This isn't exactly new. Woody Guthrie wrote This Land Is Your Land, and perhaps, much like Bruce Springsteen's, Born in the USA, it's been miscontrued as a patriotic song. And, if you only read the first two verses, it does paint an idyllic view of these United States. Get past the first few verses, and you'll read:
As I was walkin'
I saw a sign there
And that sign said no trespassin'
But on the other side
It didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
In the squares of the city
In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office
I see my people
And some are grumblin'
And some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking
That freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me
The lyrics become rather ironic, as it turns out that only part of the US are made for you and me (the parts that aren't blocked off), and then he talks about the poor, unable to make a living in the US, and finally says that he can achieve freedom by essentially hitchhiking. There's a kind of freedom in poverty, and yet, not really.
I had heard some relative of Woodie who said he would have found it quite strange that kids would embrace this song as symbolic of all that is good about America, its simple values. And yet, it's only because people conveniently don't sing the verses you see above.
Bruce Springsteen's lyrics ought to be even more obvious. While Guthrie's lyrics are ironic, starting off with the idealistic notion of every part of the US belonging to everyone, and then basically saying it ain't for the poor, Springsteen's Born in the USA is about coming back from Vietnam and being unable to cope, sort of like Rambo without the heroics. And yet this song was embraced during the Reagan administration as a particularly red state song, because, fundamentally, they skipped listening to any other parts of the song other than "Born in the USA". The imagery of Springsteen's back and a flag waving was his form of ironic portrayal, and yet, people thought of it as patriotism, at least, 80s style, cowboy patriotism.
With the advent of alt-folk artists like Sufjan Stevens, Devendra Banhart, and Iron and Wine's Sam Beam, there's a resurgence in folk music, but not of necessarily of the political variety. It's still great stuff to listen to, but occasionally, you want to be reminded of the politcal roots of folk.
As usual, I was perusing for music at NPR's All Songs Considered, and listened to Janis Ian's Danger Danger from her upcoming album Folk is the New Black (listen to Press On). Ian hits all the topics that tend to get people riled up. Racism, gender preferences, books with racy topics, the war. For some reason, this song elicits memories of Annie Lennox since Missionary Man, which is trying to be oddly blasphemous, creating imagery of a missionary man who's part superhero. Is it trying to provocative by using the word "missionary"? Still, oddly enough, I could see Annie Lennox singing (or in her case, wailing) this song, and wonder if it might not derive some power from it.
Speaking of folk and bluegrass, I was also listening to Robinella Contreras. She and her husband are bluegrass musicians, but in their latest album, have tried out other folks of music, more closely resembling jazz or new-age sounds. In Solace for the Lonely, Robinella sings Press On, which has a steady drumbeat sounding like Native American beats. The song seems downbeat, the early parts describing a need to get away from presumably an awful situation, and head where? To heaven, to meet Jesus.
Throughout the song the refrain "Press On" repeats, which, to me, suggests soldiering on. And it made me think of these two word phrases that simply don't make sense, like "press on". "Press on", in this context, seems like, you keep moving on regardless of what life is dealing you, which presumably is not something great. In the year that the Red Sox got the monkey off their back and won the World Series in dramatic fashion (down 3-0 to the rival Yankees, who had beaten them the previous year in a pivotal 7th game, with Aaron Boone hitting a home run on knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, and his brother, Bret announcing the game.
Last year, they won, and the key phrase was "Cowboy Up", which made no sense, but which I pieced together to mean that you have to get up, and be, well, a cowboy? The 2004 Red Sox team was supposed to be loose, having fun, and a contrast to the businesslike pinstripes of the Yankees. Perhaps no one more symbolized the Red Sox than the long-maned Jonny Damon, who refused to cut his hair, when the rest of the team showed solidarity. It didn't take him too long to accept the money that the Yankees were offering, and Johnny was shearing off his beard and long hair.
I read another similar phrase just yesterday about Cornelius Griffin. His dad was a pastor and preached to his kids that they had to "Tighten Up", that when things got tough, they, too, had to stay tough. When his dad was killed by a drunk driver, he almost wanted to turn back from heading to Alabama, where he was ready to play college football, but the words of his dad told him to stay steady, to be reliable, to "tighten up". If you were to ask anyone what "tighten up" means they'd almost surely say that it meant getting nervous, getting too tight, not relaxed enough. Yet, in this context, it means pretty much "press on", go forward (now I'm about to quote Devo songs, but I digress).
Put two words together, give it a context, and someone will figure out what it means.
Blog On!
No comments:
Post a Comment