I could write an 8 to 12-page research paper on either of these music videos. The number of references, statements, ideas, questions, and more in both the music video for Childish Gambino’s This Is America and Beyonce’s Formation (without hours and hours of close reading and analysis) seems infinite. But I will not close read either of these music videos in my blog post because the entire time I was listening to Post cast #12 The Song that Doesn’t End I was thinking about my Senior year of high school’s history class. We did a whole unit on the Vietnam War protest songs. We close read songs, the texts, rhythms, context, and more. My teacher had us all close read the songs and then we would discuss in class our thoughts which lead to long discussions about interoperation and perspective. I thought it was fascinating and sadly have forgotten which songs we close read. But this podcast did prompt me to go find a lot of my old work from the class and made me think of other discussions we had in high school about music.

My homeroom teacher was a science teacher and a musician. One day in homeroom he had us all come in and he put the music video for Childish Gambino’s This Is America on the large screen in the front of the classroom. We watched it and discussed it, I do not know for sure if this is true, but I feel as though not many other people here at UR had high school experiences like mine in which a teacher could put on a video like this one and not get hate for it. I feel lucky that my high school teachers brought up such things. And I think it is fascinating that here two years later these discussions are no less prominent. Fascinating but also disappointing as I feel as though music videos like this one have only become more relevant to our day-to-day lives. While I say that I do not mean they were not relevant then but simply I, and many others, are more educated than we were two years ago and we see things such as racial-based violence in the news more and more each day.

I personally am listening to music 24/7. it has become my background noise that I sometimes forget is even on. Even when new songs play, it sometimes does not faze me that these lyrics and songs portray a message. Music can reach a broad audience and it is interesting how emotions can be expressed through lyrics and how the works are presents such as if they are stretched out or said fast, or their could be a key change, so much can happen in a song that you can go on a roller coaster with your emotions. One song that I remember vividly on how I could feel the emotions that were being expressed by the singer was Dolly Parton singing Coat of Many Colors. The story was sung in a way where when I was listening to the lyrics  I could feel the emotions Dolly Parton had written in the song and portrayed for the listeners. I highly recommend that video if you have not seen it already!

It was my  first time watching the Beyoncé music video. As I watched the music video, it made me realize the props and settings can influence how the lyrics and emotions are interpreted by the listener. So I wonder how I would have interpreted the music if her presentation in the video would have been different. It was definitely not what I was expecting but it was very interesting and a lot was going on in the video as different scenes were being rotated and flashed all throughout the video. One question I have is that when an artist switches their vibe or song genre/ what they sing usually about, how different could the message be interpreted or would there be a reaction to the change regardless of the message presented to the listener and audience?

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.

The podcast for today’s post really interested me because I have always loved music, but never knew how far back its history actually went. As Dr. Bezio explained, music has influenced every human generation, and as such, it is perhaps the deeply engrained form of communication we have. The rhyming and melodic nature of music makes it incredibly easy to recall and regurgitate, which historically allowed traditions and histories to be passed down in a memorable way and withstand the challenge of time. In more modern contexts, music can be used to empower people and spread unifying messages across groups in an entertaining way, communicating messages more effectively than speeches or articles. By weaving messages of political change into pop culture and specifically widely heard songs, artists allow for overt and subconscious changes in political opinion or at least a starting point for discussions.

An extremely successful example of this is Beyonce’s “Formation,” which topped charts worldwide and spread the message of black female empowerment through the audio itself as well as its accompanying music video. The general theme behind the video is a vision of black power after centuries of oppression and slavery, forming a narrative of hope and resilience for black Americans. This was largely achieved by role reversals, such as black women in plantation clothing, and symbols of political change. For me, the sinking police car was the most noticeable of these symbols because as the video progressed, it sunk further and further into the water. I personally interpreted this as a representation of how protests will eventually enact change and limit the powers of the police, eventually rendering them useless like the sunken car. I remember watching the entire visual album for the first time and being deeply moved by the music and the cinematography behind it. But after six years of not seeing the video, I forgot about the message that it carried. I listen to the song often, but because of the music itself rather than the political message. Perhaps it’s because I was not the targeted audience, but I often forget the deeper political message because the lyrics alone are not as overtly political as songs like “This is America,” by Childish Gambino. I don’t believe that this is an issue because first and foremost music is designed to be enjoyed, but from now on I want to make a conscious effort to understand the deeper meanings behind the songs that I listen to.

I always enjoy when school assignments involve music, so it was nice to listen to the podcast and the two music videos. I think music is one of the best and most effective forms of expression, and that has been the case for quite some time. I was previously aware of the origins and background of jazz music, but “Alice’s Restaurant” was a new one for me. I was a little curious about some of the background of the song, so I looked up some additional information. The full song is over 18 minutes long and inspired the movie Alice’s Restaurant, but what I found most interesting was that in 2009 and 2005 interviews Arlo Guthrie describes the song as “anti-stupidity” and not necessarily anti-war. In those interviews Guthrie also considered the song to be as significant then as when he first wrote it. The fact that it has maintained its relevancy is a little disappointing, as one would hope that the cautionary tales of a protest-type song would not still apply to the modern day. I found this to be a common theme as I read through some of the YouTube comments on “This Is America.” Some comments were saying Glover’s 2018 song had predicted the future, while others corrected them saying that these events have continually gone on and were not some sudden change. One of the main things that the song addresses is gun violence in America, among other issues, which is something that is seemingly only worsened since the song’s release. In the past month alone, I’ve seen a news headline about a new mass shooting nearly every other day. It’s not like attention isn’t being brought to these issues. “This Is America” has over 769,000,000 views. If that isn’t a big enough statement to bring attention to something, then I don’t know what is.

One of the other things I thought about while listening to the podcast and music videos is the misinformation and irony of playing some seemingly “American” songs during patriotic events like the fourth of July. A big example of this is Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” which I’ve heard at every remotely-USA-themed event. The contents of the song is reflective of American values, but not in a positive way. The song is about a working-class veteran who has returned from war (not explicitly mentioned which war in the song but it was Vietnam era) and been abandoned by the government. I’ve written a whole paper on this song alone for another class before so I won’t go too far in, but the main gist is that this song has been misappropriated as some sort of iconic patriotic anthem. The “Born in the USA” chorus is definitely catchy, but it’s always funny to see people unironically play it without paying attention to any of the other lines. The same is the case for “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Rival, which was created in irony as an anti-war song. Many people, including President Trump (who was given a cease and desist by band frontrunner John Fogerty for using the song at campaign rallies), have completely missed the point of the song, turning it into a patriot anthem instead. I think music is really great to analyze, and important to do so, because it’s almost always at least a little deeper than one may have originally thought.

Formation – 

For me, this video was pretty interesting because I had never seen it before. There is a lot of symbolism in the music video. Much of it is centered around the treatment of Black Americans especially Black women in America. Throughout the video, Beyonce showcases different struggles that Black Americans have faced. The struggle with Hurricane Katrina for example with the cop car drowning in water was meant to show the struggle that black Americans faced after the disaster. She also shows many impoverished areas in New Orleans that have been affected in the past.

This is America – 

I’ve seen this music video a bunch of times over the last couple of years. Donald Glover puts a lot of symbolism in this video. It covers the incarceration system, gun violence, racism, and gang violence in the United States. For example, there a scene in the video where Childish Gambino is dancing with a bunch of kids smiling. Yet behind them, it looks likes they are in a prison where there are a bunch of cops arresting black people and kids not paying attention and just staring into their phones. It’s a social commentary of today’s youth, but also a commentary on how minorities are being treated by police officers. Regardless of the generation, it still represents how American minorities are still subjected to the incarceration system.

For this blog post, I watched both the Formation and This is America music videos and analyzed their importance. There were many things that I noticed within each of them.

Formation

The formation music video holds a lot of symbolism within the production. Beyonce used this song to show the injustices that the black community is facing, especially black women. I found this video to be very empowering as the women within the music video take on all roles that traditional white women assumed back in the day. At moments Beyonce was in a formal gown sipping tea and then she was on a cop car underwater. All of the scenes within the video symbolize different aspects of the hardships that black women have to face every day. I thought one of the most recognizable aspects was Beyonce herself. In each scene, she was in a new outfit and had completely different hair. Not only does this show her success but it puts a lot of focus on her. She proves that she is using her platform to make a difference for her community.

This is America

This is America is additionally a very important music video. Even though it takes more of a direct approach, it is just as effective. Within the music video, the audience is able to see Childish Gambino and the black community around him. At one moment he is happy and dancing and in another, he is seeing his friends die. I think this is to show how this is normal for his community. It is to show that it is not shocking to see in the media anymore. It is in some ways disturbing for the audience to watch. The music video is so impactful because it is more of a realistic video that society can relate to.

Both music videos achieve their purpose of sending a message. Both have a deeper theme of displaying injustices within the country. By doing so, both artists used their platforms to spark change.

Formation – Music Video

This music video really is a great example of Beyonce as the role model/idol that she is. I couldn’t help but be fascinated the entire time about how beautiful and powerful she is as she moves. Her music video was only filled with African American actors which only added to the power/strength of the video and with lyrics like “I might just be a black bill gates in the making” just further go on to empower the black community which has been silenced for decades. I was also interested with the scenes of Beyonce sitting on the New Orleans cop car surrounded by water which connects back to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in Louisiana. This was a situation where black neighborhoods were left to fight and fend for themselves as they were not provided the right/enough resources before or after the hurricane unlike many white communities.

This is America – Music Video
I remember when this music video was first released and the conversation it sparked. The scene that stood out to me the most was where the choir was singing happily one second and then getting shot down the next. This is obviously very difficult to watch, but sadly is the case as countless African Americans are wrongly killed and then do not receive the necessary/proper justice afterwards. But what further makes this scene and scenes similar to it stand out is the way that Childish Gambino dances freely afterwards which shows how these horrendous and wrong deaths of African Americans have been desensitized in society and particularly in the media.

I’m glad that Dr.Bezio chose for us to watch “This is America” and “Formation” as part of our homework assignment! I have never seen the Beyonce video before and I found it really intriguing to watch. I found myself having to watch it multiple times in order to capture all of the imagery as well as the lyrics that went along with it. After reading the article discussing the video and Beyonce’s musical style off of the album lemonade and watching the video, the main message I feel that she is showing/telling us is almost a juxtaposition of the “high life” and “low life”, showing the viewer different aspects of black culture. I also think within her messaging she is telling the viewer that she has earned her place in this luxurious high life and that she’s helping to lead the way for more black art/artists/musicians to be brought into the mainstream. It also highlights the struggles black people face in order to get to the “high life”, shown with examples such as the police car she is standing on top of at the beginning and end of the video, highlighting the police brutality black people face daily. However, Beyonce also relates her experiences back to the way she group, such as the lines “earned all this money but they never  take the country out me”. 

“This is America” Is a video I have seen many times before, and it’s one that was discussed in many of my history classes in high school once it came out. This video shared some similar messages with Beyonces “Formation”, such as the ideas of black culture as well as police brutality. However, this video take has a bit of a darker outlook, with the music being cheery in some places, then immediately contrasted with gunshots along to the words “This is America”, signifying what “America” is like for black people and the harm that comes to black bodies in America constantly. However, watching it through again and really trying to critically analyze it showed me some more visuals and messages that I have not seen before. For example, I thought that at around 3 mins 30 seconds in the video was over as the screen goes dark, but it actually continues to show Childish Gambino running away from a mob of people chasing him. This is very contradictory to his more positive smile and dance throughout much of the video. It really signifies to me that although black people try to act happy during their daily lives with so much chaos and threatening actions going on around them, they are deep down scared of what is going on around them and feel that they cannot run away from it. Throughout the video, Childish Gambino happier facial expressions as well as many of the backup dancers tells the audience that black people are so used to the sound of gun fire and chaos that it doesn’t even surprise them anymore, and is honestly pretty disturbing to witness, which is obviously the point, especially to make viewers who are not black or do not experience this same discrimination understand straight forwardly the torture that black bodies experience everyday.

I think that Podcast 11 may have been my favorite one this semester. In this podcast, Dr.Bezio discussed the relationship between music and human emotion. What really stood out to me was the way that music acts as a form of protest. From jazz that was played at speakeasies to Rihanna telling the DJ not to stop the music (there’s other good examples, but I just really enjoyed that one), music is a way for individuals to voice how they really feel about the topic at hand. Since music can be extremely catchy and easy to understand, it also makes it one of the most widely used forms of pop culture. Everyone listens to music, and has been since the dawn of time.

This podcast, along with the music we listened to and the readings, reminded me of one of my first-year seminars from freshman year. I took a class about Black vernacular (and its revisions, but I won’t go into all that) with Dr.Bert Ashe (a great professor if you haven’t met him). That entire year, we analyzed how numerous forms of communication through different mediums. Music is very obvious in the way it tells a story, but communication like this can happen in other natural spaces. One of my favorite examples of his was a description of the Black church. At Black churches, you obviously have the preacher and the choir and everyone else in the sanctuary. However, if you pay attention long enough, the hymns aren’t the only thing that have rhythm. The way the audience responds to the pastor, in “hmms” and “alright nows,” there is a rhythm present. The way the preacher may be speaking often sounds like it’s on a rhythm. All of it put together becomes a sound that is telling its own story that is the Black church. Music, and all the components that make it up, have a way of communicating what words sometimes cannot, even if it is in the simple, rhythmic call-and-response pattern of a preacher and his audience.