Week 13-14: Sea Shanties

Sea shanties are sailors songs that they sang while hard at work at sea.

When I think of sailors, I think of these musty colors, a raw canvas color, tans, browns, and muted blues and greens. These colors remind me of something used, something that has been worn down, but is still vibrant in its own way. Water damage, perhaps. I went for quite a literal translation of the sea shanties, as I do appreciate the structure of a ship on top of wild, uncontrollable and loose waters. As for the glass, I really enjoy the image of a ship in a bottle or a message in a bottle. These are both images that come to mind when I heard the songs. A ship in a bottle often contains the ship in its entirety, but I allowed the ship to extend past the glass because I feel as though such a powerful ship cannot be defined by physical limits.

Week 11

I'm not sure I found the reading this week particular inspiring in relation to the readings of the past couple of weeks -- it was a lot of specific daily life and human interaction description. I think I much preferred learning about the musicians themselves (I.e.: Leadbelly's biography and history were interesting and learned a lot of background on how he was received and how he carried himself in the musical world. 

However, the reading, personally, was not something I think that furthers the context of the blues music -- a lot of words just to say that the blues music is the musical expression of feeling, of hard times, and the community created a sense of family within the blues world. 

What did catch my attention was the hospitality of the black families. They welcomed Ferris with kindness, a place to stay, people to talk to. He was unofficially inducted into the blues family, regardless of race. That touched me, especially in the time we live in now, where everyone pretty much keeps to themselves until they need something from someone else. But this community actively welcomed strangers into the lives.

I thought it was slightly amusing how the blacks were confused about the record player and refused to speak when the music was playing, in fear of the white people listening into their conversations.

I thought Careless Love was interesting because it shares some of the same lyrics as Goodnight Irene. "You cause me to weep, you cause me to mourn." It's a very sad song, talking about loving until one loses his mind, death, digging one's grave.

For this week, I chose Sweet Home Chicago. However, I tried to put it in today's context.

Week 10: Woody Guthrie

I really admire Woody Guthrie's take on his music, and I believe there should be more people like him especially in the current music industry. A lot of songs nowadays focus on being thin, being perfect, being up to society's standards in appearance and materialism. These qualities are often impossible for the regular person. Songs often ask for girls to be looser, to not be a prude -- but if they're too slutty, that's also bad. Songs often asks guys to be this one dimensional masculine figure, getting all the girls and being fit. These are not realistic. These are not the things that are important in creating a healthy outlook on life. This over saturation of what we're supposed to be overpowers what we are actually like, which is why I really appreciate how Woody Guthrie words his sentiments:

"I hate a song that makes you think that you're not any good. I hate a song that makes you think you are just born to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down r songs that poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling."

"I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world...I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work."

"Woody, being an excellent journalist, described not a world as it might be but as it was." Woody was more of a realist than a dreamer, and I think that is part of his charm. His music and lyrics show people that it's totally fine for them to be struggling, to be living this truthful life. He does not put people down for what they're going through and he doesn't idealize a certain type of person. Everyone is equal and should have the opportunity to blossom in their own right.

For this week I chose Guthrie's This Land is Your Land. It was a song I grew up singing in elementary school, and I really liked the simple tune of the song. Since it was such an important song in my primary school days, I wanted to convey that simple, childlike sense into the artwork. I also wanted to show a sense of constancy/universality -- how although the buildings and areas of the world have their own quality, their own shape, they are all represented with the same thin black line. Through all the differences, we are all inherently of the same strokes, just in a different order.

Project 7: Louis Collins

Lyrics:

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot too,
Shot poor Collins, shot him through and through
The angels laid him away

Oh, kind friends, oh, ain't it hard?
To see poor Louis in a new graveyard
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Oh, when they heard that Louis was dead
All the people they dressed in red
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned,
To see her son Louis leavin' home
The angels laid him away
The angels laid him away,
They laid him six feet under the clay
The angels laid him away

This song is very interesting -- I enjoyed the lyrics. Mrs. Collins stood by idly, weeping and moaning, as her own son was leavin' home when the angels laid him away. There was nothing she could do but watch. The way the song is sung and the fact that the angels "laid him away," as opposed to buried him or took him, emphasizes a slow progression of events. It sounds peaceful because no one really protests the facts; things just happen and people can't fight it.
I kind of see myself as Mrs. Collins, in some strange way. I used my art this week as a sort of release for my frustrations and I am happy with what came out of it. Not sure if I completely love the text, so I left it in a temporary manner.

I quite enjoyed Jas Olbrecht's biography on Mississippi John Hurt. It painted him in a very bright light -- he came from humble beginnings, working on the farm and helping his mother in a small town of under 100 people. He worked very hard on his own family farm, and also offered his services on neighboring farms. I had just learned about the WPA in another class, so it is interesting to see the overlap between that class and this class. It was interesting that Jas mentioned that Hurt's music is a souvenir of his childhood. It is an interesting idea -- that we never forget our childhood; in those formative years, we learn so much about ourselves and the people around us shape who we become. John Hurt grew up in a rural area, helping people, starting from the ground up and earning his way to the top. He was also described as "perfect" and "Christ-like"; somehow I believe that is related to his childhood experiences, helping others and perfecting his craft when he had time.

Project 1: Down in the Valley

Lyrics:

Down in the valley, the valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham jail...
Birmingham jail, love, Birmingham jail
Send it in care of Birmingham jail

If you don't love me, love whom you please
Throw your arms 'round me, give my heart ease....
Give my heart ease, love, give my heart ease
Throw your arms 'round me, give my heart ease.

Build me a castle, 40 foot high
So I can see you, as you go by
As you go by love, as you go by
So I can see you, as you go by

I chose to create a work that had both personal meaning and also possibly meaning to the viewer as well. The valley that most naturally came to mind was Castro Valley, where I was born; as a result, I decided to use the city's outline as the starting point of the piece. Having not grown up in Castro Valley, I did not have any particular idea as to which direction to take -- so I googled "Castro Valley 1994," the year I was born. Article after article highlighted a tragic story of a young girl. I thought candles would be suitable, to serve as a sort of vigil for the young girl.

Giving the symbol some more thought, I realized candles could also represent a birthday. Blown out candles ("Hear the wind blow") could hold even more meaning: the passage of time, death, or the loss of something that used to burn bright. This would give it the personal meaning that I wanted to convey through the piece -- "Down in the Valley" is the only song I remember how to play on the piano, an instrument that I abandoned just as I approached my teen years. Looking back, I regret not continuing with lessons, but somehow I always go back to it leisurely every now and then, sitting down to play for a couple minutes. Just as candles may not last forever, but the smoke lingers there, if not forever, then at least for a little while.