Project 4: Oh Mary Don't You Weep

Song: 

For this week, I chose Swan Silvertones' version "Oh Mary Don't You Weep." I really like their sound because it surrounds me with a sort of "classic" atmosphere, and their words are clearly enunciated, which is what I actively look for in the music that I listen to.  I also enjoy the high notes that are scattered in the middle and the end of the song. I also did enjoy Max Romeo's Pama Reggae version, but unfortunately I could not understand exactly he was saying, and thus I could not quite understand the lyric changes. 

As for biblical references -- I did not grow up with any religious background, so reading more in depth about Mary, Martha and Lazarus is new to me. Although I cannot personally connect with these passages, I definitely do have respect for what they stand for and what music they inspire. Whether learning the songs at Sunday schools, at churches or from people on the road, it proves how powerful music can be -- people form a community and are united by words and songs and lyrics (as well as faith). Traveling all over the country, the lyrics of the songs may have changed here and there, but the truth of the songs still remain and resonate with their listeners. I am fascinated mostly by the reading from "The Souls of Black Folk" -- they are brought together by struggle, sorrow and song. There is a real gravity to their songs; even just reading the lyrics, I can feel the hardship, but can also see their hope that the Lord will guide the way. 

This particular quote caught my eye: "Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood."

For this project, I decided to focus on how the music made me feel rather than what the song actually means lyrically. I wanted to explore the idea of a more abstract response, which is not something I am typically used to. This piece is an oil painting on a small canvas.

I focused more on the tones and notes, and I attempted to give them a physicality, which is one of the reasons I chose a thick canvas this time; I imagined bright thin lines for high, held out notes and darker, deeper and bolder strokes for lower vocals. I also wanted to create 3 layers -- a low contrast one for the background voices ("oh Mary don't you weep"), a bold layer the main vocals, and accents for the variety of vocal embellishments. I chose red as the base color because the voices in the song emit a sort of warmth and comfort. As for the black and gray, I wanted to try to create a bolder feel. I wanted to illustrate the high tones and embellishments of the song in a brighter color, which is why I chose a yellow. It was more successful in theory than in reality.

I'm not 100% convinced that I was successful in creating what I had in mind, perhaps it is the colors that I chose -- but it does not have the feeling that I imagined in my head. I could not find the right lines/shapes for each layer; it somehow turned out more violent than I pictured, but perhaps that is a result of my frustration with working in a new way. What started out as a calm piece suddenly turned into a more, almost scary, piece in the end. Rather than painting how I felt about the music, I began to paint my personal feelings toward the painting process; I think I was successful in showing this frustration -- anger, almost. Although a small piece, it is probably one of the most frustrating ones I've done, which reminded me a lot of how I felt last year, when I was struggling to find myself. I guess this piece (like the songs), although unintentionally, shows how even in the darkness, there will be at least a little light, some semblance of hope of finding a way out. Hopefully this class will help me find where I want to go artistically -- I hope that doing (sometimes experimental) pieces weekly will accelerate this process.