The Arts in New York City

Category: Prompts

Music post

I’m a River

At first scan, “I’m a river” sounds like any other soulful song on the radio station but at a second glance, the song really begins to display its individuality. What makes this song unique is how it was composed. Most artists compose their songs in studios but Dave Grohl, the lead singer of Foo Fighter actually composed the songs while walking around in New York City.  “I’m a River” was actually composed small parts by the Dave Grohl on the streets where he interviewed local musicians on the streets of New York City about their experiences in New York. Then, he used special phrases from their stories and insert those phrases into his song. Even though the phrases are from the street musicians of New York, Dave Grohl uses the phrases in his song because they are a part of his experiences in New York.

This song was released by the band Foo Fighters in 2014 as a part of their album, Sonic Highways. It was composed by the lead singer Dave Grohl as one of the eight songs about the 8 cities that the band visited. Every city they visited inspired its own special song and  “I’m a River” was inspired by Grohl’s encounters in New York City. Grohl’s exploration of New York city can be clearly seen in the lyrics where he refers to specific Manhattan locations such as the Magic Shop recording studio that is in Soho, in the part “I found a secret behind a Soho door” and the Minetta Creek which is referred to as his reason “Beneath the subway floor”. In my analysis of the song, I was curious about what “the devils water” actually was so I researched it. What I found was that the “devil’s water” is actually the Minetta Creek that runs “Beneath the subway floor”. It was called “devil’s water” by the native Americans that lived in New York City at the time the river supposedly existed because they had disagreement with the colonists who lived near the creek.  I think that the song refers to the River as “devil’s water” instead of its American name to arouse the curiosity of the listener with this weird name. It is also interesting that the video makes so many implicit references to New York City that you can only discern if you analyze the song thoroughly

 

This part of the lyrics makes specific reference to New York city:

There is a secret
I found a secret
Behind a Soho door

There is a reason
I found a reason
Beneath the subway floor

I found the water
The devils water
And walked along its shore

 

Although I like to think of the main line, “I’m a River” to meant to symbolize a person’s life in New York City, this line was actually inspired by the fact that under New York city, there actually used to be a real physical river: Minetta Creek. I like to think of this river that he describes is one that represents all things natural and uncorrupted by man by running underneath the man-made city I think the song’s main message is that underneath all the concrete that we see in the man-made structure of our city, there lies a mysterious and exciting narration that we have yet to explore.

Music Posting Assignment: “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down”

Song: “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” by LCD Soundsystem

The title of the song says it all. While New York City garners its well-deserved reputation of grandeur and splendidness, that’s often all that seems to be focused on. That is why “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” is so quintessentially New York – because it complements the rest of what New Yorkers all feel. The song completes the sentiment felt about New York City, and that is why the song is so interesting and attracts me to it. It is written and performed by LCD Soundsystem, a rock band from Brooklyn, formed in 2002, and led by singer/songwriter James Murphy. The band is widely known and critically acclaimed, having received numerous Grammy nominations, including Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance recording. The song New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” was part of their second studio album released in March of 2007. In 2011, LCD Soundsystem decided to disband on a high note. They held their farewell concert at Madison Square Garden, exemplifying Murphy’s tie to New York City. Their last song of their final set was none other than “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down.”

The song speaks of the love/hate relationship Murphy has with New York City. On the one hand, Murphy loves New York City and can’t live without it. On the other hand, the city is eating away at him and “bringing him down.” Murphy sees New York metamorphose into its current self, and for him, the city has lost its a appeal. Times have changed and its not the city he knew and once unquestionably loved… or is it? That is the question he debates.

 

New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down
New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down

Like a rat in a cage
Pulling minimum wage

New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down

 

Murphy uses a simile to describe New York as a cage and its constituents as rats. His message here is that New York traps people and forces them to work hard just to sustain themselves within the city’s confines. He essentially says the New York is one of a kind, but struggle is necessary in order to be part of it.

 

New York, you’re safer and you’re wasting my time

Our records all show you were filthy but fine

But they shuttered your stores
When you opened the doors

To the cops who were bored once they’d run out of crime

 

Murphy alludes to the historical time period where New York City was not safe. While the city is now safer, arguably a great improvement, Murphy misses the appeal and excitement of the good ol’ days back when the city was “filthy but fine” and thus didn’t need to be changed. Murphy also alludes to the police turning on its law-abiding citizens out of boredom once they had dealt with all of the crime.

In the following verses, Murphy continues to cite problems with the city, including its “mild billionaire mayor’s [who is] now convinced he’s a king” and the “boring [wealthy people who] collect” in the city. He continues to lament the changes (“In the neighborhood bars I’d once dreamt I would drink”), however, despite all of this, “New York, you’re perfect, oh, please don’t change a thing” and “you’re still the one pool where I’d happily drown.” New York means so much to Murphy, and while its wearing him down to the bone, he’s not sure if he can leave. In the ending of the song, Murphy questions whether he is right or wrong about his feeling about the city and about whether its right for him, a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one point.

Most love New York City, but there is still a lingering feeling in all of us that it wears us down, even if we don’t necessarily relativize it with the past. The hustle and bustle can be energizing, but certainly not forever. Given time, we become just a small part of a big city that bears down on us.

Music Posting Assignment

Theme from New York, New York by Frank Sinatra

Theme from New York, New York, Frank Sinatra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdUcp-6ot_c

Frank Sinatra is a music icon, and the fact that a legend like him took the time to make a song about New York says a lot about the significance of the city to him. The song is sung from the point of view of a man striving to achieve his goals and realizes that New York is the place where he must pursue them. Originally, the song was the theme song for the Martin Scorsese movie New York, New York. It was sung by Liza Minnelli. Frank Sinatra released it as a part of his album Trilogy: Past Present Future in 1979. Sinatra’s version won him the Grammy Hall of Fame award and was nominated for Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal performance.

The lyrics here truly embody the reason why many people dream of coming to this great city. They are aware that their ambitions can be accomplished in the city of opportunity.

Start spreading the news

I am leaving today

I want to be a part of it

New York, New York

(after some lines)

And if I can make it there

I’m gonna make it anywhere

It’s up to you

New York, New York, New York

I like this song because it is about finding opportunity and ambition, which are crucial parts of being successful in the world. Sinatra projects this thought onto the listeners of his rendition of this inspirational song while keeping his own success in New York in mind. There is a sense of pride that I feel for being a New Yorker from this song because of the message. What puts the song over the top for me is of course Sinatra’s voice. The soothing jazz tunes and steady rhythm of his singing makes this a great song which embodies New York.

A Visit From the Goon Squad Post

visit-from-the-goon-squad-prompt-chandani-ramkishun-idc-dec-2016

Chandani Ramkishun

Professor Hoffman

IDC

December 6, 2016

A Visit from the Good Squad

Prompt 1:

Jennifer Egan constructed this novel in a unique way that, often at times, made the storyline a little difficult to follow. What makes this narrative structure difficult is that it isn’t flowing continuously. Instead, it jumps from story to story which makes it hard to keep track. There is no clear chronological order to make the novel easy to understand. Each story discusses a new character or recurring characters at different stages in their lives. The novel also flip-flops in setting. The first chapter is present day Sasha then the second chapter is present day Bennie. The third chapter however flips to younger, teenage Bennie. We learn about his love life and friends Scotty, Alice, Jocelyn, and Rhea, who he was in a band with. Chapter four was also hard to follow because it was set up into three parts and also jumped from past to present and introduced more characters such as Mindy, Charlene, and Rolph. The last few chapters fast forward to the present day characters. The narrators also change. For example, in Chapter 12 the narrator is Alison, Sasha’s daughter. Overall, it was hard to follow the order because I couldn’t tell what was the past and what was the present, especially when it came to Bennie because the story mostly revolved around him at various random points. However, this form of narrative was helpful in understanding the progression of the characters and their overall development. We see Bennie to grow up to be a successful movie producer and married to Sarah but also becoming a cheater. We also get to see how Sasha battled her struggles with drugs and a violent, absent father but managed to become a loving mother to her two kids.

Prompt 3:

Sasha shows some similarities to Maggie from Maggie Girl of the Streets. Both Sasha and Maggie ran away from their homes. Sasha ran away at seventeen while in Naples and Maggie ran away at a young age in New York City. Also both female characters struggled on the streets once they ran away. Sasha turned to drugs to compensate for her pain and at the end of Maggie’s story we learn that she becomes a prostitute on the streets. Furthermore, both characters lacked a strong father figure. Sasha’s father, Andy, was violent and abusive. He left her when she was only six years old and wanted nothing to do with her. Ted, Sasha’s uncle, tells the readers that Sasha’s father did not hold back his violence even in public when they went to the beach. Maggie’s father was also aggressive and abusive, constantly yelling in their house. Both protagonists had undesirable childhoods and homes that made them leave to start a new life. Some differences include that Maggie was kicked out by her mother and brother for falling in love with Pete. Another difference is that Sasha experiences a semi happy ending with Drew and her children, whereas Maggie is still on the streets, alone. She breaks her bad habits to settle down in life. Maggie loses her love, Pete, to another woman.

 

Music Posting Assignment

Chandani Ramkishun

 

Song: “Autumn in New York” by Billie Holiday

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO2Ij1eO-GQ

 

This song is about the inviting atmosphere that arises when the season changes to fall in New York. The song was composed by Vernon Duke in 1934 for the musical “Thumbs Up!”. It was recorded by Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more. Billie Holiday came out with her version in 1952. This song was part of her album, “The Unforgettable.”

The song is so intriguing because it takes a different take on New York City. The lyrics are about love and being home rather than to tackle the obvious tall buildings, skyscrapers and busy people.

“It’s autumn in New York transforms the slums into Mayfair

Autumn in New York, you’ll need no castle in Spain

Lovers that bless the dark

On benches in Central Park

Greet autumn in New York,

It’s good to live it again”

I like these lines because it takes a new perspective of autumn. She sings of how New York is transformed. It is no longer a polluted slum city because the leaves of autumn turn it into a beauty. New York is one of the few cities that experiences all four seasons every year, so Billie sings of how great it is to experience it year after year. She even sings about the romantic couples in Central Park who stroll by the natural view of the city.

Another line I liked was:

“It’s autumn in New York that brings the promise of new love.

Autumn in New York is often mingled with pain.

Dreamers with empty hands may sigh for exotic lands;”

This line caught my attention because New York is a romantic city yet it also has stories of people experiencing pain. There are all types of people in New York, the lovers, the people with pain, and the dreamers who strive to start a new life in New York autumn.

 

To me this song could not have taken place in any other city because it revolves around the season of fall. New York City has a clear order of the four seasons and shows off its beauty with its lavishing iconic parks, such as Central Park, as mentioned in the song lyrics. Billie Holiday transforms the song into a soothing, sultry number with her short range. She keeps the song slow along with the piano in the background, making you listen to her every note. The song is different because you cannot tap to it. It is a jazz song with little background instruments. Unlike other jazz songs, this one is more laid back and has a relaxing flow.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Respond to two of the following:

1) A Visit from the Goon Squad is structured as a series of interlocking short stories. Although the stories feature the same set of characters, most of whom are associated with a 1980s punk rock band, no single character appears in all the stories. The time at which each story takes place jumps around quite a bit, with some of the middle chapters being set far earlier than the opening chapters. And there are numerous flash forwards in the stories themselves. All in all, the narrative form of the book is unique. Write about your impressions of and reactions to this narrative form. What does the narrative structure allow you to see better than a traditionally structured story? What is more challenging in reading a novel in this form than in reading a more traditional novel?

2) We do not learn the meaning of the title of A Visit from the Goon Squad until the last chapter when the aged Scotty gets cold feet about going on stage, Bennie tells him, “Time is a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?” The “goon squad” is time.   The book is about, among other things, what time does to people. Respond to several of the following: Who is treated justly by time? Who changes the most? Who changes the least? Whose life turns out to be the biggest surprise? If you are having trouble remembering what happened to who when, visit this page, which has a useful timeline for each major character.

3) Compare one of the characters from A Visit from the Goon Squad to a somewhat similar character from one of the other stories or novels. For instance, I might compare Lou Klein to Pete from Maggie, Girl of the Streets, Bennie to Blake from “The Five-Forty Eight,” or Sasha to Eleanor from “Physics,” or to Maggie. What are the similarities and differences in circumstances, outlook, and conduct of the characters? How many of the differences can be accounted for by personal choice, and how many by cultural and historical circumstances? Make ethical comparisons, too. Which of the characters is a better person (or in some cases, a less bad person)?

What are the chances?

In the final paragraph of “Physics,” Tama Janowitz writes, “I suddenly wished I could go back to school and take physics again: I knew that this time I would understand it.  The notion of random particles, random events, didn’t seem at all difficult to comprehend.  The whole business was like understanding traffic patterns, with unplanned crack-ups and hit and run accidents…I saw how emotions caused objects to go whizzing about…”

Because of their density, urban environments produce many chance encounters between different people and different ideas.  There are many seemingly random “collisions.”  But these chance encounters and random events arguably occur within the context of a larger, ordered systems and patterns.

Ginsberg’s “Mugging,” Janowitz’s “Physics,” and the excerpt from Koyaanisquatsi that you just watched all touch on this theme of chance occurrences within larger urban patterns.  Write a reflection on the role of chance and order in these three works.  What happens that is improbably at the individual level, but part of a larger pattern?  Which works portray the city as being more dominated by chance, and which portray it as more dominated by order?  What are the positive and negative  aspect of chance and order for individuals who dwell in the city?