Music in the U.S.

In my American studies class we have had a couple of speakers come in and teach about some kind of music as it relates to American Studies. However it was strange to me that neither of these speakers discussed Bluegrass music.

No, it is not avant garde. No, it is not made up of Afro-Caribbean and French influences, but it is a major part of American Music and has produced many famous musicians, even Elvis started out in bluegrass with such artists as Johnny Cash, singing at the Grand Ole Opry.

Bluegrass is a combination of Celtic music and African American intruments. Did you know that the banjo is in fact from Africa? And most of the rhythm of the spiritual comes from this mixture of Celtic and African culture.

While the instruments were from mixed origins, most of the lyrics to these songs come from the folksongs of the British isles. As you can see from the following clips, the rhythm of the songs are similar as is the melancholy tone.

Bluegrass has also produced such stars as Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Emmy Lou Harris, Dolly Parton and almost single handedly brought popular country into being, for being so all American it was strange to me that more attention wasn't paid to this genre of music.

The American Musical

In my last class we were discussing Musical Theater and how it relates to American studies. The main point that was made was that musical theater often brings up important social and political points.

One of the earliest musical's to illustrate this, in my opinion, is Showboat. This musical was first produced in 1927, and made into a film in 1953 staring Ava Gardner and Howard Keel. The play illustrates the problems of miscegenation, children out of wedlock, and gambling. While these problems seem out of date for our time, these were in fact serious concerns for people during the prohibition and pre-civil rights times.

Another musical that addresses social issues is Westside Story. In this musical two gangs fight for territory on the streets of New York City. The issue at hand is one of immigration and identity. The Puerto Rican Sharks fight the American Jets, as the former tries to assimilate into a new culture and the latter attempts to drive them out and make sure they understand that they are not welcome. In the following clip the ladies of the Shark gang sing about the wonders of America while the men lament its downfalls.

Illustrating social issues in musicals continues through to musicals made today, from Rent to The Book of Mormon to Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson. All of these musicals shed a little limelight on certain contemporary social issues, from AIDS and homosexuality to mudslinging politics, musicals will continue to provide a soundtrack to politics and social issues of our time.

after slacking off...

I discover in part what the appeal of suburbia is... and I don't understand it. Part of the appeal of suburbia is the security and status that is provides. People move to the suburbs because it is safer than cities, close to nature without being part of it, and living there means that you are a part of the leisure class. Your family makes enough money that the mother can stay at home and take care of the children.

But there is also dissatisfaction and isolation. Though the suburbs provide the sense of community, sidewalks connecting one house to the other, it lacks a central meeting place, a market, a church, from which the neighborhood emanates from. This also promotes feelings of isolation.

In AMST we are now reading The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, which follows the life of a man in 1950's suburbia. His life could not be more depressing. After serving in the war he took a position with a charity organization and bought a house in a nice neighborhood. Now he is dissatisfied with his lot in life and wants to get a better paying job so that he and his family can get out of the middle class mire. A film that also illustrates the need to escape middle class suburbia is Revolutionary Road. Like in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit this family is stuck in a house that has come to represent everything that they wanted to stay away from in their youth. The father is trying desperately to support his family and find happiness in his life and is failing horribly, while the wife sits at home and thinks about everything their lives should have been.

This is suburbia. Or perhaps it is suburbia as it was. Now that generations have lived in suburbs and not small towns or villages, we don't know what we are missing. It is normal for us to not know who our neighbors are and for us to travel twenty minutes or more to go to the grocery store. But are we happy? and do we still suffer from the melancholy of those first suburbanites?

Dream Life in Suburbia?

I started reading in Building Suburbia for this class and was struck by a passage in the first few pages.

"...suburbia is the site of promises, dreams, and fantasies. It is a landscape of the imagination where Americans situate ambitions for upward mobility and economic security, ideals about freedom and private property, and longings for social harmony and spiritual uplift."

As I read this passage I was reminded of a musical number from Little Shop of Horrors. In this sequence Audrey, after a date with her abusive boyfriend, contemplates her dream. Opening a magazine to a picture of a 1960's era ranch house with a large front yard and picket fence, she sings about living "Somewhere that's Green".

This green space is not a farm in the country, but a house in a prefab neighborhood in suburbia. Audrey's dream is to have tupperwear parties and eat frozen dinners in front of the TV, in other words be a suburban housewife.

What is the appeal of suburbia? Why does everyone want to move there? While these are all questions I'm sure we will cover in class I can't help but wonder. What do the suburbs have that no one else does?

It seems to me that the suburbs are a status symbol. To live there is to not have to work in a factory or toil away on a farm. Even if you commute to the city from the suburbs it shows that you have the money and time to do so. In the suburbs mother's have time to throw tupperwear parties and husbands make enough money to support the family.

My theory is that the suburbs represent easy living and a sense of nostalgia. After we have read more of our text I'll let you know how correct I am....

Inspiration at Lunchtime

So, my post this week was inspired by a favorite dessert of mine, the apple pie.

I'm sure we've all heard the expression, "As American as Apple Pie", as I was enjoying my ice cream and pie I wondered where this expression originated and when the apple pie became embedded in our American conscious.

It seems that, like most great american traditions, the apple pie's origins go back to Europe, where pie recipes including apples date back to Chaucer’s time. The pie was perhaps first introduced to the colonies by the English, who were more likely to put meat or minced nuts in their pies than fruit. The apple pie was probably introduced to the colonies by the dutch.

The slogan, "It's as American as apple pie", probably originates during WW2 as a response to what soldiers where fighting for, "mom and apple pie".

Of course all of this talk of apples and pies made me think of Johnny Appleseed. I began to wonder how his legend began and whether or not he was a real person. It turns out he was.

His name was John Chapman, he lived from about 1774 and died in the 1840's. His work as a missionary in the Swedenborgian church allowed him to travel all over the middle north west. He came by his nickname because of his kindness in helping pioneers plant apple orchards and his willingness to spread apple seeds from New York to Ohio. Because of his generous heart he has earned a spot as one of America's legends.

Where to begin?

Well for starters I am a fifth or sixth (I can't remember) generation southerner. I have family that fought in pretty much every war America has had. I have started this blog as an assignment for my American studies class.

American Studies is a discipline that came about in the 1950's, right at the beginning of the nuclear age, when America most needed a solid identity. I think this subject is even more important now that we are so connected with the entire world on every level.

So sit back and enjoy an ongoing commentary on the largest melting pot in history!