When I was listening to the podcast I almost audibly gasped when Dr. Bezio brought up Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie. This was not the first time I had heard this song, as my Grandfather often plays it on our back deck down the shore after a glass of wine or two during the summer. I have never really listened to the song, just laughed along for the entire SEVENTEEN minutes. But after paying much closer attention to the lyrics I reached out to my grandfather who has many friends that were drafted and came close to being drafted himself. It was music like this he said, that allowed people to have a sense of humor about everything going on while simultaneously making a statement. We still see this music today, as Dr. Bezio discusses. There is plenty of content out there that entertains while making a statement.

“parental advisory. explicit lyrics.”

The first shot of Beyonce’s “Formation” music video opens up with a computer screen reading these sentences above. The next shot is Beyonce sitting on top of a sinking police car, nonchalant, staring into the camera. The opening scene, with “parental advisory” on it, is a nod to how Black people and culture have been censored in America, how things like hip-hop and rap have become synonymous with words like “thug” and “gang,” meant to fear-monger the population into thinking that Black culture is something to be afraid of. This is a contributing factor to the presence of police brutality in our country; it seems every week there is a new senseless death of a Black person at the hands of a white cop. Just recently, Daunte Wright lost his life when twenty-six-year veteran police officer Kim Potter shot him with a gun “thinking it was a taser.”

The “parental advisory” warning is also a jab at the ever present “Oh, let’s not talk about race,” “Let’s not bring race into this,” “Can we not talk about politics?” (politics, in this case, being a word substituted for human rights, which is not politics and should never be treated as such). People, especially white people who have never experienced systemic racism, are sensitive to talking about topics like a race because they don’t want to admit wrongdoing, they don’t want to admit something is wrong with the American system. They want to preserve their country as the “best country in the world” without acknowledging how many people are suffering from what this country was built on: slavery, sexism, classism, exclusivity, and hate. Beyonce’s song “Formation” interrupts this rhetoric. She isn’t afraid to show the dark corners of society while simultaneously expressing Black Joy in her music video, because oftentimes too many pop culture films, songs, and other forms of media focus on the suffering of Black people. Beyonce takes care to show how Black Joy is still present even when facing police brutality and systemic racism, how Black culture isn’t something to villainize.

In both of the articles and the podcast, I noticed that while the discussion centered the role of music and songs, these were closely linked to the visuals attached to the music, making it about more than just the song itself. Tanish C. Fords article mentions how Beyonce coined the term “visual album.” While “This is America” is only one song, and each of the songs mentioned in the podcast are primarily individual songs, this term demonstrates how music moves beyond just audio to a greater sensory experience that provides even more context than the music alone. Even before music videos existed, the way Dr. Bezio discusses the prominence of jazz music in speak-easys—create a visual and then providing an example of the music—demonstrates how strongly tied music is to the experiences it references or spaces it exists in. This is particularly true about the relationship between music and protest.

The use of song as protest is something that I have always found particularly interesting, especially in relation to dance the discussion in both articles of how Beyonce and Childish Gambino incorporate dance in their music video to create an even more powerful message. Ladan Osman describes the beginning of the music video for “This is America” as “annihilating a root in black music. [Then] Moments later, Gambino slays the heart of a black optimism. And he keeps dancing, assuring us there’s no sanctuary.” Meanwhile, Tanisha C. Ford discusses how Beyonce’s performance of the “signature shoulder shrug choreography to “Run the World” on tour are an example of the image the Beyonce has created as she has developed her brand, moving away from working under her father to owning her own production company. Gambino’s use of dance further promotes the specific message of the music video surrounding the way racial violence has become normalized in American society, specifically related to the shooting in Charleston. Beyonce’s use of dance in her performance engages a broader message surrounding Beyonce’s overall image and identity as a black female artist. Both of these uses engage music and dance as a means of bringing a conscious and intentional message, which is crucial to any protest or movement, which I think is part of why music is such a powerful medium for protests and movements.

I find music to be one of the most effective modes of social discourse, particularly around protest and resistance. Beyonce’s “Formation” and Childish Gambino’s “This is America” are great examples of the power of music to be catchy, socially conscious and historically grounded. “This is America” and Ladan Osman’s interpretation of the music video as “slaying the heart of black optimism” are particularly interesting to examine under the theory of Afropessimism (Osman 40). Meanwhile, Beyonce’s “Formation” seems to invoke a version of Afrofuturism (not in the science fiction sense, but in the idea of a future that celebrates Blackness). 

At its core, Afrofuturism imagines a Black future. According to John Jennings, quoted in the article by Hope Reese, “Afrofuturism, to me, is looking to the past, trying to examine it, and try to deal with an unresolved task around race and identity in this country, in the diaspora. It’s also looking to the future” (Reese). 

Afro-pessimism suggests that our current world is fundamentally anti-black, and slavery and black oppression are too closely entwined with our history and that no version of the future can exist where Black people thrive and are free of this past. 

Both Afrofuturism and Afro-pessimism are theories that run counter to our current expression of reality where the idea that Black Lives Matter is radical. Beyonce and Childish Gambino use historical references to build their commentary about our current moment.

I really liked all of the readings, videos, and podcast for next class! I have never watched the “This is America” or “Formation” music videos before but I have always listened to the songs so I was very surprised and interested to look deeper into the content I am engaging with. Childish Gambino’s music video was kind of like a horror movie or like the reading said, a Grand Theft Auto video game snippet. It was really uncomfortable and sad but that is exactly the point. I remember I read something last semester which said that in order for their to be real change in someone’s perspective or even in society, people need to feel uncomfortable. It is in these moments of horror, shock, and sadness that people actually start to reflect and see why we are feeling this way. This definitely is why This Is America is so profound and important, and how generations to come will definitely study it the way that we study “Alice’s Restaurant”

I thought that song was really interesting and bizarre especially because it was about something so serious like the draft and the Vietnam War. I thought the most interesting part was how the audience was continuously laughing at what the singer was saying because even though it did speak to the inefficiency of the draft, what he was saying and in the way he was saying it was funny. It just showed how flawed the system was back then and especially in a 25 minute song it is just mind blowing to me how popular it was.

           In watching these music videos and doing the readings, the most interesting aspect to me was the conversation about the yellow dress that Beyoncé wore in Lemonade. This conversation begins by describing how the director of the Lemonade music video Jonas Akerlund insisted on having Beyoncé wear a yellow dress to “balance the destructive action of the video with an undeniably feminine color” (Ford 193). In watching the music video, however, many black women saw the yellow dress as a symbol of Oshun, a Yoruba deity who is represented by the color yellow and is known for being strong, but also vulnerable enough to love. To many black women, Beyoncé wearing this yellow dressed symbolized the power, but also the ability tone vulnerable, of Oshun, a figure that is rooted in African “diaspora spiritual and cultural vernacular” (Ford 194). In this scenario, the yellow dress for Akerland intended to symbolize femininity among the destruction, and while some of the audience likely saw it this way, another subset of the audience, primarily black woman, tooth yellow dress to symbolize Oshun, an important cultural figure, and a symbol of power and vulnerability. I think this scenario is interesting because it highlights how the same thing, like the yellow dress, in the same circumstances can be interpreted in vastly different ways due to individuals’ own beliefs, background, or knowledge. For Akerland, he most likely embraced the symbol of femininity from the metal flower from Rist’s doing, while the black woman interpreted the yellow dress as a symbol of Oshun due to their cultural and spiritual background. An individual’s personal experiences, background, culture, and understanding of the world can lead to different, varying interpretations of the same symbol or situation.

            In reading these differences of interpretation, I thought largely of my experiences in high school and a bit in college, wherein reading a novel or watching a film, treachery often pointed out symbols; however, in interpreting these symbols, there was often a “right answer” tone found. For example, if there was water falling on an individual in a scene, it was the “right answer” to interpret this as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. After doing this reading, however, I question whether this way of thinking about interpreting symbols, that there’s a “right answer”, is the right way to think about interpretation. By boiling a symbol don to a single, “correct” meaning, this way of thinking ignores the individual background and experiences of the individuals, in this case, students reading a novel or watching a film, and instead assumes that ever an individual has the same background and that every symbol has the same meaning to everyone. Thus, I thinker this reading, it is important to take away the idea that when interpreting symbols, it is important to recognize that individuals’ background and experiences can lead to different interpretations of the same symbol. 

I remember when I first saw the “This is America” music video. I had already heard the song, and was not prepared for the disconnect between its catchy melody and the violence depicted in the video. The second execution, where Donald Glover shoots the choir, was especially jarring. It happens so suddenly, and your brain almost doesn’t know how to interpret the senseless act of violence. Pairing the upbeat and fun song with the shocking and grim video was a smart choice. It forces the audience to consider that something is wrong, and that the problem is hiding in plain sight.

In “Slaying New Black Notions”, Osman discusses how the video shows a “relentless looping,” and people’s “inattentiveness to the horrors behind them” (Osman 40). The video illustrates how we’ve been desensitized to the violence committed against Black Americans on a regular basis. As Osman identifies, “our inattentiveness is designed to
maintain a system” that allows discrimination and violence to take place. Horrific things happen, and then the newest trend or piece of information diverts our attention, causing the atrocities to fade into the background. I think that music allows this work of art to be much more effective in conveying a message than it would be with only visuals or text. The song creates a rhythm for the visuals, and serves to illicit a positive emotional response, which makes the audience’s negative reaction to the visuals even more jarring in contrast.

The power of the set design in Beyoncé’s video really struck me in Ford’s essay. Ford discusses that the “Formation” video is situated on Beyoncé’s family lineage. On the surface level, that theme could be seen as speaking to Beyoncé’s love or pride of family because that is a typical sentiment to be expected from a successful mom and artist like Beyoncé. But the theme of family goes much deeper than that. Ford says that “creating a public lineage,” as Beyoncé is doing with her lyrics and video in “Formation”, “is an undertaking families do when they are building dynastic power” (196). She’s declaring a black dynasty. Now, I know this word mostly from the Netflix remake of the show Dynasty and thus have a warped image of greed, money, family feuds, and outright violence when it comes to belonging to a dynasty. But really it means the family plays a prominent role in their field. Imagine having the power, resources, and outright confidence to declare your family as prominent, important, noteworthy. Obviously, as Ford agrees as well, Beyoncé deserves this kind of recognition and she already has the prominence in society, music, and now the art industries to make this kind of declaration. Nevertheless, to do it in a home that is supposed to resemble the southern gothic architecture of New Orleans plantations is remarkable. Ford describes Beyoncé’s tactic as “visually rewriting history so that black people win” (197). There is no ignoring the deeply rooted hisotry of slavery and racism in the setting of her video. Viewers are forced to see her rise above it all and reclaim that history in a space that is uniquely hers and only controlled by her and the power she has created for herself. 

The power of music grants the space to make these claims because of its own history as subversive and resistant, as Bezio discusses in this week’s podcast episode. Music provides the perfect mixture of music to help audiences remember the words that amplify a message. Singing has always been a means of protest. “Formation” is no different. I think Beyoncé in “Formation” and her other more recent work is protesting against any previous preconceived ideas about her and recreating them with her own voice, no one else’s. It is rare nowadays for celebrities to be able to tell their own story without it getting misconstrued along the way, but Beyoncé has succeeded in creating her legacy and proudly standing up to tell people about it. 

Listening to the podcast, I had not realized how many songs were used as a method of both storytelling and social commentary. Song are similar to stories in the way that they are an “easier,” more indirect way to speak out against social issues and be heard by many people. I grew up listening to jazz music with my father, but I never realized the historical relevance of the music in relationship to prohibition.

I had never watched Beyonce’s Formation music video, but in watching it I immediately recognized various nods to black Southern culture in both the video and the lyrics. In between dancing and singing shots, the music video cuts to scenes of houses and cars underwater in reference to the hurricanes that have affected New Orleans, a predominantly black city. The city suffered serious damages and left many without homes and jobs, many areas of the city have not yet been rebuilt and people are still facing the repercussions 16 years later. The integration of social issues into popular culture and media is a great way to bring attention to these issues. One scene that stood out to me in the video was the little boy dancing in front of the police officers. This struck me because a disturbing number young black men have died at the hands of police officers in recent history. I think the choice to portray a very young boy represents the innocence of these young men, and also strikes people in a different way than if the filmmakers would have used a young man. His youth and innocence juxtaposed against the armed officers is unsettling to the viewer, which is its intention. It is incredible that popular black creators like  Beyonce use their platform to call attention to social injustices, which starts conversations that go above and beyond the music itself.

This podcast was really interesting to me. I had heard some of the songs that it referenced, but it was cool to hear the backstory and meaning of some of them. Music has always been a way for people to express themselves, and that has often turned into singing about social issues and  conflicts in our world that people want to speak up about. Just like the songs during the Vietnam War spoke out against sending people into the war, songs like “This is America” speak out against racism and police brutality in our country. Music is always evolving and adapting to it’s environment and culture, and I think music will always be one way to talk about issues and inspire change. Like Dr. Bezio said, music helps us remember things and triggers memories. So when someone hears a song on the radio or a song by their favorite artist, they might be more likely to listen and remember what they are saying, than if a politician said the exact same things in a speech. I know that every time I hear “This is America,” I picture the music video in my head, and some of those images will always be a constant reminder of the social injustices in our country.