Logistics
Today we continue a series of two sessions devoted to authenticity and Jazz. For the purposes of our online commentary, I have decided to focus on the essay by Zora Neale Hurston "How it Feels to be Colored Me" (1928).
Next time we move on to the theme of Revolution and Cockroach Capitalism and will discuss Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music by Frank Kofsky (1970).
Please remember that the second essay due date is coming up on Wednesday April 28th. Send me a note if I may assist with your topic.
Colored Me
Below I have quoted a section from Hurston’s essay in which she addresses music. Please take a look at the entire essay from the web site in order to understand the context of this excerpt.
“For instance at Barnard. "Beside the waters of the Hudson" I feel my race. Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself. When covered by the waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again.
Sometimes it is the other way around. A white person is set down in our midst, but the contrast is just as sharp for me. For instance, when I sit in the drafty basement that is The New World Cabaret with a white person, my color comes. We enter chatting about any little nothing that we have in common and are seated by the jazz waiters. In the abrupt way that jazz orchestras have, this one plunges into a number. It loses no time in circumlocutions, but gets right down to business. It constricts the thorax and splits the heart with its tempo and narcotic harmonies. This orchestra grows rambunctious, rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal veil with primitive fury, rending it, clawing it until it breaks through to the jungle beyond. I follow those heathen--follow them exultingly. I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I shake my assegai above my head, I hurl it true to the mark yeeeeooww! I am in the jungle and living in the jungle way. My face is painted red and yellow and my body is painted blue. My pulse is throbbing like a war drum. I want to slaughter something--give pain, give death to what, I do not know. But the piece ends. The men of the orchestra wipe their lips and rest their fingers. I creep back slowly to the veneer we call civilization with the last tone and find the white friend sitting motionless in his seat, smoking calmly.
"Good music they have here," he remarks, drumming the table with his fingertips.
Music. The great blobs of purple and red emotion have not touched him. He has only heard what I felt. He is far away and I see him but dimly across the ocean and the continent that have fallen between us. He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored.”
Here Hurston questions the idea of access. I have always wondered about the points that she raises. Can we all equally access the message in music? To what extent is the message of music real? How much is the message of music abstract? Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?
Hurston humorously suggests that her white friend misses the message that is so meaningful to her. In addition to being a literary device, what is her purpose in presenting this example? What is her goal?
Comments and Discussion
Please create three posts. Comment on (a) my discussion above, (b) on someone else's post, or (c) content from the reading. I will comment on comments as appropriate.
"Can we all equally access the message in music? To what extent is the message of music real? How much is the message of music abstract? Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?"
ReplyDeleteI beleive music in general is seen differently by each individual. music can be seen or read in different emotions, different meanings, and different messages. When listening to music from early years or present, i might get a different meaning of the song then another person might just feel emotional towards that same song. Do we encounter music differently because of what were probably going through in life or maybe because how we were raised, or the way we think about stuff as an overall? The reason i state that question is because when thinking about how i listen to music, i noticed that when I'm feeling a certain way i prefer to listen to a specific kind of genre of music. As a dancer I'm always coming up with choreography's in mind while listening to different music or people interacting. choreographing to a song knowing that your mind isn't their, that's were my challenge begins. the reason why i call it a challenge its because it becomes difficult to choreograph something that your probably not feeling, or not in the mood on doing it. the reason why it takes me more time to choreograph a song that I'm not feeling is because when i listen to music I'm also creating an image of the song. i begin finding a picture in which i can relate to, or an image that i have encounter through my twenty one years of living (not counting my baby years, because i don't remember a lot). so music can uplift emotions and messages, music can also develop an image or vision to whats playing, connecting it to something you know or that you have encountered.
TO BE CONTINUE.........
"Can we all equally access the message in music? To what extent is the message of music real? How much is the message of music abstract? Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?"
ReplyDeleteInteresting question "simplecrazyjeff" I'm going to run with this one too... I'm not sure that we have the capasity as listeners to always hear all there is in music, all that's gone into a song. From the inital energy in discovering a melody to the final moments of performance (or recording), music has a strange power over the ear and brain. Our access to music somes from the same place, I believe, as our access to art as a whole. Is muisc a privilage? Is music a right? Is there a difference between noise and music? Hurston calls on questions of access in Jazz, of misunderstanding by those who are lighter what it really means to be a black sheep... Hurston's white companion is unable to comprehend how it feels to expereince the black experience in the white world, no matter how many times she may enter a black club as a white person. Further, the access there is institutional, thus, is music institiutionalized? Questions go unanswered, but the thought process is what's valuable, what determines our relationship to music, to sound even... I once had a musician tell me he heard so much, too much, that he walked around with ear plugs, that there was too much music waiting for him in the city... I certainly don't hear that way... Not only is there a construct in how we listen as individuals, but also socially we all have different relationships to noise... and therefore music.
Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?
ReplyDeleteI once got into an argument with my friend because I told her I hated watching movies...it just feels fake to me, I don't get emotional about what's being played out the same way I do about music, and they responded that music was fake too..that the sentiment in a song wasn't real. I couldn't believe that anyone would think that way. I think some people might take music at face value, they might just listen to it as background noise or just because it's what their friends are listening to and that's how their vision of music is shaped, but I'm not sure that's how the majority of people listen to music. People go back to listen to the same song eight times on repeat because it makes them feel something, they identify with it. It's just like art, each person walks away from listening to a song with a different understanding of why it was written and put together in the way that it was. Even when an artist comes out and says..this song is about my break up with so and so or about this hardship, when you listen to the song..it's about you, not about them. To say that one vision or understanding is less authentic would be taking away the artistic value of music, it would make it too formulaic.
I agree with Amaya that socially we all have different relationships to music. Our different backgrounds, cultures, cultural heritage, living environments, and ways in which we are raised definitely influences the way in which we as individuals access music. For instance, I grew up listening to The Beatles because my Dad was a mega fan. Although many people may enjoy and appreciate, for example, "I Will", they may or may not access the song the way in which I do or be moved in the same way.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Hurston's the segment above from "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" is a perfectly legitimate example of differences in accessing music, race does not at all always function as a barrier for the ability to access a song. For instance, many white people, myself included, could be just as moved by african american jazz music. Maybe I wouldn't feel like I was immersed in the jungle, but does that mean I was any less moved or my experience was less real? This question presents an interesting contradiction to my discussion above on the influence of cultural heritage, environment, etc. on the way in which we access sound and music.
I also find this essay particularly interesting because I have always though of music as something that connects us all universally. But Hurston's example shows how because of their different experiences, Hurston and her friend were distanced, disconnected from each other. Interestingly, music has the ability to simultaneously bring us to together and tear us apart.
Music is a deeply personal experience like all artistic, emotional phenomena. We all have different reactions to it no matter how subtle or extreme. While race can certainly be part of this reaction, especially during the 192O's, I think its dangerous to judge other people's personal reactions based on their appearance, as this is just another form of racism. Your skin is just a color and although the social construct of race effects how people turn out I think in the vast majority of cases its just plain untrue to say the certain people can't experience a certain reaction because of their race.
ReplyDeleteIn the section quoted above, Thurston herself says "I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within" meaning she is experiencing this in her head. There's no way of her knowing what her friend is actually experiencing which I think illustrates people's inability to actually communicate their feelings. It would be interesting to ask if Thurston feels as though she could not "fully experience" a european orchestra just because its "white music".
Though Hurston’s description of the clueless white man is somewhat tongue-in-cheek (and even valid in some respects), her comment perpetuates the same isolation she describes in the beginning: “Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock.” The single rock under an ocean, she uses similar imagery when she says that this man is separated “across the ocean” from her. The same water that is all around her, also separates her. Her abundant use of natural imagery suggests some sort of innateness in this separation-- but the description is light, also mocking this same idea.
ReplyDelete"Can we all equally access the message in music? To what extent is the message of music real? How much is the message of music abstract? Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?"
ReplyDeleteEveryone accesses music differently. We may all listen to an album or go to a concert with other people listening to the same song but we are all dancing differently, some bobbing their hands while others are full out having an out of body experience. The message of music is real and it's there but there are so many ways to interpret that message. I think it's best when the message in music is abstract because it makes it more open for interpretation for people. It provides them meaning for whatever they are looking for in that song.
I agree with what Dermos has to say about music being art. Art is subjective, it will take different meanings because it will mean something different to each person who comes upon it. I also agree on what she said about it being too formulaic for us to decide what is less authentic. While we not prefer some songs or artist over another it could still provide someone with the same feeling as Hurstons.
ReplyDeleteAccessing the message in music is a difficult task since music can have many messages and access is relative. For instance with some world music there is a language barrier, preventing some of the literal or poetic meanings from a song, however, some can merely sympathize with a unique voice and the way in which it's used.
ReplyDelete-Jackson
Alexandra has a point when she says people are looking for a provided meaning for whatever they are looking for in a song. Sometimes there are undoubtable songs, regardless of genre or artist, everybody will have some attraction to it. Other times there are songs that people simply apply a meaning or connection to, making it a representation of a memory and emotion rather than just an auditory pleasure.
ReplyDelete-Jackson
Music, I believe, just like any other art form is personal. Therefore, unless people really investigate how others feel about a song or a genre, is it really fair to judge whether someone is connected to the music? I don't believe so. Preconceived notions as to what someone should feel from music I think gets in the way of what is truly being felt sometimes. That passage struck me--how was she to know the connection her white friend felt to the music? Maybe her friend deep down felt out of place or was self-conscious, etc. Maybe her friend felt moved by the music. I feel that communication is so important in connecting with others to music itself, and not judging them for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hillary when she says that people's connections to music very much deal with their backgrounds, culture, environment. These are all important factors that influence us--the kind of music we listen to and how we connect to it.
Response to above discussion:
ReplyDeleteI love this Hurston passage. I sometimes find it so hard to describe music, but she does it so perfectly. I believe music will affect all people differently. GREAT music affects all people, but not necessarily in the same way. Music's message is different for every person that hears it. Take for example, "Let it Be" by the Beatles, a favorite to many people, including myself. On the surface the song is about overcoming difficulties in ones life. However, it can be taken spiritually or religiously, it can be a sad song to some and an uplifting song to others. As far as the racial issue, (the white man responding so differently than Hurston) I don't believe race necessarily has to do with a person's understanding or access to music, but rather culture. Often race and culture are tied close together, but they are not synonymous.
I do not think one person's view or understanding of music can ever be more or less authentic than another's. It's a matter of personal opinion, experience, culture, and so much more. That white person in the passage could be thinking the same thing about Hurston if they were at a Simon and Garfunkle concert or something. Music is relative.
- Anna Robilotta
I agree and appreciate what ADermos had to say about the emotion behind music and film. Although I find the two difficult to compare, it was an interesting comparison. As a film lover, creator, etc. I would take films over movies, sight over sound, cameras over instruments. But this brings me back to my point in my previous passage, art (like music) is relative. Everyone's opinions and beliefs on music and film and art are going to be different. And in a super corny way, that's what makes this world great!
ReplyDeleteCan we all equally access the message in music? Is one view or vision of the meaning of music more or less authentic?
ReplyDeleteAs everyone has already been saying, music just like any art is relative. Since we are all products of our environment - we each have different personal associations to music that we hear.
I think often times there can be a commonality in the way we react to certain pieces of music that have blatantly obvious messages in their lyrics.
On the other hand I often have to force myself to listen to lyrics, or the full lyrics at least. What draws me to the music is the melody and the pulse/rhythm. I have strongly emotional reactions to music, but in a way that is more internal than what I think lyrics can do (for me personally). Whatever messages I get from music in that case will only be personally associated - I probably won't feel what the composer felt when they wrote it; but that doesn't make my response any less valid to theirs.