Song Analysis: Troubled Water

“Crazy Blues” by Noble Sissle is a cover of the song originally written by Perry Bradford. This timeless piece of history was first recorded on August 10th, 1920 by Mamie Smith and later released on as a vinyl record by Okeh Records.3 Smith’s version of the song was wildly successful, selling 75,000 copies in the first month following its release. Within a year, the record had sold over a million copies, and in all, two million copies were purchased.4 After its incredible success, recording companies rushed to record other African American singers. Noble Sissle’s version was recorded later that same year, and had similar success. Despite the large quantity of blues recordings during the 1920’s, “Crazy Blues” is considered the first successful blues song recorded by an African American artist.9 Ironically, “Crazy Blues” is considered more of a popular song than a blues song despite many references to “blues” throughout the track. Nevertheless, this song paved the way for black music makers into a then predominately-white recording industry, and quickly after its release, a market for black music emerged. Perry Bradford, who wrote “Crazy Blues”, also persuaded several record companies to invest in a music market specifically for blacks.9 After record companies realized the lucrativeness of selling “race

Luck and happiness always comes after heartache. Luke combs sing about luck in his song “ when it rains it pours .” Lukes music is part of the country genre. Which is all about happiness and enjoying life even when things are rough. Even after hardship you can be happy.

Many songs that we listened to sounded like they came right out of Brave New World. The ones I liked most would have to be “Can't Feel My Face”, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and “I Am Produced”.

According to Statistics Canada in the 2011 census, Midale, Saskatchewan has increased its population by 21.6%. This is an incredible response from the 2006 census where Midale had seen a drop of 6.9% from the previous census. Of course, this may be due to the recent development of oil resources in the area. Nevertheless, it could possibly be due to the tenacity of the farmers in the area that are reflected in singer/songwriter, Brad Johner’s, song, The Farmer’s Back. Midale was incorporated as a town just about 115 years ago. Agriculture has been an important resource since its beginning. Johner grew up in this area of southeast Saskatchewan and writes about his fond memories and rural lifestyle in many of his songs.

Indie Americana/folk band LA River Bend releases a new single from entitled "Summer Wind." the new feel-good love song was just released and is already gaining quick media attention.

The piece of art I chose is is a song that I listened to a lot as a kid and still listen to today. The melodies and instruments transcend the lyrics. However , the lyrics hold so much more. I lived on a fire station as a kid when this song came out. Actually it was a tape in 1985. I thought because of the association with my dad being gone on fires all the time, that this song “The Working Hour,” related to him and his need to be away working on fires all the time. As an adult, I still feel those feelings as I did when I was 7 yrs old, however now I am the one working. I do the same job, and the working hour means something more to me now then it did when I was a kid waiting for my father to return from fires. This was a time when work to

Ariel McCullough, Art Education 1600, Autumn 2015, Dr. Smith The Generation of Cynics Green Day is a band that a defined multiple generations. While they are not notorious for their political statements, but more of their wild behaviors, along the way they have made a few songs with some obvious statements about society. One song in particular is very clearly political. This song is called “American Idiot”.

Ma Rainey was definitely a person who defied expectations and that is clearly seen through her music. Blues is known to be music centered on sorrow but Ma constantly presented other emotions such as anger, fear, and a sense of “laughing to keep from crying.” For example, in “Gone Daddy Blues” it talks about how she reacts when her man leaves her, by getting drunk and ending up in jail. The comedy piece of the song is different from what was usually presented in blues. With the story of the song and the strong performance skill that Ma had audiences were really able to receive something that they had never before. The fact that Ma Rainey was able to make you laugh at a song but also feel the pain and the underlying is something that only true

The song “Is This It (Home Recording)” by The Strokes, can relate to June in some scenes in “Two Kinds”. I chose this song because this summed up how she felt when her mother was forcing her to become a prodigy. “Is This It (Home Recording)” talks about a person do his best at something that he/she doesn’t like. Just like June was feeling when she was learning the piano for her mother. The song would fit in only once, in the scene where she is comes home when she doesn’t perform well at the concert.

Young children scamper around a pond skipping rocks while Wall Street businessmen stress over work. An extravagant tree house lofts high above the ground as a stack of paperwork accumulates on a stiff, cluttered desk. A mother serenades her child to rest while an entrepreneur neglects to make it home at night to put his child to bed. The progression of a carefree child into an anxiety filled adult now exists as a norm in our society. A song simply titled “Stressed Out,” by the duo of two twenty-seven-year-olds Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn, Twenty-One Pilots, seamlessly depicts the reality of evolution from childhood to adulthood. Sometimes a song represents an emotion we all feel, yet due to other circumstances, we disregard the feelings.

One of the top money making movies in 1998 was Saving Private Ryan. This movie earned $216,199,000 and won an Academy Award for Best Director: Steven Speilberg (1998 Movies). In the film, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Tom Sizemore star as soldiers fighting in World War II (Saving Private Ryan). The popular Disney movie Mulan was released in 1998 and earned $120,604,242 (1998 Movies). This movie is an animated movie about a young Chinese woman who takes her father’s place in the army. Ming-Na Wen voices Mulan, BD Wong voices Li Shang, her captain, and Eddie Murphy voices her dragon companion, Mushu. Mulan won an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score (Mulan).

Growing up, I was bullied for my differences, The Stray by Sleeping with Sirens shows it’s ok to be an outcast. As a fan, I’m inspired by rockstars. They grew up with similar struggles as me and they produce quality music to express their emotions in a beautiful way I can’t.

I think this song describes me because I can be a very self-sacrificing person. I tend to put the needs and concerns of others before mine. I definitely find myself walking that line for other people all the time. It doesn’t always work out well for me to put others first, but it’s something I tend to do without thinking nowadays. Another way that I relate to the song is that I’m a very loyal person. Johnny cash says he keep the ends out for the tie that binds and I understand that. I like relationships to have a sense of security to them. I’m also a very cautious person, I keep a close watch on my heart and don’t wear it on my sleeve for everyone to see. Even though I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, I would still say I live my truth though

As the power of a song resides completely in its lyrics, it is no longer surprising that music can be healing, inspiring, or even motivating. After introducing this insight to my life, it became very rare for me to listen to any Imagine Dragons’ song without it leaving an impact on my life and my perspectives. Imagine Dragons is a rock band whose music tends to address both personal and social issues. It’s Time, one of their biggest hits and most influential songs, was written by the band’s lead singer Dan Reynolds during a difficult time in his life. “ I was not very happy with who I was, I guess, and I wanted to make some changes” says the singer in an interview with Purevolume , in which he addresses It’s Time as a poem he wrote to express

All throughout the summer a song was constantly blasting through speakers singing about blurred lines, but what lines are being blurred?