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Origins

In case you have never heard of Coldplay before, they are a pop/rock band that formed out of London, England in 1996. Chris Martin has led the group since the beginning and has made it his mission to unify the world and invoke happiness upon it; in a world full of inequality, hatred, and revenge, Coldplay takes advantage of Digital Media to pull the world closer together instead of tearing it apart. [1]

Music is more than just a means of entertainment, it affects its listeners by influencing their outlook of life. Coldplay’s music is no exception to that. Below you will find one of their early hits (2000), Yellow.

The song was recorded during a time where the world was rapidly changing and technology turned a new leaf. Applications like LimeWire (2000), iTunes (2001), and YouTube changed how people listened to music. With this idea in mind, Coldplay was able to effectively distribute their messages portrayed in this song on a global scale.

Yellow is an easy going song expressing how beautiful life is; that people should take a step back and look from the outside looking in, opposed to thinking you’re the center of the universe. The song actually originated when Chris Martin and his band were stargazing, realizing how wonderful this world is.[1] The lyrics:

“Look at the stars/Look, they shine for you/They were all yellow.”

Source: [1]

resulted from the band generally appreciating life which reflects on their image as a whole.

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Transforming Pop Music

Coldplay is known as a rock band as well as a pop band. However, they make it quite apparent that they believe rock has been replaced by pop.[2] Again, going back to theme of life, Coldplay hopes to induce happiness when people listen to their music.

“The old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll lifestyle thing is great, but does it really make for great music? Does it make people happy? I don’t feel we’re embarrassed about being successful, but we don’t need the perm and the gold Rolex.”

– Chris Martin

Source: [2]

 

Coldplay impacted the transition from angry, rebellious rock into a heart-warming pop. Although not all of their songs are happy, the emotion and passion seems to be consistent throughout. “The Scientist” (2001) tells the story of a man filled with regret for hurting someone he loves; the music video shown below is played in reverse narrative which was quite innovative at that point in time.

This song is a good example of how rock was transformed into pop with the accompaniment of the piano alongside traditional rock instruments as well as a slower tempo and less angry mood. Coldplay expresses how important love is in this piece, and that we can’t go back in time no matter how bad we want it. This was a huge transition from the rebellious style of music that was popular in the ’90s; although it is important to experience a variety of emotions in life, Coldplay felt that happiness is something that everyone should pursue.[1]

Even though “The Scientist” isn’t necessarily a happy song, it still teaches a valuable lesson about happiness. It shows the importance of appreciating what someone has in their life, and that any moment it could change forever. The mood of the song becomes increasingly less depressing as it unravels; as the man travels back in time he is closer to being happy with the woman he loved. Coldplay cleverly sends the message that although its good to remember the past, it is important to live in the now in order to be happy.

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Uniting the World

“No amount of unchoreographed movement from four little men can unite 80,000 people like one good chorus.”

– Chris Martin

Source: [2]

As mentioned earlier, Coldplay makes it their top priority to bring people together in a world that has been so torn apart in the past. “A Sky Full of Stars” (2014) is one of their more recent big hits and its chorus indicates that every human is fascinating in their own way.

The video shows the Coldplay crew out in the real world spreading joy with their upbeat music. Apart from their catchy music, they leave the listener in a healthy state of mind opposed to a hateful attitude which is what set them apart from other artists in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Throughout their long existence in the music industry, their mood and theme hasn’t changed; it is easy to see the impact they’ve made judging just by how popular their music videos are.

Coldplay had perfect timing in that they were able to utilize the rapidly advancing technology of the time. Technology helped them get their message across the globe but at the same time, produced some innovative music videos that even today are still relevant. Coldplay will always be remembered as pop/rock group that helped unify the world with lively music.

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References

1. Hiatt, Brian. “Chris Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview.” Rolling Stone. June 25, 2018. Accessed August 03, 2018. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chris-martin-the-rolling-stone-interview-190116/.
2. McCormick, Neil. “Coldplay: ‘Rock Music Has Nowhere Left to Go’.” The Telegraph. December 10, 2015. Accessed August 03, 2018. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/coldplay-rock-music-has-nowhere-left-to-go/.

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Selena’s Life:

Selena was born on April 16th, 1971 in Lake Jackson. As a child Selena loved performing and by the age of ten she was the lead singer in her families band.  Selena was bilingual. She grew up speaking English, although her father taught her to sing in Spanish. Her father thought it was important to to sing in Spanish in order to connect to the Latino community. Once she started singing in Spanish, she eventually learnt to speak the language fluently. Selena made her recording debut in the 80’s and this was only the beginning for the award winning artist. Selena was very influential and successful and unfortunately her life was taken from her too soon in 1995 when she was murdered by Saldivar. Saldivar was an employee of Selena’s who was about to be fired for embezzling money.

Accomplishments:

• 1987- Selena attended the Tejano Music Awards and was awarded the Best Female Vocalist of the Year and Performer of the Year.
• 1990- Her album was the first Tejano record to achieve gold record status (sold more than 500,000 copies).
• 1993- She won a grammy award for her album.
• 1994- Amor Prohibido was released and went gold.

“At the time of her death, Selena was already a cultural icon and widely beloved role model. Adolescent years spent nursing her musical talent resulted in hit songs, hundreds of thousands of album sales, crossover success, and a Grammy win, all before she turned 23. And 20 years after her death and the film’s subsuquent  release, the singer’s legacy has only grown stronger, bolstered by numerous pop-cultural markers that have popped ip within the last few years.”

After Selena:

The Latino community was devastated after hearing about Selena’s death as was the rest of the world. Although, some may think this would be the end of Selena, the world continues to recognize her to this day.

Her first English album “Dreaming of You” was released and became a huge hit.

In 1997 a film was produced recreating Selena’s life. Jennifer Lopez played the huge role of Selena.

She has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

The mayor stated November 3rd to be “Selena Day” in L.A.

Those Influenced:

Selena influenced many artists and individuals. She managed to involve both English and Spanish in her music career and because of this she never lost her roots. Through her music she inspired others and brought people together. The amount of success she achieved in her twenty three years of living is remarkable and she managed to stay humble and kind through it all. Selena should definately be included in the textbook. She is an icon. She was very influential to both female and male artists and individuals and should be showcased. She made an impact on the world and different cultures within.

• In 2017, Kim Kardashian dressed up as Selena for Halloween, as she represented music legends.
• Singer Bruno Mars also paid tribute to Selena while performing in Mexico singing “Dreaming of You”.
• “I am named after her. She was a big deal to my family and growing up from the get-go, I knew who she was and who I was named after. It’s such an honour to be named after someone so amazing.”- Selena Gomez
• “Growing up I loved Selena’s music. I was really young when she passed, so I didn’t know much about her until I got a little older, and when I saw the movie there was some sort of connection… There is something about the movie that was really inspiring to me.”- Demi Lovato
• ” I think she is a legend. I admire her. She was so talented.”- Beyonce

“I Could Fall in Love” by Selena Quintanilla

I chose this song because I thought it was simple but yet truly showed the beauty in her voice. This song was one of her first songs that transitioned her from Spanish to English which is a huge accomplishment. This song goes through the feelings of heartbreak and the emotion of fear and being rejected. This song is filled with emotion and the instrumentation and Selena’s voice really compliment each other. This song won an award for the Tejano Crossover song of the year!

Works Cited:

Blay, Zeba. “17 Artists Inspired By The Divine Glory Of Queen Selena Quintanilla.” Retrieved August 2nd, 2018. 

Desta, Yohana. “Forever Selena: How a Fallen Icon’s Legacy Has Kept Alive.” Retrieved August 2nd, 2018.

Finn, Natalie. “Selena Quintanilla’s Enduring Legacy.” Retrieved August 2nd, 2018.

“Selena Biography.” Retrieved August 2nd, 2018. 

Hello, my name is Olivia. My final post will be about Janis Joplin and her ‘womanly’ influence on 60s rock which was so heavily dominated by men. I will also be using Susan Hiwatt’s article to highlight challenges females faced in a masculine structured music genre.

In the article titled “Cock Rock;” Susan Hiwatt wrote which describes what 60s rock was like for her and other women at the time; as well as some of her criticisms on where “women” stood in rock during the 60s; found here.

Why Janis Joplin?

Janis Joplin is the final female artist highlighted within the text on the rock revolution from 1964 to 1970 [1]. First performing with a local blues band: Big brother and the Holding Company [3]. Together they created music with a mix of blues, folk and psychedelic rock [3]. It wasn’t until the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where her voice and stage presence gained recognition.

After leaving Big Brother in 1968, she released her first solo album, I’ve Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! in 1969, and toured 0extensively with her Kozmic Blues Band [3].

Janis Joplin carved a new role for women in rock [1]. She broke through the existing stereotypes of what women were “expected” to be as performers by bringing the audience a powerful, intensive and emotion filled vocal style that incorporated both blues and soul. Her delivery in her singing put her on equal footing to men in both power and presence [1].

Although Janis Joplin made a large influence on rock, she still had to work hard to be “accepted” as Hiwatt mentions as the “chick” singer where select women were allowed to exist in rock [2]. Either than that, women were excluded from both the listening audience or being recognized as a true musician on stage [2]. Instead, women had to be beautiful, groovy, a sex object or whatever role was needed to satisfy men’s needs [2]. Even though Janis Joplin sang about her experience as a women, pain, humiliation and love; she still had to fit in a masculine world where women were disrespected [2]. Stuck with a microphone, Janis could only use her body and voice in order connect with the audience [2]; and because she was a ‘woman’ she was left extremely vulnerable as a minority to the hands of men in a male dominated world.

“Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)” is a perfect example where you can hear the hardships involved living as a woman in a world dominated by men in her voice and how no matter how much effort she puts in to please them it is never enough.

Limitations

In both a society and music industry dominated by men, Janis Joplin faced many limitations especially since women were excluded from being a part of both the audience or on stage. As Hiwatt mentions, women were not supposed to understand anything about electronics because, electric guitars were unfeminine thus, were supposed to strictly stick to composing soft, gentle songs and playing with a folk guitar [2]. Many other myths existed specifically to keep women out of rock such as: women weren’t strong enough to play the drums; or women were not aggressive enough to play good driving rock [2].

Since these myths looked down on women, Janis Joplin was at the bottom of a hierarchy where men always stood above women. This put her under harsher criticism since men held power as the majority of both the audience as well as the musicians on stage. She may have been ‘accepted’ due to her unique vocal style, however she still had to please the men around her. As Hiwatt states in her article, musicians often addressed the audience as if it were all male; where women were disregarded or considered as people. Instead women were treated like objects who would easily submit to any man [2].

Janis Joplin also faced limitations on stage. Since women were not allowed to play the instruments, they were left with nothing for the audience to relate to but themselves (their physical body) and the microphone in their hand [2]. For Janis, that meant that she became a remarkable sex object; associated with whatever existing women-hating words were used to describe women (cunts, bitchy etc.) who had an extremely good voice [2].

Because of her gender, Janis was limited to what she could do in an industry filled and controlled by men. As a minority, she face many stereotypes against women which prevented her from going beyond using her voice and lyrics to talk about her experience as a woman.

Expectations

On stage, women were supposed to be sweet and pretty [2]. Women were expected to offer their bodies for sex (property of men), be beautiful, not uptight or demanding, not clingy or strong, groovy; whatever a man needs [2]. “Piece of My Heart” shows Janis Joplin’s way of fighting back and showing that women can be tough.

Taking Rock Head On

As rock could connect to its listeners through the power of the words and the messages embodied in the music [1]. Janis Joplin was able to use her voice and lyrics to convey her feelings about being a woman in her time and challenge ‘male rock’. To show this I wanted to highlight parts from the song “Turtle Blues”  which talks about how women are poorly treated have been called, and doing anything that men desire of women.

I ain’t the kind of woman
Who’d make your life a bed of ease

-I know this goddamn life too well.

Oh! Now call me mean, you can call me evil, yeah, yeah,
I’ve been called much of some things around,
Honey, don’t ya know I have!
Whoa, call me mean or call me evil
I’ve been called much of some things, all things around,
Yeah, but I’m gonna take good care of Janis, yeah,
Honey, ain’t no one gonna dog me down.
Alright, yeah. [4]

Takeaway

As I listened and read to the lyrics of the songs released by Janis Joplin, you can just hear her struggles in a male dominated music industry as well as a society. Overall, Hiwatt’s article shed light to the extent of women being disregarded as people within society who couldn’t be recognized unless they had a ‘man’ by their side. It also showed how much music mirrors the dominant culture in society. Although Janis Joplin has been called “the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation” [3]; such an lavish title hides the struggles Janis Joplin as a woman had to go through to even earn any recognition as a music artist in an industry made up of predominantly men. Although she died far too soon, Janis Joplin is remembered for conveying her experience and feelings in not only her lyrics but also in the way she emotionally delivered them with her voice.

I wanted to end this post with a quote that I found by rock critic Lillian Roxon who did a very good job in describing Janis Joplin’s influence on rock:

“[Janis Joplin] perfectly expressed the feelings and yearnings of the girls of the electric generation—to be all woman, yet equal with men; to be free, yet a slave to real love; to [reject] every outdated convention, and yet get back to the basics of life.” [3]

Sources:

1. Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On. 4th ed.* Boston: Schirmer/Cengage Learning, 2013.

2. Hiwatt, Susan. “Cock rock.” Twenty-Minute Fandangos and Forever Changes: A Rock Bazaar (1971): 141-7.

3. “Janis Joplin.” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, www.rockhall.com/inductees/janis-joplin.

4. Unterberger, Richie. “Janis Joplin Biography.” Janis Joplin Lyrics, Photos, Pictures, Paroles, Letras, Text for Every Songs. Accessed August 02, 2018. http://alwaysontherun.net/janis.htm.