Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities Essay

Music is more than just lyrics, it is seen as a way to express feelings. A simple song can be a combination of deeper meanings. This is seen in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” when Sonny finally finds a way to express himself and his struggles of life. Sonny faces many struggles while living in Harlem such as poverty, being African American, and being confined in a community that is known for being the lower part of life. Within his struggles Sonny finds a love for music. This comes in handy when his relationship with his brother is` struggling. Music gives Sonny an opportunity to reconnect with his brother since he did not understand what he was going through and express his struggles. Although Sonny has many struggles throughout life, He’s

Not everyone is blessed with musical talent but when someone has an extraordinary ability, he or she should get the chance to please others with it. Sometimes a career can be made out of musical endowment, and that is what Billie Holiday did. Billie had a life that she may not have dreamed of since it started out rough with her mistreatment from adults and discouraging misfortunes, but she was ambitious and that showed through her singing career. Billie could usually adapt to her life’s problems except for her drug addiction and alcohol abuse, which unfortunately led to her demise. She was a talented woman who sang and helped create hit songs that aided her to rise to fame. Billie Holiday bravely stood up to racism, showed the world her talent, and inspired many of her beloved fans, all while continuing to be herself and not allowing the issues in her life hold her back.

David Sedaris is a popular comedic autobiographer who delivers intelligent and slightly embellished satirical content inspired from his memoirs and personal experiences. Sedaris’s short story “Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities”, is a magnificent mastery of his humorous writing style. The story is about David’s experience of him and his sisters being forced to take music lessons because of their father’s maniacal obsession to start a family jazz band. David eventually finds himself taking guitar lessons with the unique individual, Mr. Mancini, a midget. David and his teacher have a unique dialogue and references towards his guitar, which makes David feel like an outsider and uncomfortable, keeping secret “screwball” thoughts to himself. His guitar teacher’s disdain for him coupled with lack passion and interest ended his brief uninterested flings with the guitar regardless of how his father felt. People will honor an individual’s interest if the person means that much to them, however, there is always an end to the humor if the interest is not reciprocated. Sometimes an obliged imposition can create situations that make the imposed feel like an outsider in their own way. Personal interest and identity may not be the standard or acceptable in the positions they were forced into therefore, as a response, a superficial persona is created to camouflage true feelings. If the passion for a subject is nonexistent to someone,

This story also shows evidence of a young boy trying to find his way throughout life with the skin he was in. Society, at that time, made it extremely difficult for Sedaris to be himself and to feel comfortable expressing his sexuality. Homosexuality was not accepted by any means during the time of Sedaris' youth, which made it difficult for him to express himself as a normal

With every aspect of our lives we are making a point, arguing a belief, or refuting some other aspect of our existence. Aesthetic pieces, most avidly poems and songs, argue a message both in the lyrics and in the meaning posed between the lines. “American Pie,” in a multitude of ways, argues that American lives and memories are closely intertwined with the music of the time period. Not only does “American Pie” argue a message it also pulls many generations together. Today, thirty years after the initial release, “American Pie” still has an effect in our music and continues to be popular with all age groups. Don McLean accomplishes this task through using the context of the time period, placement of words, the words

At only 22, he was crowned the voice of a generation. His audiences became mesmerized with his expressive lyrics and soulful harmonica. He changed the way the world looks at songwriting and protest, and inspired countless future musicians from the moment he stepped up on the stage in his railroad hat, denim jacket, and harmonica brace. However, it is clear that there is so much more behind Bob Dylan than just a rough voice and a collection of poetic songs. As one man said about Dylan’s early days in Greenwich Village, “There’s a quality of determination and of will that some people have that when they’re doing something, they’re really doing it and you

The 1930’s was a decade of extremely hard times, following the stock market crash and an extreme depression. In spite of the tremendous hardships in America during this decade, it also became a time of great music that is still remembered today. Jazz music was highly popular in this time, and Billie Holiday was a famous jazz performer. She stood out from many other musicians because of her intense and passionate performances. Jazz arose from “unacceptable” segments of society, but quickly grew like wildfire. We often think of the 1930’s as the decade that jazz became civilized, and famous throughout popular culture through the work of pioneering artists like Billie Holiday. People did not own televisions or cable, so radio was their main source of entertainment, and music during this decade was both up beat and a source of relaxation. “Strange Fruit” defied musical category because it was considered too artsy to be folk, and too explicitly political to fit into jazz. This is why “Strange Fruit” became such a powerful phenomenon. Many other artists later took on this song, changing the genre but still portraying the same message. Nina Simone dramatized “Strange Fruit” in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. More important artists like Jeff Buckley, Rene Marie, Labor Camp Orchestra, and many others made their own rendition on the song, still leaving all of their audiences moved by the powerful imagery of the lyrics.

It is uncommon for an American singer to decry Billie Holiday’s art of music considering that many cite the influence of her career not only on jazz but also on other American music. The distinctive phrasing,

2. "… there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered “Listen,” a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour." (p. 11)

The Harlem Renaissance was a crucial time for African American’s to break the barriers that have always held them back or brushed them under the carpet. Many African American’s were incredibly talented in writing, painting, and singing but until the Harlem Renaissance they went unrecognized. Raised Catholic, Billie Holiday was one of the most influential African American singers during the Harlem Renaissance. Holiday was an amazing jazz and blues singer, known for her amazing talent despite her tough upbringing, her outstanding achievements, and her tragic life that came crashing to an end. Nicknamed Lady Day by her musical partner and boyfriend, Lester Young, she was known for her unique singing style, which included putting a flower behind

The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement specifically in creative arts such as music and literature. Jazz represented the flavor and zest of African American culture in the 1920s-1940s. Billie Holiday had a great impact on the Harlem Renaissance because she was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She performed with other great jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Jo Jones, and Henry Allen. Her career as a jazz singer was an incredible and thriving one, however, it was shortened because of her battle of substance abuse. Despite the drug use and the loss of her mother, the only thing she could turn to was her music. Billie Holiday's legacy will always live on when the discussion of the Harlem Renaissance is present.

The 1960’s in America was often referred to as an age of protest because of not only the social protests that have taken place, but also for the upbringing of protest music, which became very popular during that era. The roots of protest music were largely from folk music of American musicians during 1950’. Folk musicians, such as Joe Hill, composed labor union protest songs and distributed song booklets, hoping to “fan the flames of discontent.” (Rodnitzky pg. 6) Symbolically, this meant that the songs, the fan, would reduce the uncontrollable social protests that the United States government caused with the misleading information that they did not keep their word on, or the flames of discontent. Other folk musicians, such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, traveled around the United States spreading their “message music” and becoming involved in political movements. Guthrie and Seeger were the pioneers of protest music, bringing their folk music to New York City and merging it with urban music. Woody’s songs were about the masses, often identifying problems and offering solutions. While Seeger was cautious about referring to his music as folk music, preferring the term “people’s music,” meaning that not everyone may had the same thoughts, but they all expressed it in their own unique musical sense. For both Woody and Seeger, folk music was a necessity in these protests, when the needs

The poem’s words echo through your mind, revealing a haunting display. Eleanora Fagan, professionally known as Billie Holiday, performed Strange fruit. She sang the poem not in a melody, but in a screeching tone creating an alarming show. The timbre of her voice’s pitch was intense. In other words, the way Billie Holiday sang Strange Fruit in a serious voice, confirms that the poem is not to joke about because it is based on a true story. It is important to realize, that the poem relates to history because it demonstrates how demented racism dominated in the

“The Beatles shift towards more introspective songwriting in the 60’s would never have happened without him” [V.Bogdanov, 2002]. Artists such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits all acknowledge the profound impact Dylan had on the industry and themselves as artists. “Bob Dylan, I'll never be Bob Dylan. He's the master. If I'd like to be anyone, it's him. And he's a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years. He's great. He's the one I look to”. [Neil Young, 2005]. Dylan encapsulated a generations hunger for change, challenged the social and political status quo but interestingly seemingly rejected this status after receiving the ‘Tom Paine Award’ from the National Emergency and Civil Liberties Committee he drunkenly questioned the role of the committee and claimed to see something of himself and everyone in JFK’s alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald [Andrew Loog Olham, 2005]. In 1965 The Byrds cover of his song Mr. Tambourine Man helped to propel not only The Byrds to super stardom but established the folk rock genre. [V.Bogdanov, 2002]. His verbal sophistication drew comparison to the romantic poets and much literary criticism artists still strive to attain today. His launch of Theme Time Radio Hour for XM Satellite Radio helped him to establish

Focusing on aspects of the female body, gender in music and sexuality, I will be discussing why Betty Davis was omitted from the histories of American popular music, as well as analyse Davis’s songs “Shoo-Bloop and Cop Him” and “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” both from her album, They Say I’m Different (1974). Through both the discussion and analysis of her songs