Sound Effects

Earlier this month, I posed some questions to students in a masters level social work course regarding the role music has played in their lives, both in terms of raising political awareness and, on a more fundamental level, shaping who they are as individuals. I was particularly taken by this response, as it truly gets to the heart of the matter:

I wouldn't say that I have any songs that have influenced me politically. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but that is not to say that music has not affected me politically. Music for me, has mostly influenced me in other ways. I listen to a lot of punk rock music... ok some people say I listen to emo... either way I think a lot of those songs raise the awareness of mental health, like depression, suicide, coping, etc. I began listening to this music myself when I was depressed in high school and it actually helped me want to STAY alive. A lot of people think it's bad music and makes people want to kill themselves, I realize that may be true in some cases, but for me it gave me hope for a future...I'm not sure if I can talk about it from a social work perspective or not, but personally music is very influential. I really do think music reflects who you are, or what you feel, as a person. Sadness, anger, love, all these emotions I believe direct us towards the music we prefer. Not to say that all people who listen to a certain genre are angry or depressed... it could be the music behind the words that move a person...

And that got me thinking...

At my internship at a community mental health center, I've been co-facilitating a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group for adults. In short - and without boring my "audience" - DBT is a therapeutic modality, first developed by Marsha Linehan, that combines traditional cognitive behavioral techniques with Eastern philosophies, particularly the meditative practices of Buddhism. One focus of DBT, the core skills of emotion regulation, emphasizes the value of identifying and labeling emotions--in other words, being aware of the emotion (or emotions) that one is experiencing at a given time. This sounds easy enough, but it can be tough, especially for individuals who grow up (and remain) in emotionally invalidating environments.

Inspired, in part, by what my fellow social worker wrote, I created an emotion regulation exercise that involves identifying and labeling emotional responses to music. The goal of the exercise is to help clients expand the range of their "emotional vocabulary," extending past labels of "sad" or "good" to a deeper and experientially accurate level. Another goal, in terms of DBT, is developing core mindfulness skills, namely the "what skills" (observe, participate, and describe) and "how skills" (non-judgmentally, effectively, and one-mindfully). Translated...that means experiencing something "in the moment"--fully and without judgement.

The exercise, "Sound Effects" (snappy title, eh?) is easy. It goes like this:

1) Make a playlist or cd of 5 to 10 songs. Choose songs that vary in tone, from sad to angry to pensive to scary to surreal to--well...you get the idea. I would also advise picking songs that might not be too familiar to your audience. Pick something they probably haven't heard before. For example, when I tried the exercise, I included some classical and electronic music that didn't have any lyrics (no words means you have less of a guide to dictate how to feel the song), and I also put in some music from less familiar genres (marching band) and other cultures (African tribal music). I tried to make the exercise more challenging with each song. The first few were fairly easy (i.e. a sad country song, etc.)...it got progressively more "obtuse" with each track.

2) Play about a minute of a song. Instruct the audience to focus on the music (i.e. get into it). They should listen intently...just feeling the music.

3) Pause it. Then give your audience (a group...an individual client) about a minute to write down as many feeling and/or emotion words that describe their reaction to the song. Repeat until they've written their response to each song.

4) After all the songs play, have the client(s) share their responses. It's especially interesting in a group context, because everyone's listening experience is unique.

That's it...that's the exercise. It's simple, but it really does open up clients to become more attentive to and expressive of their emotions. Try it out! Oh...and special thanks to the MSW student who responded to my earlier post. Their honest, thoughtful words really motivated me to put this exercise together.

What's the Matter With Sweden?

Well - not a lot, really...when you consider the country's appreciation for the relationship between the arts and the health of its citizenry. From the music blog Pitchfork, an article about Sweden and other nations' governmental support of musicians. 

Best Quote: "So for instance, there's a project here in Sweden where doctors actually can prescribe going to the opera to help you get well..."

Political Song

The New Statesman revealed its "Top 20 Political Songs" this week. The songs were picked by the magazine's readers, as well as members of the Political Studies Association (whatever that is). In keeping with the recent pop culture trend of creating lists for every conceivable thing (i.e. the greatest TV dinners OF ALL TIME!! the top 20 jai-alai performances of the last 50 years, etc.) - these are, of course, the greatest political songs...EVER. It's a little ludicrous if you ask me...ranking something as subjective as song, but I will admit - there are some good choices here. The list is as follows:

1. Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land
2. The Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela
3. Bob Dylan - The Times They are a-Changin'
4. Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
5. Claude de Lisle - La Marseillaise
6. U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Eugene Pottier - The Internationale
8. Robert Wyatt/Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding
9. Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
10. William Blake - Jerusalem
11. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
12. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name
13. Tracy Chapman - Talkin' 'bout a Revolution
14. Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam
15. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
16. Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
17. Bob Marley - Redemption Song
18. John Lennon - Imagine
19. Pete Seeger - Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
20. Tom Robinson - Glad to Be Gay

Keep in mind that these are political - not protest - songs (although some of them are protest songs). For example, a national anthem ("La Marseillaise") made the cut...and "Jerusalem," a William Blake poem set to music, was a wildly popular song (the unofficial national anthem) in Britain during the First World War. As the New Statesman is a British publication, there's a decidedly Eurocentric bent to the list (not a bad thing...just a fact), although they do concede that Woody "This Machine Kills Fascists" Guthrie is the penultimate avenger of song.

A podcast that features all the songs...plus additional commentary... is available here.


I was actually more interested in the companion article "Militant Tendencies Feed Music" by Mark Fisher. Fisher argues that the defining trait of protest music is not so much lyrical content...but the sound itself. The sonics. He states that political music challenges the "pacifying mechanisms" of popular culture, citing subversive acts like Public Enemy and Gang of Four as inheritors of the experimental tradition - a tradition that includes everything from Beethoven to Coltrane. I would include the artists of Tropicalia (see the earlier post) in this category as well. Here's the article.

Music as an Agent of Change

I recently came across an interesting article in the journal Music and Politics. First off - let me just express my pleasant mystification over the fact that such a journal even exists. I guess they "done got" journals for everything these days...

Anyway...the author, Dard Neuman, teaches at the University of California Santa Cruz, and the article details the focus of his course "Music, Politics, and Protest;" Neuman focuses on, in his words, "four domains where music intersects the political." These domains include 1) music as an agent of change; (2) music as an implicit or explicit commentary on power; (3) music and the politics of spirituality; and (4) music as a mirror of historical, political and cultural change. Click here for the article.

I'm particularly drawn to Neuman's comments regarding the first domain (i.e. music as an agent of change). He cites how early 20th century labor movements in the US, namely the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), would "politicize" traditional and popular songs by changing lyrical content. In this new guise, the songs, well-known by the general public, would become powerful tools for disemminating the respective movements' messages. The fact that a song - especially a catchy song - could be memorized and then passed on to others made it a far more appealing political tool than pamphlets or manifestos - things that you actually had to read (assuming you could read).

Neuman's article made me consider an additional focus for this project. I'm curious how music, if at all, has impacted the political life of my fellow social workers. Are there particular musicians...or songs...that have raised your awareness of social issues? Do you agree with Neuman's view that music can be an agent of change? Got any examples?

Soundtrack for a Revolution

The documentary film Soundtrack for a Revolution, which examines the origins, impact, and enduring legacy of the protest music of the civil rights era, is playing at Cine this week as part of the 2010 Amnesty International Rights Festival (3/19 - 3/21). Although the festival ended today, there will be additional screenings of the film later this week (days and showtimes available here). I don't know much about the film, but from the trailer...it looks good! Here's the synopsis from Cine's website:

SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music - the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in paddy wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. The music that evolved from slave chants, from the labor movement, and especially from the black church, enabled blacks to sing words they could not say, and was crucial in helping the protesters as they faced down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence. The infectious energy of the songs swept people up and empowered them to fight for their rights. Executive produced by Danny Glover, the film is a vibrant blend of heart-wrenching interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, riveting archival footage, dramatic images, and thrilling contemporary performances by top artists, including John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots -- a film of significance, energy, and power.

And here's a particular favorite of mine from the era...by the incomparable Odetta:

Chilly Winds - Odetta

It is Forbidden to Forbid

Tropicalia: Cultural Cannibalism and the Sound of Revolution

“The radical, committed to human liberation, does not become the prisoner of a “circle of certainty” within which reality is also imprisoned.”
– Paulo Freire

Tropicalia, or Tropicalismo, was a Brazilian artistic movement that flourished briefly in the late 1960s. Although a number of creative disciplines were involved - the visual arts, poetry, dance, theater, fashion, etc.,. - the movement became best known for its music, which includes the work of founders Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, as well as Gal Costa, Jorge Ben, and the rock band Os Mutantes (“The Mutants”). Considering the time period in which it was produced, it’s easy to categorize the music of Tropicalia as psychedelic; however, this is a reductive interpretation. Tropicalia is, simply put, something else altogether…

The Tropicalistas shared a belief that the old way of doing things, both culturally and politically, was inadequate. Inspired by the Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade’s Manifesto Antropofago (Cannibal Manifesto), the artists and musicians associated with Tropicalia sought to create a new Brazilian culture—a Brazil that, in the words of Caetano Veloso, would be “exotic not only to tourists but to Brazilians as well" (2002).

Andrade’s manifesto, written in 1928, was rooted in the concept of cultural cannibalism—the idea of appropriating (i.e. cannibalizing) the output of other cultures to subvert the overriding European influence that defined post-colonial Brazil. This blending of seemingly disparate influences permeates the Tropicalia “sound”—an imaginative synthesis of traditional Brazilian music (bossa nova, samba, regional music), African rhythms, avante garde musique concrete (tape loops, sound collages), funk, soul, and…of course…rock and roll (Dunn, 2001).

"Panis et Circenses" ("Bread and Circuses") by Os Mutantes

Panis Et Circenses - Os Mutant...

Although the movement only lasted a few years, it’s surprising that Tropicalia existed at all. In March of 1964, democratically elected president Joao Goulart, a moderate leftist who attempted to nationalize the country’s oil refineries, was ousted from power in a coup d’etat led by members of the Brazilian military; extra-constitutional “Institutional Acts” were then passed limiting the role of the judicial and legislative branches, creating an authoritative system of government that, to court American favor (and dollars), only masqueraded as democratic.

Initially, authorities were unresponsive to the work of Tropicalia artists. This toleration existed, in part, due to the unique relationship between music and politics in Brazil; music had been promoted by the state for decades, with samba and bossa nova among its most valuable cultural exports. Throughout the 1960s, even after the military regime took over, much of the popular music of the time was political, and it was presented to the public in the form of televised, state sponsored music festivals. These festivals were wildly popular (think "American Idol"), and audiences rallied around their favorite performers - both pop stars and protest singers alike.

"At these events, one could encounter the more or less conscious allusion that this was where the problems of national affirmation, social justice, and advances in modernization were to be resolved...the conversations and hostilities between the groups would focus as much on an artist's political attitude and fidelity to national characteristics as on his harmonic or rhythmic daring." - Caetano Veloso (2002)

The first Tropicalia performances at these festivals were largely dismissed as kitsch, not just by government officials but by traditional left-wing nationalists and folk artists as well. The movement began to receive more scrutiny, however, as its key figures staged more confrontational live performances and became more openly critical of the regime.

In June 1968, many of the Tropicalistas joined other Brazilian artists and student protestors in the “March of One Hundred Thousand,” a public denouncement of government censorship and repression. The government responded with violent suppression. In addition, in December 1968, authorities passed Institutional Act Number Five, which imposed strict censorship of the media, closed national and state assemblies, and suspended the political rights, including habeas corpus, of its citizenry.

Give me a kiss my love
They are waiting for us
The automobiles are in flames
Demolish the shelves, the bookcases,
The statues, window panes, dishes, books, yes

Caetano Veloso,
From the song “E proibido proibir” (“It’s forbidden to forbid”)

The government crackdown had dire consequences for many Brazilians. From 1964-1985, the military regime committed a number of human rights violations: extrajudicial killings, torture, forced disappearances, and the unlawful detainment of citizens. In the first few months of the dictatorship alone, approximately 50,000 citizens were detained, with 10,000 going into exile ("Human Rights Watch," 2009). The human rights organization Torture Never Again estimates that at least 300 people disappeared or were assassinated by the Brazilian government (Seguera, 2004). Brazil would remain under military rule until 1985.

As for the Tropicalistas, both Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, whose songs regularly featured lyrics that were critical of the military regime, were imprisoned for two months in 1968. Following their release, the two men were exiled to England by the government and would not be allowed to return until 1972. Like many of their peers, they continued making music, but the movement they founded was no longer active (Dunn, 2001).

A resurgence of interest in Tropicalia has occurred in recent years, led by musicians such as the late Kurt Cobain, Beck, and David Byrne (ex-Talking Heads) among others. Os Mutantes recently reformed, playing a handful of dates in the U.S. and releasing their first album, Haih or Amortecedor, in late 2009. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil remain active, both musically and politically; from 2003 to 2008, Gil served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and he was a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations until recently. The music of Tropicalia is an inspiration. It speaks to the boundless possibility of art - the rare sort produced by individuals who are willing to take risks, not just creatively but in every facet of existence.

The BBC aired an excellent documentary on Tropicália in 2007. Click here to watch. 

References:

Dunn, C (2001). Brutality garden: Tropicália and the emergence of a Brazilian counterculture. 

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. 

Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. (M.B Ramos, trans.). New York: Continuum 

(original work published 1970).

Human Rights Watch (2009, April 14). Brazil: Prosecute dictatorship-era abuses: Landmark international decision provides powerful push for accountability. 

Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/14/brazil-prosecute-dictatorship-era-abuses

Sequera, V. (2004, March 11). Brazil: Records on suppression destroyed. Guardian Unlimited.

Retrieved from http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/brazil/1649.html

Veloso, C (2002). Tropical truth: A story of music and revolution in Brazil. New York: Alfred Knopf.