince of Soul“. 

In 1971, he produced his eleventh album which through its music and songs lyrics dealt with controversial and committed subjects such as drugs, poverty, ecology and the Vietnam War. “What’s Going On“ is considered one of the greatest albums of popular music of the 20th century. Ot expresses the point of view of a Vietnam War veterans returning to his home country and witness hatred, pain and injustice. I don’t know about you but I can clearly imagine a soldier coming back from combat who arrives in the country he left and realizing that a lot has changed and shouts “What’s going on“. 

“Mercy Mercy Me“ is extract from this album and was a true success which became regarded as one of popular music’s most poignant anthems of sorrow and alert regarding the environment. Indeed, the song starts by a veteran returning home after the war and realizing that the world is not what and how it used to be, things changed and not in positive way.

“Woo ah, mercy mercy me 

Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no 

Where did all the blue skies go? 

Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east“

Throughout the whole song, several ecologic problems which have terrible and nocive consequences on our environment are revealed. Then he goes and tells that the atmosphere and the environment is perturbed and ruined by oil and mercury, radiation endangered the wildlife. 

“Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury“ 

“Radiation under ground and in the sky 

Animals and birds who live nearby are dying“

The soldier cries for help and mercy because he doesn’t know how much longer the Earth will be able to endure this deterioration.

“How much more abuse from man can she stand? “

We already have a clue of who he is talking to with the world “Mercy“ but we have the confirmation that he is speaking to God, when at the end of the song when he says 

“Oh, na na... 

My sweet Lord... No 

My Lord... My sweet“

In think that “Mercy Mercy me“ is about asking forgiveness for thrashing and damaging a such beautiful World. 

Concerning popular music I think those themes and this artist can be related to the chapters about Histories but also the chapters about politics in the Negus.

[ambresong]

This week I am going to tell to you about my final project and the primary sources I choose to use. For my final project, I decided to talk about about the role of women in popular music and they are represented on screen. I campe up with this idea because I think that although Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ariana Grande play essential o-role in our modern culture, women musicians have always difficulties breaking through a patriarchal society and getting credits. For this project I am going to focus on a movie untitled A star is Born which actually has three American versions (1937, 1954 and 2018) but I will focus on the 1954 and 2018 Versions. In 1954, the movie was produced by George Cokor and written by Moss Hart, starred by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. In both movies it tells the sorry of a talented young aspiring singer whose career star to flourish along the movie. In 2018 A Star Is Born makes its come back with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper as lead actors . 

I am also going to study a film untitled DreamGirls which is a 2006 American movie directed by Bill Condo which is adapted from a Broadway musical of the same title as well as A Star is Born. The film begins in the 1960 and tells the story of three female singers who are spotted by a producer during a singing contest. In fact, it’s an adaptation of the real story of The Supremes. 

I link the trailers of A Star is born and DreamGirls in case you have’t seen the movies: 

- https://youtu.be/nSbzyEJ8X9E

- https://youtu.be/FNl1pv6Sm44

- https://youtu.be/DTgGuFOh2M0

[ambresong]

Hello everyone, 

Today I am going to talk about the Revival Folk movement and Bob Dylan.

Revival Folk is a trend which stands for young singers using and popularizing the traditional musical styles of the other generations. It includes new songs with socially and politically aware lyrics and a modernization of the sounds. For instance, during the 1960s there were many protest song against segregation. Indeed, it was the period of Martin Luther King and many artists militated for human rights, peace and freedom. That is how American folk music (country, blues, jazz anded rock and roll) were brought back. 

Folk Rock

Folk Rock music is a style of music which combines modernity and simplicity.  As I said before, Bod Dylan was one of the pioneers of the folk music revival and an icon of the counterculture during the 1960s. He protested through language, music, poetry and writing. He started his carrer as a singer in the early hippie movement years and he focused on doing songs which deals with political and social issues such as the Vietnam war and the Civil Rights Movement. When he dropped out of college, he moved to Greenwich village in New York which is the centrer of the revival folk movement  where he played gag until he was signed by Columbia Records in 1961. And he was aid that “Bob Dylan made it clear that the political problems in the United States are not out of reach of the general public, but are actually the problems right by out side and we could help solve the problems“. Bod Dylan songs drew the attention on historical events. For example, the song untitled “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll“ in 1963. It deals with the murder of an African-American waitress by William Devereux. The murder was condemned at 6 months of prison. Bod Dylan thought it wasn’t enough.“Blowin’ in the wind“ released in 1963. It is the archetype of the protest song with poetic and humanistic lyrics. It has become the anthem of the hippie generation. It tackles with the Vietnam war and the fight for civil rights. 

The decade of the sixties can be said to be the subversion of the United States. From the civil rights movement, anti war demonstration, Kennedy’s presidency to the assassination of the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, the young generation rebelled against the mainstream as they adopted a different, more open minded lifestyle. And the folk music was used to promote this new type of life and new beliefs of the new generation. It allowed a whole generation to express their discontent and disagreement with the mass culture of their parents. And through his songs, Bob Dylan gave a message of acceptance. 

[ambresong]

Hello everyone!

Today I decided to talk about Adele and why? Because tomorrow (15th October) her next album untitled “30“ will be released.

A little background

Adele is a British singer often nicknamed “New Amys“ in reference to Amy Winehouse and that’s what I find interesting about her musical identity. She describes her musical style as “broken-hearted soul“ and indeed soul is often described as the music of the heart and the soul and I think “Someone like you“ is a good example. The soul is popular African-American music which emerged in the late 1950s in the United States. It derived from gospel and blues.

She is 33 years old and finally ready to launch her new album after spending three years writing it. Adele named her previous album “25“ after the age she was when she wrote it and followed the same pattern for this new one. She actually told a fan that her thirtees were particularly significant years which helped her create new music and perhaps on other style or type of music. The singer described her new album as “ride or die throughout the most turbulent period of my life“.

Along the way she made the cover of British Vogue and even though she hasn’t released a single in six years, Adele has been seen in the media several times completely transformed. Indeed, she lost 45 pounds in a few months but some people have fears about her weight loss. Is she will sing the same way? Because losing weight is not only a physical change but also a mental change.

A new album for a now life

“30“ is synonymous of rupture and heartbreak because it is anew start after her divorce but the soundtracks are also inspired by what she lived.

[ambresong]

I really enjoyed reading your post. Have you seen Beyoncé’s documentary on Netflix? 

It is untitled Homecoming: A film by Beyoncé and I highly recommend it. It deals with the behind the scene of her concert at Coachella 2018. We can see how she created the show. And it is all the more interesting knowing that Beyoncé is the first black woman to healing at Coachella and how she took this opportunity to pay tribute to the African culture. And as you said her video clip Lemonade incorporated many Afro-American elements but even before that song she had an Afro-American audience and  I think that this documentary is a very good example of black people’s art and Beyoncé did something amazing because she created songs for a community that really needed recognition and support. 

Beyoncé’s ‘’Formation’’ music video

As we have seen in class, music videos can be an illustration and present the identity of a musician. Beyoncé’s music video ‘’Formation’’ from her visual album ‘’Lemonade’’ released in 2016, in my opinion, represents well her beliefs and what she stands for. The music video plays a major role in understanding the song. 

I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros

I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils

Earned all this money but they never take the country out me

I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag

With these lyrics, we can see that Beyoncé is unapologetically proud of her blackness referring to the African hairstyle and facial features. We see her and her dancers with braids and afros. She also refers to a hot sauce that can be found in her bag in reference to Creole culture in which women carry hot sauce in their bags. 

Beyoncé represents Black culture in the music video, we can see her and her dancers with braids and afros but also we see her surrounded by African American men, standing in front of what seems to be a pre-Civil War house to express Black power. 

Further, in the music video, we see her refer to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with a police car drowning in water, a graffiti on a wall where we can see ‘’Stop Shooting Us’’ and a young black boy dancing in front of policemen. 

We can understand that all of these images refer to ‘Black Lives Matter’; she’s showing us that she is taking a stand against police brutality and how African Americans even if harmless are considered threatening and receive a lack of attention compared to others. 

We can say that popular music is not only about making songs but along with music videos they can represent an identity, give an illustration and create an experience with their content. 

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[ambresong]

“This is a thriller“

For today’s post, I am going to tell you about The King of pop and one of his famous song : “Thriller“ and well were are in October so I thought it was a great song for the Halloween month. He was and still is a legendary artist who broke records, overcame racial boundaries and revolutionized music industry. His creativity changed patterns of traditional songs productions and promotion. And when he died in 2009, the world was choked and there was a global mourning of fans. Micheal Jackson is internationally popular for his dance moves and among them, the famous “Moonwalk“ which first appeared in his video of “Billie jean“, the anti-gravity lean, the crotch grab and the spin . His dances moves became iconic and he performed them in numerous of his video clips. I believe he revolutionized the music industry become before him, they didn’t allowed nor assigned such large budgets on singles and it is thanks to the one given to his clips by production companies that he could make 10min long clips rather than 3min short videos.

I think you all know “Thriller“ which is actually part the best selling eponymous album of all time. It is composed of his three most famous song: “Billie Jean“, “Beat it“ and “Thriller“. The song itself has a clip video of 13min long which is considered quite rare for the time when you know the budget music producers granted their singers. “Thriller“ music video is presented as the first mini-movie clip video. The sung lyrics are accompanied by a storyline and dialogue. However, Micheal Jackson didn’t wrote the lyrics but Rod Temperton, the songwriter decided the song would have more success if sang by someone famous with a mysterious and powerful aura like Micheal Jackson. It is the perfect example to illustrate mediation in the music industry. It was produced in 1983 by Quincy Jones. The song itself (the lyrics) doesn’t last 13min, but Micheal Jackson added a scenario to it like a short story. By making the clip for “Thriller“ , Micheal Jackson established a music videos as a form of art.What I find really interesting is that when the song came out, he did an interview where he said and I quote: “I wanted Something that would glue to the set n something you’d want to watch over and over. I wanted to be pioneer in this relatively new medium and make the best short music movies we could make“.

What the single is about?

The scenario is like a horror movie. The whole song deals with a young girl who dates a simple young boy who turns out to be a werewolf who wants to attack her.

“Night creatures call

And the dead start to walk in their masquerade

There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time

They’s open wide

This is the end of your life, ooh“

The introduction is performed by Vincent Price, the best know American horror actor of the 20th century, which again give much credit to the video and by helped promote the song and the clip afterwards. The dances moves featured the video and are performed by professional dancers who embody zombies which gives a professional dimension to it.

The video turned out to be the best selling videotape of all time. Of “Thriller“ have been inspired many trends which gave this type of video clip (short movies) the status of mainstream media. In fact, Micheal Jackson stated that it was the power of “visual“ which will sale and make him famous.

A part of the songs’s appeals was the cinematic aspect of the music video which he got the idea of watching “An American Werewolf in London“ and “Night of the Living Dead“. The costume designer made the zombies’s costume is the same who designed Micheal Jackson’s famous red leather jacket . “Thriller“ is considered a masterpiece of the popular music because Micheal Jackson’s was not only a great singer but a dancer. His fashion style and talent created a persona beyond anyone’s reach. To conclude this album had all the conditions reunited to become an international success.“Billie Jean“ made Micheal Jackson famous but “Thriller“ made him “ The King of Pop“.

[ambresong]

I really enjoyed reading your post on Nina Simone. Actually, I also posted about an African-American artist: Aretha Franklin but I never heard of Nina Simone although they are quite similar in terms of musical style and political engagements. After I read your post I listened to “Why? (The King of Love is Dead)“ and it turned out I really liked it and I saw that people called the song “the saddest song ever“ but even if it is sad I think it is a very powerful song which reflects loose, sorrow, rage and misconception. Indeed, she didn’t only sang, she spoke, sermonized and prayed the American population against hatred. This performance was in fact a non-violent protest as Martin Luther King did and in my opinion, there is no better tribute. 

Nina Simone, the militant artist

Many black artists got involved in a creative process because music has been the way that Afro-Americans have expressed themselves right back to the slavery days.

Nina Simone has inspired many artists like Aretha Franklin or Lauryn Hill but also artists of our generation such as Alicia Keys or Beyonce. Her atypical, deep voice was often a popular choice for television and film soundtracks. She is nicknamed "The High Priestess of the Soul" thanks to her charisma and strong personality. She has become a real legend thanks to her incredible talent but also her fight against racial prejudices.

She is also known as "The Civil Rights Movement's voice", as an adult, Nina Simone sang about the rights of the black community, seeking the freedom of others but also her own. From her first album "Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club", she began to openly address the problems of racism and racial inequality in the United States. She sings about the assassination of Medgar Evers, the bombing of a church in Birmingham, the laws on racial segregation, through her song "Mississippi Goddam".

"This is a song for a show, but the show for this song hasn't been written yet !". It is with this elliptical and squeaky phrase that Nina Simone introduces this piece to a predominantly white audience. This song will cause a scandal as well for its history as for the blasphemy in the title, moreover three American states will refuse to play the song on the radio. It refers to the murder of black American activist Medgar Evers, assassinated in June 63, in Jackson, by a white supremacist from the Ku Klux Klan. Evers, a human rights activist, fought for African Americans' access to the University of Mississippi.

Tributes to Martin Luther King, including "Why the King of Love is Dead" and "Sunday In Savannah", recorded the day before his funeral in Georgia. At the beginning of this song she notably gives a poignant speech on mourning. Other many songs denounce the abuses that African-American people experience such as "Strange Fruit" obviously refers to the lynchings of blacks and "Four Women" portrays four black or mixed-race women, each of whom represents a stereotype of an Afro woman. - American in American society in the 1960s.“To be Young Gifted and Black” and “I wish I knew how it would feel“ have become anthems of the struggle for civil rights.

Her cover of The Beatles' "Revolution" is even more militant than the original, by changing the lyrics it makes it a more vehement response, inscribes the piece in a real dynamic of struggle, clearly calling for a change in the American Constitution to respond to the inequality. She is increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement, speaking at large meetings such as the March of Selma, performing many works denouncing segregation and favoring a non-violent revolutionary approach as desired by Martin Luther. King. Three years later, on April 4, 1968, the assassination of the one who said I Had A Dream ended the country's dream of non-violence. Riots break out in major American cities, and three days later Nina Simone takes the stage in Westbury. Before singing "Mississippi Goddam", she says: "A few years ago, four little girls were killed in Alabama. At that time, those deaths gave us the inspiration to write this song. But Dr. King's death left me so devastated that I don't know where I stand, really. You heard this song by James Taylor, composed especially for this sad day. I hope that by the end of the year we will have recovered enough to write songs that delve deep into our history and pay homage to those wonderful and courageous people who are no longer of this world today. "

Her protest songs had influence the Civil Rights Movements and with Simone’s sincere impassioned pleas and wake up call feel of the music, you are not left in any doubt as to the sombre mood and brewing tension.

[ambresong]

I find your research topic very interesting, especially since Lana Del Rey is one of my favorite artists and "Born to Die" one of my favorite songs, even the title is striking. I love how she managed to make her songs and lyrics as mysterious and fascinating as she is. I mean I think she has a really special voice which  has a touch of nostalgia, sadness, glamour and danger something very retro. She has something mystic in her that is what makes her appealing. Indeed, her even her physical appearance is vintage, her big loose curls, the flowers she often puts in her hair and her long dresses make me think of the 1960s and we can see it in her video clips too. They sing the intimate and the universal, love and death, loneliness and separation and the everyday or the transcendent. Moreover, she started her carrier when there were big changes through out the world and specially the United States both in political climate and the actual climate and economic inequalities. And that is exactly what she talks about in her songs, what was once beautiful and made people dream turns into something broken, as if Americans lost their spirit. And the world of yesterday is now just a memory. 

In fact, I never thought about the fact that she had this very American side in her music as well as in her style until I came across your post. It made me realize that in almost all of her soundtracks she speaks about the American dream and now that I think about it, I remember she wrote and sang “Young and beautiful“ for the adaptation movie of “The Great Gatsby“ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which deals with the American dream but the song itself and that is what I think is relevant of what I said before, is about a young woman ask her lover “Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?“ so to speak when her beauty will just be a memory, “Young and Beautiful“ is a tragic romance.  But to come back to her “Americanness“. I believe she produce a type of songs called “Americana“ which is a term which includes the history, the geography as you said in your post but also the culture and folklore of the United States like for instance in “Norman fucking Rockwell“, her seventh album where she evokes the seventies. 

A sketch of my research project.

I’ve been thinking about my research project for this class for quite some time now. Today, I’m finally settled on its overall theme. I’d like to focus on an artist in particular: Lana Del Rey. More precisely, I’d like to work on her ‘Americanness’.

I’ve wanted to dive into this subject ever since Pitchfork published a surprisingly pertinent review of her last album, Chemtrails Over The Country Club, which was released on March 19, 2021. The review ended with these words: “everything we’ve seen in recent memory confirms how disarmingly, specifically American [Lana has] become.”

Through an in-depth analysis of her lyrics and the imagery she created since her first album, Born to Die (2012), I want to show how her musical journey turned into a pilgrimage into the land of the US which, at the same time, revealed her somewhat awakened consciousness. In other words, I would like to focus on how she devoted herself to a sort of dismemberment of the US, accounting for what I’ll call an ‘American frustration’.

The geographic aspect of her universe is one of the cornerstones of my researches, and I’d like to show how she gradually (and to a certain extent) fled the coasts in order to find herself in the heartland of the US. I’ve created a map for each of her albums which, I hope, will help me getting my point across. On these maps, I’ve put a mark on each town she mentions (no matter how many times she mentions it). Here’s a taste of what’s to come with the maps of Born to Die and Chemtrails Over the Country Club.

I know that, without clear musical examples, everything might not be clear yet, but I don’t want to give too much away as I’m still polishing up my thesis and outline.

[ambresong]

“All I’m asking is for a little respect when I come home “

Hello!

On todays post I'm going talk about “The Queen of the Soul“.

Aretha Franklin is an iconic singer in the Afro-American music community. She has sold over 80 million records and remains the best-selling female artist of all time. She sang gospel, soul-funk, blues and jazz and I decided to talk about her because I thinks is a great exemple of how to integrate Afro-American elements in contemporary music.

Aretha Franklin grew up in Memphis- Tennessee in the South of The United States. Memphis is the town with the most Afro-Americans. Indeed, 63,3 % of the population is Afro-American. Her father was a minister in the local church and she joined the church’s choir with her two sisters. That is how she beg&an to sing and it led to the release of her first album untitled “The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin“ at only fourteen years old. But she started to be noticed when she moved to New York City. And it is only in 1980 that Aretha became the first ever woman to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She released her first single in 1960 untitled “Today I Sing the Blues“.

“Respect“ is one of the most danceable and famous song she ever performed. It is a song which shows her feminist engagement but she didn’t wrote it. She changed it and turned a macho’s song to a feminist’s song: A true anthem to freedom. However, “Respect“ is not only an ode to femininity and freedom but Aretha Franklin also wanted to send a message to her audience and her people immediately grasped her confidence and the message behind her words. Indeed, in the lyrics she spelled the word respect “ All I’m asking is for a little respect when I come home “. Here she does to only refers to inequalities between men and women but also to segregation. Indeed, she was an activist long before the song. She even went on tour with Martin Luther King. The writer Gerri Hershey wrote in Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music : “In Black neighborhoods and white universities, her hits came like cannonballs, blowing holes in the stylized bouffant and chiffon Motown sound, a strong new voice with a range that hit the heavens and a center of gravity that was very close to Earth.”

“The Queen of the Soul“ shaped generations of music. She changed popular music forever and Jack Hamilton, a pop music critic sais I quote: “There is before Aretha Franklin and after“. She mixed gospel, jazz, blues, R and B and took on what we called Rock and Roll. She had the ability of embody the Afro-American musical traditions and represent them on stage.

Aretha Franklin influenced countless other artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna by caring her passion and soul and legacy into her music.

[ambresong]

Hello! 

I find your post interesting and I would love to go to a festival. I know I have never been that’s odd. We hear a lot about festivals but I never heard of the Woodstock festival. And if we think about it, festival are more than just go listen to music with friends or foreigner for that matter it’s more of an experience as you said it was not just a concert it was music, alcohol, drugs, food and a protest. In fact, it is known that sharing a particular experience or an event connect and gather people together. If I could go back and live just one day in the past I would definitely chose the sixties and why not go ta a festival. 

Woodstock- How could popular music unite people so much?

Woodstock is a famous festival held in 1969. During this festival, hippies used a variety of drugs as a protest and to show that they could be united while listening to rock music. They also used it in order to feel more the music as certain drugs heighten senses. Moreover, the festival was overcrowded which caused a food shortage. As a matter of fact, drugs, the bad weather conditions as well as the fact that the festival was overpopulated were the reasons why it could have turned into a disaster. Those reasons did not change the fact that Woodstock had a great impact on music history. In fact, it brought many people from different backgrounds together who could forget about the political tensions reigning at that time in the USA because of the Vietnam war. 

A volunteer told the audience: “The organizers didn’t plan for this many people! We have shortages of food, water, and latrines. So it’s up to us. Look around-–the people around you are your brothers and sisters. So treat every person here like they really are your brothers and sisters. Share, take care of each other. That’s the way we’ll get through this.”

I find it incredible that people could unite thanks to music even though there were many reasons why it could have been a terrible experience. I think it is precisely because of those bad conditions that people managed to stick together and to support each other. I wish, music would eternally have the same effect on listeners. In my opinion, Woodstock has till an impact on the way we enjoy going to concerts and festivals nowadays. 

[ambresong]

“One for the money, Two for the show, Three get ready, Now go, cat, go“

Hello everyone!

For todays post, I wanted to go back to a special period for music, the fifties.

I believe you all know Elis Presley, The King of the Rock and Roll, I think talking about him id good because he made great sounds but he also gives a certain image. Indeed, he incarnates a persona.

In 1956, it was the first rock album to reach the top of the Billboard magazine sales chart, a position it held for ten weeks. Elvis Presley made popular music. His first album untitled “Elvis Presley“ is often referred to a history changer.

Why?

Because first of all, he joins blues and country to an album but also because this was one of the first Rock and Roll albums ever made, and it had a lot of success especially for a young singer such as Elvis Presley, he was twenty-one years old. This album defined Rock as a music genre which was considered as a bad influence type of music at that time.

The open song of the album is one of the singer’s signature song ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ which originally was not his song but his friend's Carl Perkins, a singer as well. However many people thought that Elvis’s version was better and reached an international success.

In this post, I also wanted to talk about one of the most known Elvis Presley’s song which is not part of his first album : “Can’t help falling in love“

I think everyone knows it but let me tell you why I love to listen to that song. He recorded “Can’t help falling in love“ in 1961 but it was actually written by the song writer George Weiss for a movie untitled Blue Hawaii. In fact, the song was gold awarded. It is a famous love song and in the movie he played it on her grandmother’s birthday.

The melody and the lyrics are based on a French song untitled “Plaisir d’Amour“ by Jean-Paul Egide-Martini and Elvis ended most of his concert with this song. I think most people liked it because Elvis Presley was a Rockstar and seing a rocker performing a lullaby touches the audience.

I am going to conclude by saying that Elvis Presley stays one of the most famous and known international singer ever and even after 71 years, his songs are still iconic.