Podcast 11: the song that never ends

I found this week’s podcast to be interesting in its own right but also a cool continuation of our past conversations about history and storytelling. I have never really thought about songs being used to tell messages even though I am very much aware that songs have a deeper meaning. I found it particularly funny that the song Alice’s Restaurant was a protest song. I had never heard it until recently but apparently my boyfriend’s dad listens to it every year on Thanksgiving on repeat while he cooks. The only time I listened to it I couldn’t get through it long enough to reach the part with the political message. I also thought it was cool that Blowing in the Wind is a protest song because its more hidden than some of the other examples, but now that the podcast has brought it up it makes sense. That song always makes me think of the movie Forrest Gump because its the song Jenny performs at the strip club for all of the soldiers, now that I know it’s a war protest song that makes the scene that much more relevant to the context of the time.

2 thoughts on “Podcast 11: the song that never ends

  1. Judith Witke Mele

    I think it is important that you mentioned that you, and everyone else associate songs with moments in our life. Interpretation of songs is something I have been thinking a lot about and the moment in which you first hear a song or what you associate a song with in your own life (like a holiday or a movie) has a huge effect on your interpretation.

  2. Nichole Schiff

    I think the idea of storytelling in music is a great way to analyze both “This is America” and “formation”, as within the filming techniques of both videos they take you on a visual story in order to represent an important message to the audience.

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