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Tag: Music
Why “NO” isn’t good enough
2016 was supposed to be the year of the woman. Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton stood as the first female presidential nominee of a major party, Beyoncé released the album Lemonade, a powerful ode to black women, and the Nasty Woman movement took off, empowering females all across America to speak out against age-old oppressions. It appeared as though things were finally looking up in terms of gender equality, and Americans everywhere anticipated what seemed to be the inevitable victory of Clinton over Republican candidate and oompa loompa entrepreneur Donald Trump, prompting journalists to even write up draft articles of Clinton’s future presidency on the eve of election day. Unfortunately though, things did not go exactly as planned.
The same can be said about Meghan Trainor’s hit song “NO,” released in that same year.
Don’t get me wrong, Trainor’s song certainly has its merits. In a musical climate rampant with sexism where women always “want it,” there is nothing more refreshing than a hard and fast “NO.” The song is chock full of lyrical gems, calling out the objectification of women, encouraging females to take back their own bodies, and challenging the assumption that every female needs a male counterpart, all while encouraging women to just say no to unwanted advances. Trainor undoubtedly was swept up in the feminist rush of 2016 in composing this song, loudly championing female autonomy and empowerment through both the song itself, and the sensual music video. In spite of her song becoming a “go-to for women who need to brush off scrubs in the club,” though, Trainor has virtually no experience with unwanted nightlife advances. She actually wrote the song in a fit of anger at producer Ricky Reed, after he told the artist that her new album lacked a single. Perhaps because of this, Trainor could so nonchalantly write a song encouraging women to say the very same thing that results in their harassment, abuse, and murder.
Women face numerous societal pressures to be polite and kind, an issue that is aptly addressed in Trainor’s song “NO” through her encouragement of females to speak their mind, and take back their autonomy. However, without a similar message being aimed at men, the issue of unwanted advances will not be solved—in fact, the opposite result may occur, what with women being encouraged to “lick your lips and swing your hips” as they unconcernedly crush fragile male egos. Unfortunately, some listeners are destined to follow the young artist’s advice in rejecting advances and put themselves in potentially lethal situations, all because of Trainor’s lack of knowledge regarding the issue she is giving advice on.
In 2016, while many Americans took to social media and converged at political rallies to express their support of Hilary Clinton, feminism, and progressivism, thousands more spewed bigotry, misogyny, and hatred—yet they were overlooked. The oversimplification of sexism as simply a prejudiced idea of the past cost Hilary the election, and cost the women of America much of the respect that they had been fighting to earn. Likewise, Trainor’s jejune anthem encourages women to bluntly decline men’s advances, which has historically cost women their safety, peace of mind, and life.
Computers: The Instruments of the 21st Century
Even if you have never heard of Hans Zimmer, I can almost guarantee that you have heard his music. As a film score writer, his works are featured in everything from Pirates of the Caribbean, to Dunkirk, to The Lion King, to Batman Begins, setting an acoustic mood for the most heart-wrenching death scenes, the most inspiring and uplifting movie moments, and everything in between. Zimmer’s astounding musical prowess has been established through his orchestration of over fifty movie scores, his mentorship of notable composers including John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Mark Mancina, and the numerous awards he has received, including four Grammys, two Golden Globe Awards and an Oscar. Perhaps most remarkably of all, though is Zimmer’s musical training—or lack thereof.
Zimmer was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to what he coins as “a confused family,” comprised of a music-loving mother and an innovative engineer as a father. His “grand musical education” consisted of just two weeks of classical piano lessons, before he gave up on the redundancy of music theory and piano scales, taking a chainsaw to the instrument. He did this not out of anger, however, but rather to modify the timbre of the piano under the encouragement of his father, who regarded the alterations as “an evolution in technology.” The budding musician spent most of his youth in England, where he split his time between attending classes at the Hurtwood House, and dabbling in the music industry, first playing keyboard in the ’70s band Krakatoa before joining The Buggles and being featured in the music video for their hit single “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Zimmer briefly joined electro-pop band Ultravox, followed by the Italian avant-garde group Krisma, but he wrestled with crippling stage fright throughout his experiences in bands, and soon migrated towards a less public means of music production.
Zimmer was first ushered into the film score production industry by famed composer and mentor Stanley Myers, and the two musicians founded the London-based Lillie Yard recording studio. In this studio, Zimmer helped to produce the soundtrack to the movie My Beautiful Laundrette, before begging several solo projects, including A World Apart. During his time working alongside Myers, Zimmer began integrating the electronic musical world with traditional orchestral arrangements, and he was tasked with writing the soundtrack to Rain-Man, which was nominated for an Academy Award and marked a significant turning point in Zimmer’s career.
By the mid 90s, Zimmer composed several scores for hit movies, including Black Rain, Backdraft, Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, and Days of Thunder, all through combining classic music creation with modern electronics, when he was approached by Disney. The studio was working on The Lion King and had yet to find a composer to write the movie’s film music. Zimmer flatly refused the offer, explaining to Disney representatives, “All you want is Broadway princess musicals, and I don’t like Broadway princess musicals, I’m the wrong guy.” However, because he had a six-year-old daughter, Zimmer eventually caved on the hope that he could at least bring his daughter to the movie’s premier. As soon as he looked more into the plot, though, Zimmer realized that the story was much more than a mere children’s piece about fuzzy cartoon characters. He connected with the story on a personal level because he had lost his own dad at six years old, and through working on The Lion King, Zimmer was forced to revisit his childhood feelings about his father. The piece became a requiem for his dad in which all of Zimmer’s bottled up feelings from the past are laid out, creating an aural story within the larger plot arc of The Lion King.
Since producing the music for The Lion King, Zimmer has worked on countless other Hollywood blockbusters, all from the cozy technological hub of his studio. Michael Levine, a musician who worked under Zimmer for several years, describes the visionary’s musical knowledge, saying, “Hans is a so-so pianist and guitarist and his knowledge of academic theory is, by intention, limited. (I was once chastised while working on The Simpsons Movie for saying “lydian flat 7” instead of “the cartoon scale.”) He doesn’t read standard notation very well, either. But no one reads piano roll better than he does.” In spite of Zimmer’s limited music theory knowledge, he is described as remarkably perceptive, gaining inspiration from a book, a painting, or even a delicious meal, and he is perfectly fluent in the technological production of music. His ability to “spot,” or to work with a director and decide what kind of music is needed where, is exceptional, and Zimmer will fervently work on a film score until every last detail portrays exactly the emotion necessary for the film. And although he often faces criticism for his lack of formal training, perhaps Zimmers’ inability to become bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of music theory of music is what allows his works to so easily transcend into something larger than a splattering of notes on a page.
Classical Confusion
Evan Sacks-Wilner is a sophomore at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music studying tuba performance. In this interview, Evan discusses classical music and its place in the modern world.
Can you talk a bit about the classical music scene?
The state of classical music is actually on an uprise right now. Everyone says that classical music is dying, classical music is dying. But this generation has started to get back into it. You’ve got two schools of thought really. One—and of course there are in-betweens—but there’s the the lil pump people, and then on the opposite end of the spectrum is us, the classical music people. I call us the pretentious classical music elitists.
That sounds like a fitting name!
Yes. And there are a lot more of us than people realize. The Cincinnati Symphony has been sold out pretty consistently. Meanwhile, there are other orchestras that will only get half of their hall filled up, and you hear all the time about orchestras going on strike because the people higher up don’t realize how much the orchestra, playing at a high level and getting great people, matters to the welfare of society, especially in cities. Orchestras start getting taken for granted. Meanwhile, a lot of the time, the orchestras are the first step of gentrification. Take the New Jersey Symphony. The NJPAC is in Newark. Newark is not the best area, and the New Jersey Symphony plays there, they play at the state theater in New Brunswick, they’ll play in Red Bank which is a little south I believe, and they play at Richardson. That was the first orchestra concert I went to, they were playing Firebird.
Going back to your earlier point that this is the first step of gentrification, isn’t it somewhat problematic that cities are being gentrified? Or are you arguing something else?
I think that as cities go further and further into becoming, I don’t want to say ghettos, but ghettos, like think south side of Chicago. There are murders and thefts that happen in that part of Chicago every night. Meanwhile, in Millennium Park which is somewhere in the middle, that’s where the Chicago symphony plays, and the Chicago Symphony was founded I believe in the early 1900s, and now that part of Chicago is thriving.
So you think that’s a direct result of the orchestra being established there?
I wouldn’t say direct but it definitely brought more, I would say that it helped the city grow into a tourist spot, I guess. Not really a tourist spot, but do you get what I’m trying to say?
Yeah, but it seems like upper level orchestras attract a wealthier crowd because their tickets are so expensive, so then if you establish an orchestra, you’re almost pushing out the lower class. Which is, I dunno lowering crime rates is good but crime isn’t intrinsically tied to any one class and it’s not good to push out entire people who can no longer afford to live where they’ve always lived because of gentrification. Because of the influx of wealthier people.
Ah. Well, orchestras are starting to have cheaper tickets for nosebleed sections. They’ll make most of their money off of donors. Student tickets for the Cincinnati Symphony are fifteen bucks. Another thing that students can do is, at the beginning of the year I paid 50$ and now I can get tickets for any concert this season.
What do you think orchestras bring as far as enriching the lives of people who listen? Do you think orchestral music generates more empathy or creativity? I know there are studies that say, if have your child listen to orchestral music, they’ll grow up to be a genius. What’s your take on all that sort of positivity toward classical music?
I mean obviously I think it’s good because I want a job. But anyway, I’m gonna answer this kind of in a circular way. I find that, take the military for instance. The military is the largest job provider for musicians, and you take the President’s Own, you take the Army Band, and they will travel to play for troops, and they’ll play for the community. Military concerts are completely free. If you go see a military band, it’s going to be for free. It’s what they do, and since they’re funded by the military budget they’re jobs are for the most part safe. And so they exist to lift spirits of people. Orchestras, I would say, do the same thing, but they also provide an educational aspect. They have outreaches, they’ll have little chamber music things where they’ll send a group of musicians to a high school or a middle school, and play things for them. I remember when I was in fourth grade a group of percussionists from I believe the Princeton Symphony came and did a demonstration of all the different percussion instruments. A brass quintet, when I was in sixth grade, played everything from the Simpsons, and they just explained what their instruments do. Kind of like what we did with the Kid Connection kids when they came to the high school. And they have these things called “Young People’s Concerts” or “Kiddie Concerts.” I got to play in one as a side by side with the New Jersey Symphony my Sophomore year of high school, when I first started taking lessons from Derek who is the principal tuba there. But you take a child to those concerts and you’ll raise them to love classical music, and it’ll help that era. It’s not just the music, it’s also the culture and the style. This music is 200 something odd years old, 300 years old. Think of, I dunno, the Beatles. In a couple years, they’ll probably still be around. Queen will probably still be around. Orchestras are just cover bands, tribute bands.
That’s true, I’ve never thought of it like that.
Yeah. You see this guy with a bunch of people behind him get up on stage in a white tank top and a mustache, you’re gonna know he’s impersonating Freddie Mercury. You see orchestral musicians come up in tuxes and such and most of what they play is historically accurate because that’s what the composer wrote down. So that’s essentially what we’re doing, is we’re just a cover band.
But with far reaching impacts? As you were saying with working with children, and bringing joy and happiness to the listeners?
Well think of this. When you’re listening to, do you listen to classical music?
New World Symphony!
When you listen to New World Symphony, take the second movement, the Largo, the English Horn solo.
Mhm beautiful.
Exactly! You’re smiling right now, just thinking about it.
Although you could argue that all music does that, not just classical.
Lil Pump?
Okay well you could argue that a good portion of music beyond classical does that.
Yeah, that’s true.
So do you think that classical is just the pinnacle, the best at making you happy?
We’re the OGs. But there still is new music that gets performed. Like think John Cage, even the music of John Williams gets performed by orchestras.
But don’t you think it’s harder for that new music to gain traction because of how popular Mozart and those big classical composers are, especially in comparison to the modern people who are trying to work up to that?
Of course.
So they don’t you think we’re always going to be stuck in this rut of the old classical music, and don’t you think we’ll eventually get bored with that?
Not if the newer music does manage to gain traction. But in order to do that you need to have newer music that will make you feel the same emotions that Mozart and Mahler and Bruckner make you feel. It’s all mood music, really. Nowadays, music is like (*bangs random notes on piano*).
I mean not all of it.
But there’s a good difference between that and classical.
Couldn’t you argue that there are definitely modern musicians who work more towards gaining popularity than creating music that’s beautiful, but on the flip side there are musicians who aren’t targeting classical symphony orchestras but are still making music that is at least attempting to be beautiful? Sia comes to mind because her music is written from the heart, it’s stuff that sounds pretty, and it’s stuff that some people can seriously relate to.
Well in a perfect world the ones that make music that comes from the heart should be the ones that are successful.
The Emo Scene—No mom, I’m not obsessed with the internet.
Being in middle school was weird. You were too old to be considered cute and innocent by adults, but too young to be given the respect and freedoms that come with adulthood. You were encouraged to express yourself and pursue your passions, but the unforgiving environment of middle school constantly tried to push you into the mold of conformity. Your body was beginning to change and grow with the progression of puberty, but—actually, lets not go there. Anyway, given how turbulent of a time middle school was, preteens from the early 2000s frequently turned to emo music, hoping to find some lyrics to express their inner angst. Of course though, with no money or means of transportation, teenagers began to explore the growing frontier that they were becoming increasingly familiar with: the internet.
Emotional hardcore music, or “emo” for short, has a history that begins long before the internet became mainstream. This genre has roots in the United Kingdom with the loud and brash punk music from groups like Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, and Hüsker Dü, before this music style extended across the pond to D.C. in the mid-80s and the hardcore punk scene was on the rise, led by groups including Rites of Spring and Embrace in the Revolution Summer of 1985. Alt rock and indie groups in the Midwest then twisted this genre into something more cathartic and mainstream, and finally at the turn of the century, these bands began to adopt a pop-based sound and write more emotional, angst-filled lyrics, prompting the emo genre to take off. In conjunction with this, the invention of social media platforms including Myspace and Facebook, and music streaming sites like Youtube, Pandora, Spotify, created conditions for the perfect online emo music storm.
The online emo music scene allowed listeners to enjoy and rave about this genre from the comfort of their own homes, sometimes even interacting with the revered musicians themselves via social media platforms, prompting an entire online subculture to evolve from this music scene. A simple search of the term “emo” on Tumblr yields thousands of results, with blogs like The Aging Scene Kid and Washed Up Emo among the top results, and music streaming sites all offer a plethora of emo music playlists and albums. And even though the majority of fans were teenagers, spread throughout the world and interacting only through instant messenger, these listeners managed to adapt their own singular look, complete with thick eyeliner, skinny jeans, and black band tees. Remarkably too, this music scene paid little mind to the gender of listeners, perhaps because of the anonymity granted to internet users. This anonymity also allowed listeners portray themselves however they wish, and actually shape the very music scene that they were a part of.
As with many subcultures, the emo music scene died as it slipped into the mainstream. Most relics of emo music today are jabs at this overdramatic genre, including a spoof song of President Trump’s tweets as lyrics to an emo song and a plethora of “cringe compilations.” Nonetheless, this online scene was revolutionary in how it used the internet to connect people from all over the world, granting otherwise misunderstood teenagers a place to express their ideas and bond with one another over a shared love of music.
Repurposed EDM
Electronic dance music (EDM) has a long and complicated history with illicit drug use, ranging from a Molly (MDMA) scare at music festivals a few years ago, to a current correlations between opioid usage and EDM partygoers. More generally, the genre is commonly associated with the cramped, dark, and loud environment of clubs, and has earned the poor reputation of appealing only to younger, dumber listeners. The electronically-generated noises of EDM songs, coupled with redundant rhythms and predictable drops, results in it being scorned by many as barely music, unable to earn respect from any critics. Yet these very characteristics are what makes EDM perfect for something else entirely—studying.
It has been proven that music increases concentration. Experts advise specifically listening to songs without lyrics, which have enough noise to keep your subconscious mind occupied, while also not distracting you from the task at hand. Ironically, EDM, the very music that is so frequently associated with drunken teenagers partying in mosh pits and dingy basements, fits this bill perfectly. The fast-paced tempo of EDM can even increase blood pressure and heart rate, making this playlist perfect for when you need that final push of adrenaline to power through finals season. Or, if you want to procrastinate a few more days, you could always take this song set and live it up at a club.
Blackmill – Spirit of Life
This song is perfect for easing you into the drudgery of studying. The soft sounds of waves crashing ashore gradually give way to a piano melody and synth dubstep, Blackmill’s signature style, with just enough drops to keep your brain occupied, and to keep you off of your Instagram feed. Although this song is on the slower side, with a tempo hovering just above 60 beats per minute, this actually makes the track nearly perfect for studying to according to science.
The Xx – Intro
Man is this beat addictive. The seemingly basic background rhythm, transforming into something complex and beautiful. The restrained tempo and muted volume, somehow still energetic enough to help you power through that final essay. The random band, that, through this song alone, attracted the attention of millions of fans, and even Rihanna herself. This song is almost as contradictory as finals season and happiness.
Airtones – Strike (Radio Edit)
Is this song a studying song? A workout song? A partying song? Who knows! But the fast tempo of the piece pumps just enough adrenaline in you to make you fear your imminent F’s, removal from college, and return to your parents’ basement. Better start studying!
Tobu – Infectious
In case the last song didn’t do it for you, this one should definitely help in jumpstarting your brain. The running line of music under the main melody is basically mind-candy, and may even help you enjoy the torturous work of cramming the night before your final. No promises though.
Mitis & Mahi – Blu
The ghostly electric whines, the keyboard melodies, the laser-y sounds, the dubstep drum beat—all of these elements make Blu feel almost outer space-themed. Not to worry though, a passing grade is much closer to you than any celestial body!
Alan Walker – Faded (instrumental)
Norwegian artist Alan Walker produced his hit single Faded, which garnered international fame and over one billion Youtube views, at just 18 years old after years of dedication and hard work. With some diligence and perseverance, you too can achieve greatness! (albeit a few years later)
Faux Tales – Atlas
This song opens with a melodic piano line, propped up by background echos of a synthesizer. It almost feels more like a fast-paced lullaby than anything dance-worthy. But alas, just over a minute in, the beat drops and shatters all expectations. Just like how you are going to shatter that curve on your final exams.
Elektronomia – Sky High
C’mon just a little bit more studying to go! This track’s uptempo beat and addictively incessant melody will surely push you that extra bit to go over that last set of review questions that you’ve been avoiding.
Jai Wolf – Indian Summer
Congratulations, you made it! This song epitomizes the unrestrained joy of summer, complete with a music video of the artist running around on crazy random adventures! With your own upcoming weeks of post-finals freedom, you too can run across a desert, check out the beach with some friends, and fall in love. Or I mean, Netflix and sleeping works too. Up to you.
Although EDM is notorious for being played in dingy party scenes and overcrowded clubs, this genre can be more than just background music for a high. With a smidgen of creativity and an open mind, the amazing versatility of EDM might finally be realized, because EDM is so much more than what people make it out to be.
No, Ryan Gosling, jazz is not dying
“I never thought jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic” -Miles Davis
Like Mia from the hit movie La La Land, I hated jazz. The whiny melodies, the seemingly endless improv sessions in the middle of a standard, the sloppy syncopation of swung lines—it just didn’t make sense. Why would anyone care to listen to jazz, let alone devote their whole lives to this slapdash music style? Needless to say, I was less than excited to learn that I would be joining my sister at some obscure jazz club in New York City to listen to some random jazz group on one of my last days of freedom before college. On the plus side, the club served food. I was pleasantly surprised to walk into what appeared to be a restaurant, already aglow with the murmur of conversations around me, as I sat down at a table adjacent to an empty stage. A tarnished saxophone sat on stage just out of arm’s reach, seeming to cooly asses the audience from its position behind a mic stand. As I carefully sipped the bowl of piping-hot gumbo in front of me, I steeled myself for what I believed was going to be one of the most banal concerts of all time. Boy was I wrong.
The band filtered out: a large saxophone player who picked up his instrument with the tenderness of a mother picking up her first-born child, a suave pianist, a shrimpy-looking drummer who was dwarfed by the bass drum, a dorky trombonist, a lanky bass player who sauntered out to a stool before absentmindedly caressing his instrument as though it was his long lost love, and finally a trumpet player, strutting out to center stage. Following only the briefest of introductions, a crash of noise, and the first chart had begun, a song that I had no hope of recognizing. The drummer nodded along to his rhythm, eyes glued to the trumpet player, who punctuated the sentences of the trombonist, who provided the countermelody to the saxophonist, who transformed the tarnished piece of metal sitting alone onstage moments ago into a living being. The saxophone was no longer an instrument, but instead an extension of the man, a living being, caught up in the fabric of the music and adding its own intricate embroidery to the texture. Without any warning, the sax dropped out and the trombonist was now steering the song. All eyes were now on him as the band members spoke to each other in a language I couldn’t understand, with music instead of words and head nods for punctuation. The music crescendoed, increasing in passion and strength until it felt as though the noise would shatter the walls of the room, too ripe with emotion to be contained by mere sheetrock. Then without warning, silence. An ephemeral stillness, followed by the explosion of applause.
One of their later charts, a ballad, nearly brought me to tears. The trumpet player switched to a flugelhorn, before diving into the honey-thick noise created by the saxophone and drum set, outlined by the occasional hiss of the cymbal. He sang through the flugel, a cross between the pure hymn of an angel and the anguished wail of a lost lover, with eyes squeezed shut, body slowly swaying to his own song as it rose in both energy and tempo. Each note hung in the air like embers from a fire, glowing as they floated up to the stars, until the song ended on one final cry behind the sizzle of the cymbals. The remaining songs followed this precedent of spontaneous creation and communication, producing an experience that was both practiced to perfection, and constantly new and changing.
Throughout the entirety of the jazz concert, there was always a conversation between the musicians, a sort of cycle of improvisation and creativity, passed around from person to person. The jazz wasn’t just music. It was a living, breathing force, an entranced being conjured up from the people on stage, and their lumps of noise-making twisted metal and wood. It was alive. And, in spite of what Sebastian from La La Land may believe, something as alive and jazz can never truly die.
More Than Just Pop: The Script
“The beauty of their lives
Is when they’re dead and gone
The world still sings along
When anything went right
When anything went wrong
They put it in a song”-Danny O’Donoghue
The Script is changing the script of pop music (excuse the pun). In their eponymous debut album, The Script, the Irish trio proves that they are much more than just another boy-band. Embedded in each and every one of their songs is a carefully scripted story written to resonate with an audience beyond just your run-of-the-mill pop-obsessed teenagers, touching on topics as basic as heartbreak, to as nuanced as the inequity in today’s social climate. This exquisite storytelling, combined with the group’s inventive sprinkling of rock and R&B influences in their songs, all polished to perfection, explains how the album The Script has won the test of time over this past decade.
While The Script was only propelled to stardom in 2008, the band’s lead vocalist Danny O’Donoghue and guitarist Mark Sheehan have a rich musical history together, and even knew each other since childhood. The two previously performed in an Irish-based group called Mytown, but failed to gain international acclaim and soon disbanded. Following this, the duo traveled to Los Angeles where they worked alongside producers and performers alike, before recruiting drummer Glen Power and, following a series of jamming sessions, founded their own band. The group’s first album, The Script, debuted shortly thereafter.
The album opens with the single “We Cry,” a carefully crafted ballad with soaring vocals and ghostly coos, combined with a rock-esque taste added by the guitar, all on top of the background heartbeat of the drum kit. Interspersed between the smooth cries of the melody, O’Donoghue, in an almost spoken-word style, tells the hard-knock stories of a young mother, a drug-addicted musician, and an aspiring female politician. He breaks through the pop-music tide of hollow love-sick and bubbly lyrics, instead tackling heavier topics ranging from drug abuse, to sexism, to inequity, singing, “I’m sick of looking for those heroes in the sky to teach us how to fly.” The raw truth emanating from the lyrics in “We Cry,” juxtaposed with the smooth and polished notes of the music, packs a powerful punch for the Script’s opening track.
“Before the Worst” returns us to the sounds of a more classic pop song, complete with a steady backbeat of drums and guitar, and an almost desperate banging of the keyboard. The intimate rawness of the lyrics, reflecting on “a time when we stayed up all night, best friends, yeah, talking til the daylight” is perhaps what makes it such a universally understood and widely received piece. In an interview, Sheehan explained that fans would come up to him and tell stories about what this song means to them and how they relate to the lyrics, proving just how large the fanbase is that “Before the Worst” resonates with.
The following tracks likewise detail romantic pitfalls, providing stories that are simultaneously detailed and personalized, while also accessible enough for a wide audience to relate to the lyrics. Things are then shaken up with the song “Rusty Halo,” marked by a more rock-based beat. The fast-paced tempo of this track automatically induces a sort of anxiety in the listener, yet ironically, this song also introduces subtle religious overtones, suggesting a sort of upcoming final judgement day in the lyrics, for which O’Donoghue has to “Shine my rusty halo.” While not appealing to a specific narrative, this track touches more generally on the likewise universal idea of guilt.
Towards the end of the album, The Script briefly diverges from their classic storytelling style for a gag song, “If You See Kay” (spelling out F-U-C-K). The origin of this song actually directly involves the members of The Script and their audience alike, in which O’Donoghue posted the opening lyrics to “If You See Kay” online, and then let listeners comment on and tweak the song however they like from there.
The album ends with the softest ballad yet, “I’m Yours,” complete with the steady backbeat of an acoustic guitar, and soothing coos from O’Donoghue himself. Although a more standard sappy love song, this provides listeners with an opportunity to recuperate after unpacking emotional baggage from the earlier tracks. That’s not to say, though, that “I’m Yours” lacks musical value. The guitar bridge before the last refrain has an almost Spanish guitar-vibe to it, and the swells of the music throughout the track create a warm and relaxed feeling to the piece, a welcome change from the rougher rock-based earlier tracks. And of course, given that this song is so lovey-dovey, virtually anyone in a relationship can relate to the piece both on its surface level, and more deeply upon analysis of the lyrics.
Although some critics claim that The Script is somehow too polished, these people are ironically overlooking the very thing that makes The Script’s first album so timeless: its attention to detail. More specifically, it’s attention to the intimate details of life, love, pain, and joy in the narratives of their songs. Ten years after its debut, The Script is still widely played on a variety of music stations and channels not because of the notes that the band wrote on the page, but instead as a result of everything the band created that goes beyond the written music, from their interactions with fans and listeners, to the ageless stories they tell with their songs. The Script’s uncanny ability to connect with each and every one of their audience members is thus what makes their first track rise above the level of mere noise, instead being transformed into a powerful and timeless force in itself.
The Much Needed Resurrection of “An American Elegy”
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” — Leonard Bernstein
Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, over 215,000 students have been exposed to gun violence in their schools, inducing widespread outrage in America as the debate on gun control raises to a fever pitch. In this past year alone, a walkout was organized by students nationwide in response to the Parkland shooting, and Americans banned together through various social media hashtags, including “#MeNext,” to express their opinions on gun reform. On the opposite side of this argument, members of the NRA (National Rifle Organization) are becoming increasingly vocal both online and at rallies, and many argue that eliminating the right to bear arms would be counterproductive, further endangering unarmed Americans. With both sides of the gun control debate so impassioned, this issue is becoming increasingly polarized. Ironically, more attention is placed on being proven right than on creating change, and fear and outrage emanating from all sides of the debate has resulted in the stifling stalemate that we find ourselves in today. This stagnancy, however, has one simple solution: hope. And that is exactly the message that Frank Ticheli communicates in his concert band piece entitled “An American Elegy.”
This piece was written in 2000 in response to the Columbine shooting, and in memory of the victims of the tragedy. As he explains in the program notes, “An American Elegy” is, “above all, an expression of hope.” Instead of retaliating against the tragedy by attacking the government for lax gun laws, or calling for security guards in schools and for teachers to learn to wield a gun, Ticheli uses music to unite people, and inspire the hope necessary to induce change.
Ticheli was commissioned to write “An American Elegy” following the tragic Columbine shooting, and the piece debuted in a joint performance with students from Columbine High School Band, and the University of Colorado Wind Symphony. This initial performance already illustrates the uniting power of music, and how much more impactful creation is than debate. In fact, Ticheli was able to compose virtually every element of “An American Elegy” in a mere two weeks, spurred on by the gravity of his budding creation. If only politics could operate at that speed.
In terms of the music itself, “An American Elegy” begins with just barely a whisper of the lowest voices in the band. These deep voices continually rise in both pitch and volume, and upper voices soon join in with a countermelody, until it feels that the song explode apart from the sheer noise and energy emanating from the band. A bell toll finally marks the emergence of a new chorale, however, and the piece transitions from this force of uncapped energy into a more meditative main theme. Just as people tend to first react with stunned silence to a tragedy, before more and more voices cry out in outrage and despair, this piece likewise begins with a sort of melancholy feeling, before more and more instruments are added to the composition. Throughout this, however, the initial base line almost exclusively rises in pitch, perhaps representing a sort of hope among the chaos. The bell that marks the transition of the music into a more melodic chorale parallels a funeral bell that unites people in remembrance of the deceased, and the first main theme introduced shortly thereafter is one of the first instances in which virtually all members of the band are working to create one united and cohesive theme.
About halfway through the piece, the meditative and muted series of themes and intertwining lines gives way to a triumphant trumpet countermelody, indicating a renewed sense of purpose to the voices of the piece. Shortly thereafter, however, the listener is faced with a very simple and stripped-down tune between clarinets and saxophones that lacks even the basic melodic line, leaving only a bare harmony in remembrance of the tragedy. In addition to honoring those who passed in the horrific attack at Columbine, this quiet transition highlights the strength of those who endured the attack. Approximately seven minutes into the piece, Ticheli writes an exact quotation of the alma mater of Columbine High School, focusing the attention of the piece on the tragedy of Columbine.
“An American Elegy” concludes with an offstage trumpet solo, followed by one final swelling of noise from band, paralleling the very first crescendo of the piece and marking a last return of the main melody. The music then gradually fades out, leaving only the clarinets and the occasional bell toll exposed, until that too lifts into the silence. After hearing to “An American Elegy,” the listener is almost guaranteed to be reduced to a stunned silence, in awe of the piece’s “poetic strength.”
Even though this piece was composed nearly 20 years ago, Ticheli just this year wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times about “An American Elegy” and modern gun violence. When Ticheli composed the piece, he expected Columbine to be an outlier, a tragic anomaly. Instead, gun violence in schools has become a common occurrence, which Ticheli blames on current politicians who lack “a humility and wisdom.” Luckily, however, this bold arrogance can be remedied through something as simple as music.
Music, when truly listened to, has the power to impact us profoundly. It can bring about intense emotions, induce reminiscing, and, perhaps most importantly, inspire hope. In creating “An American Elegy,” Frank Ticheli helped to unite a mourning community of people, paying homage to the victims of the shooting while also pushing forwards to the hopeful future. Today, however, when people spend every waking hour arguing about who is right, the noise of our own voices blocks out the magic of the music. In the debate on gun violence, and more broadly in virtually every emotionally or politically charged argument, people often slip down the rabbit hole of debate, forgetting about the problem yet to be solved. So perhaps, rather than adding their own voices to the cacophony of debate, politicians and protestors should give up ten minutes of their time and listen to Ticheli’s “An American Elegy.” If nothing else, the listeners may finally feel hope.
The Power of Music 