The purpose of this tape is neither to endorse musical violence nor to dismiss it as socially destructive. Just as the expression of love can serve a practical function for listeners, so can the expression of anger, hatred, protest, and fear. What do the following musicians have to say in a language of violence? What risk do they run of diluting the power of violence to express anything at all? Is there a pattern of escalating imagery as listeners become accustomed to violence and death&endash;a sort of musical race to up the ante of violence? Does violence sell records? Is violence a traditional tool of social protest by expressing social power? How have lyricists and composers addressed social concerns of violence, rape, and abuse? These are the questions that this tape tries to bring to the fore.
#1 "Possession" 1993
Sarah McLachlan (b. 1968 in Nova Scotia)
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy Arista 18725-2 ©1993
A Canadian vocalist (now living in Vancouver) and the driving force behind the suprisingly successful 1997 Lilith Fair tour, McLachlan is a virtuoso storyteller in musical sound. This song makes a nice transition from Side A because many listeners think it is a stereotypically sappy love song&endash;actually it is a song about obsessive fans, stalking, and even rape. (Its reception in many ways parallels "Every Breath You Take," by the Police which is also about stalking and voyeurism.) Here, McLachlan’s lyrics supposedly are quoted from the letters of Uwe Vandrei, a "fan" who sent McLachlan flowers and hundreds of letters between 1991 and 1993. In 1994, Uwe posted an email to the listserv for McLachlan fans claiming that the song was about him and that he would sue her for "breach of confidence" and co-authorship to the tune of $250,000 (since the album sold ca. 3 million copies). Before the end of the year, however, Uwe was found dead in a truck parked in the woods not far from his home, apparently of suicide.
#2 "Annie Christian" 1981
Prince (P)
[born Prince Rogers Nelson, 1958]
Controversy Warner Bros. 3601-2 ©1981
The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia describes P as:
One of the most flamboyant, controversial, influential, and popular artists of the Eighties, Prince is also one of the least predictable and most mysterious.... Prince remained prolific to an almost self-destructive degree&endash;and was given to wayward, self-indulgent career moves (even declaring in the 1990s a name change to an unpronounceable symbol) that could alienate even his most ardent supporters. Yet his taut, keyboard-dominated Minneapolis Sound&endash;a rock, pop, and funk hybrid with blatantly sexual lyrics&endash;not only influenced his fellow Minneapolic artists the Time and Janet Jackson’s producers (and ex-Time members) Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but also affected much Eighties dance-pop music. And Michael, Madonna, and Janet were comparable to Prince only in terms of star power; none could match the formidable breadth of his talents, which included not just singing and dancing but also composing, producing, and playing instruments (not to mention directing videos and, however ineffectively, movies). In fact, Prince played all the instruments on his first five albums and has produced himself since signing with Warner Bros. at age 21.
Recently P has broken with Warner and started his own label, releasing enormous CD sets of both past recordings and new material. He has even broken with traditional distribution networks by negotiating contracts with large electronic store chains such as Best Buy and avoiding music chains such as Tower or Borders. "Annie Christian" is a good example of P’s socially potent and symbolic messages. According to Geoff Brown’s Guide to the Music of Prince:
#3 "Song of Joy" 6:54, 1993&emdash;5
by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
(formed 1983 in London, England)
words and music by Nick Cave
(b. 1957 in Warracknabeal, Australia)
Murder Ballads Reprise 9 46195-2 ©1996
Founder of the Gothic bands, the Boys Next Door and the Birthday Party, Cave’s work has long focused on violent and sacreligious subject matter delivered in a dark, brooding, and recently, romantic, but gloomy style. "Song of Joy" is a detailed narrative from the album Murder Ballads that portrays a series of personal vignettes about mass murderers. According to the Bad Seeds’s website: "Another early composition, "Song Of Joy", provides a sharp contrast to the gallows humour of "O' Malley's Bar" and some of the other songs that comprise "Murder Ballads". In this slow, eerie, unremittingly malevolent ballad, Cave displays his consummate skill as a story-teller as he delves deep into the darkest recesses of a killer's mind. On the doorstep of a family man's home a drifter narrates the tale of the murder of his wife Joy and their three children. "A genuinely disturbing song," says Cave.
#4 "Search and Destroy"
Performed by Iggy [Pop] and the Stooges (formed 1967 in Ann
Arbor!)
written by Iggy Pop (b. 1947 in Yspilanti) and James Williamson
Raw Power Columbia CK32111 ©1971
According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia:
With his outrageous, cathartic and at times dangerous stage antics, and the relentless rock & roll that accompanied them, Iggy Pop prefigured both Seventies punk and Nineties grunge. His persona that of the eternal misfit, saboteur of all convention, he has parlayed twisted social commentary, an affecting if limited vocal style, and unlikely survival smarts into a long career characterized by scant commercial success, sizable critical notice, and a fanatical cult.
Born James Jewel Osterberg, he attended the University of Michigan, but dropped out in 1966. After coming into contact with urban blues on the South Side of Chicago, he returned to Detroit as Iggy Stooge and, inspired by a Doors concert, formed the Stooges. They debuted in Ann Arbor at a concert on Holloween 1967: Iggy contorting his shirtless torso, letting out primal screams, rubbing peanut butter and raw steaks over his body, gouging his skin with broken glass, and diving into the crowd, all while the Stooges played raw, basic rock. Some thought the band the embodiment and future of rock; others were appalled that they were so unrepentantly primitive. Their first two albums on Elektra would be hailed as punk’s predecessors, but they sold only modestly when released in the early Seventies. After retiring for a year to kick a heroine addiction, Pop ran into David Bowie who helped to resurrect his career by producing the critically acclaimed album Raw Power, which includes this tune "Search and Destroy."
#5 "Peace Sells" 4:50, 1988
Megadeth (formed 1983 in Los Angeles, Calif.)
Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying? Capitol 7 46370 2
©1988
Kicked out of Metallica during a power struggle, guitarist and vocalist Dave Mustaine joined forces with bassist Dave Ellefson to form Megadeth. Continuing his former groups thrash-metal style with even more speed and intensity, the band hoped to create a jazz-influenced progressive strain of heavy metal featuring instrumental skill as much as emotional agression and volume.
#6 "Double Dare Ya", 1992
Bikini Kill (Formed 1990 in Olympia Washington)
Tobi Vail (b. 1969, drums); Kathleen Hanna(b. 1969, vocals);
Billy
Boredom (b. 1965, guitar); Kathi Wilcox (b. 1969, bass).
The C.D. Version of the First Two Records Kill Rock Stars 204
©1994
Proclaiming themselves "riot grrls" and calling for "Revolution Girl Style Now," Bikini Kill pioneered both a musical and a feminist movement in the early Nineties. Hanna, Vail, and Wilcox met at Evergreen College in Olympia. In their feminist fanzine Bikini Kill they articulated an agenda for young women in and outside of music while the band put those ideas to practice. Bikini Kill soon earned a reputation in the punk underground for confronting certain standards of the genre; for example, asking people to slam dance at the side of the stage so that women would not get pushed out of the front and inviting women to take the mic and talk about sexual abuse. A former stripper, Hanna (who inspired Nirvana's first hit by spraypainting "Smells Like Teen spirit" on Kurt Cobain's house) frequently challenges the sexual expectations of her audience by pulling her shirt off or writing "Kill Me" across her stomach or chest.
Like metal and punk, riot grrl uses violence to send a socially potent message. What message does "Double Dare Ya" attempt to deliver and how are gender conceptions challenged by the band's musical tone and approach to the genre itself?
#7 "40 Lashes" ca. 7:00
From Blood on the Fields , 1994
Composed by Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961 in New Orleans)
Drum solo by Herlin Riley
Blood on the Fields Columbia CXK 57694 ©
1997
Considered the spiritual, sartorial, and musical leader of a renaissance in traditional jazz, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has begun an effort to pick up the compositional mantle of Duke Ellington and Aaron Copland as one of the definatively "American" musical voices. His compositional acumen is based upon virtuoso performing abilities: in 1994, he won Grammys for both Jazz and Classical Record of the year &endash; the first time an artist had won Grammys for two different genres in a single year. "40 lashes" is a scene from his pulitzer prize winning jazz oratorio, Blood on the Fields, Jesse, an African prince stolen from his homeland and sold into slavery in the United States, has attempted to escape and was caught. The drum solo and instrumental cries in this piece depict the penalty he receives after he is returned to his plantation. There are no lyrics, yet the dramatic idea and sound are still able to convey a language of musical violence. What purpose does this graphic portrayal serve? Is it characteristically different from the previous examples on this tape or does this jazz work perform the same function?
#8 "Vietnow"
Rage Against the Machine (debuted in 1992)
Includes: Zach de la Rocha (b. 1970, vocals) and Tom Morello (b.
1964, guitar)
Brad Wilk (drums) and Timmy C. (bass)
Evil Empire Epic 57523 ©1996
With a 1992 debut LP and a cult following won during the 1993 Lollapalooza tour, Rage Against the Machine has brought punk social commentary back into the musical mainstream (the album Evil Empire entered the pop charts at #1, selling over a million copies) with their L.A.-based punk/thrash metal/rap combo. Songs like "Know Your Enemy," "Settle For Nothing" make use of an agressive and hard-hitting bumper-sticker styled rhetoric. "Freedom" helped make Leonard Peltier into an MTV cause célébre. Despite the wide range of musical coloring and sonic effects, RATM has pledged in press material that "no samples, keyboards, or synthesizers are used in any Rage recording." All sounds can be attributed to vocals, guitars, bass, and drums.
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Turn on tha radio, nah fuck
it (chorus) Flex tha cerebellum, fire
uhSomebody gotta shell 'em |
#9 "Language of Violence" 6:14, 1991
The Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy (formed 1990 in Oakland,
Calif.)
Michael Franti (b. 1967 in Oakland, vocals) & Rono Tse (b. 1966
in
Hong Kong, percussion, electronics)
Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury 4th & B’way 162-444
043-2 ©1992
According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia
The Disosable Heroes formed after the 1989 Persian Gull War, debuting on Island with the double-A-sided single "Television Is the Drug of the Nation" b/w "Winter of the Long Hot Summer".... The group opened for U2, Public Enemy, and Arrested Development and enjoyed a spot on the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991. Rapper Michael Franti, who stands six-feet-six, had been a University of San Francisco basketball star; percussionist Rono Tse plays his own homemade instruments (made from tire rims, grinders, chains, and fire extinguishers) as well as electronic drums and danced during shows.... The group disbanded in late 1993. "Language of Violence," was the first significant rap track to attack homphobia and set Franti apart from the mainstream of rappers, who either condemned homosexuality or let gay-bashing pass unremarked.
The very idea of "attacking" violence is an interesting one. Here Franti and Tse use the anger and social protest inherent in rap to address new social concerns, producing both a critique of rap and a critique of violence in society in general (read: the Gulf War, entertainment industry, the media, etc.).
#10 "Behind the Wall", 1983
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman Elektra 9 60774-2 ©1988
Publicity shy, Chapman is an unlikely candidate for stardom, but I think that it’s the quality of her lyrics and expression that make her music powerful. (She won four Grammys in her first year, including Best New Artist.) Raised in a black working-class neighorhood, she won scholarships to some of the most exclusive schools in the country. She attended Wooster prep school and graduated from Boston’s Tufts University with a degree in anthropology and African studies. Her songs have always responded to a socially conscious folk-rock sensibility. In this song, Chapman takes on the issue of domestic violence. The musical ploy is one of understatement rather than an imitation of anger or violence.