Song 6: Hard Times Come Again No More

Ok, this song is fairly easy to understand. Written in 1854, Hard Times Come Again No More talks about the hardships faced by the majority of the people just before the Civil War and foretelling the hard times to come. The song is written from the point of view of someone whose life isn't so bad, hence "While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay". The female singer is pleading for some help to be given to those less fortunate than her because she feels it is alomst her responsbility to help these people. This song feels as if it was written while looking out a window and seeing these events occurring day to day which leads me to believe that there really was a extremely large majority of poor people in America at this time. Again, I did not like the song because its tempo was still too slow, but its historical value is undeniable.

Song 5: Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier is obviously about a woman's husband leaving her to go off to fight in the American Revolution. This song was written in the late 18th century and goes on to describe her despair, and yet how she tried to help him even though it meant that her lifestyle would suffer in order to buy him a sword. In this story, the story is told by a narrator looking at the situation from outside it. It seems to have been sung soon after these events unfolded, but not during. The song was a little too slow for my taste though the fife and drums provided an interesting background. This song just fortifies a universal thought (therefore including America) that I have had for a while; war not only causesw pain and suffering on the battlefield, but also at home.

Song 4: Brave Wolfe

This song takes place in 1759 in Quebec, Canada. Genreal James Wolfe, so brave and valiant, was slain in the in the offensive aginst the French which would result in a British victory. I feel that the author of this song is sympathetic towards Wolfe and attempted to portray him as an unfortunate casualty of war. The 'war' between the two instruments symbolizes to two sides of the argument. Though this song contains no lyrics, it is fairly easy to attain a sense of courage and conflict from the tune. For some reason, this song drew me more to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly towards the beginning, but slowly revewaled itself to be more civil warlike later on. I greatly enjoyed it though this type of music is not my preferred stlye.

Songs 1 - 3

In these first three songs [Anon: Virgen Madre De Dios\ San Antonio Voc.., Apache Indian Drums (Sedona)\ American Indian..., and Shaman's Call (From Earth Spirit\ R.Carlos N...], I feel as if something sacred is trying to be preserved in such a way that makes it easily passed on. Though I can only guess as to the thing being preserved (possible a glorius battle, the life of a elder, or the culture itself), I can feel a sense of peace and jubilance. The way the music smoothly flows and seems to wax and wane is telltale of lyrical art that has a higher purpose than one might suspect.

As for whether or not these voices and instruments represent America, I believe they do. Everything spawns from something unlike itself at one time. We, as humans, totally transform our bodies from helpless infants into strong, capable adults. So too did America transform. From this soulful, spiritual entity sprung an advanced society based on the values passed down from this generation. So yes, theses songs do represent American history.

Testing Testing

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