The year is 1989. Ronald Reagan has just been succeeded as president of the United States by George H.W. Bush. There is a certain smell lingering in the air, a certain aura of change and tension. The Berlin Wall has been destroyed, and the Soviet Union’s communist grip is beginning to loosen. Television news stations report that Exxon Valdez has spilled millions of gallons of oil into the sea in Alaska, giving the water’s surface a slick shine. This is a potentially devastating disaster for the animals that call the area home. However, far away in Georgia, something else is happening. Thousands of people have gathered in an arena, all packed together in the dark. The suspense is building; something is going to happen soon. Suddenly, the flickering of a projector can be heard, and thousands of people gaze towards the stage. “Hello. Welcome to the show. We are the band R.E.M. (as you know). It is great to be back in (your city name here). Are you ready to rock and roll? Great. “It lingers for a few moments, then turns to black. A dark figure meanders to the front-center of the stage. A light flicks on, coming from behind the figure, creating a silhouette. Three others walk out, each picking up an instrument. One steps onto a large platform, sitting behind the drums. An orange light in the front turns on, slowly increasing in intensity. The figures, now lit, are easily identified. From left to right: Mike Mills (bass), Michael Stipe (voice), Peter Buck(guitar), and Bill Berry(drums). Stipe is wearing a white suit with black eye shadow, his eyes appearing as bottomless pits. He is holding a megaphone in his right hand, and he purposefully strides to the microphone. “This one goes out…to the Exxon corporation”, he declares, and the r... ... middle of paper ... ...ed a notable absence of guitars. In a conscious act of cultural resistance, Radiohead released the most anti-commercial album they possibly could. In 2006 Radiohead once again threw the music industry a curveball by releasing their album “In Rainbows” completely free of charge. In a cultural experiment, fans were asked to pay whatever they felt necessary for the album. Some paid twenty dollars, some paid nothing. R.E.M.’s small acts of cultural resistance have paved the way for other bands, like Radiohead, to do the same. Due to R.E.M.’s hard work and dedication, it is now possible for a band to be more than “just a band” and a singer to be more than “just a singer.” Works Cited "Subcultural Identity in Alternative Music Culture." Popular Music 23 (1993): 33-41. Print.Duncombe, Stephen. The Cultural Resistance Reader. `: Verso Books, 2002. Print.Kruse, Holly.
Reagan touches the people of the United States because he expresses grief and sorrow in his speech. After the disaster, Reagan uses tone effectively to commemorate the deaths of the crew. “They had a special grace” or “your loved ones were loving and brave”(3) are examples of how Reagan sympathizes with the mourning families. This tone not only allows the families to grieve their losses, it also provides them with the opportunity to feel proud about their children’s accomplishments. Furthermore, Reagan uses tone to carry the people’s afflictions after the Challenger crash and change it into confidence. The people of the United States look at this crash as a failure, but Reagan turns it around when he says, “what happened today does nothing to diminish it”(6) and “we will continue to follow them” (5). Reagan’s use of tone allows him to inspire the United States to keep moving forward after the flop. This hope is what makes Reagan’s speech so successful. Tone and rhetorical appeals guide the speech but Reagan’s use of rhetorical devices is what makes the speech so successful.
Lead singer/rhythm guitarist Sonny Remlinger makes the cool clubs warm with the lyrics he belts out one reverberation at a time. Joseph finds songwriting sessions useful to the process and is crafts distinctive songs people enjoy seeing play out in live forum. “As f...
By this time it is 6:30, thirty minutes to kick-off. Everyone is starting to arrive. The band starts marching down the track, playing our school fight song. Also, in the background you can hear the players warming up to their most famous beat. By this time it is 6:50, time for the anthem to be played. As I hear the announcer come on the speaker, everything comes to a hush. It's silent and the only thing I can hear are the cars in the distance driving down the interstate, and the bugs flying around your head. Through the scratchy speakers, I can hear the announcer ask everyone to please rise for the National Anthem. At this time I hear the crowd rise from the bleachers, and a wave of silence hovers over them as the band starts playing. I can feel the tension from the players as they stand in silence. Looking at them, I can see the steam rise from their heads, from warming-up.
Before Nirvana’s reign started in 1991, the music industry was fulfilled by other fancy-dressing rock bands and strategically marketed mainstream pop stars, with no space for alternative music to establish and promote their music to wider audiences. Michael Jackson, for instance, accurately represents the status that pop music had the biggest share of music market, with his album Dangerous topping the Billboard 200 Chart at the beginning of 1992 (Burlingame, Kurt Cobain: “Oh well, Whatever Nevermind”). Eventually, Dangerous topped the Billboard 200 chart continuously for more than one month after the album’s release, which also proves the commercial success of Michael Jackson and pop music industry as a whole. On the other hand, Rock ’n’ Roll music flourished almost exclusively in the form now known as hair metal; As bands like Van Halen gained their popularity, other record labels...
Throughout history, music has been the artistic stage of philosphoical output of both ideas, emotions and stories, enducing emotional and cogitational responses from the audience, through it’s representation of ideas and through ‘words in music’. Victor Hugo says- “Music expresses…. that which cannot remain silent” (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885), and is a predominant feature in the early 1990s ‘Riot Grrrl’ movement, in which female-empowerment bands would address modern issues of sexual abuse, racism, and the patriarchy through their underground, punk rock music.
...he essence of a grief-stricken generation, exhibited an unyielding emphasis on the importance of piercing passion over musical intricacy, and introduced the world to a vast array of gifted musicians who did not deem music as a tool to achieve recognition or financial stability. In turn, the decades that followed the rise of alternative rock have been inundated with so-called musicians whose main goal has been to get their faces plastered on magazine covers and achieve maximum public exposure, rather than devoting themselves to their craft. Consequently, the world has been left with nothing but an endless parade of shocking behavior, skimpy outfits, and mediocre music. Unfortunately, if the current state of affairs is any hint of what the future holds for music audiences, the magic generated by the nineties alternative rock will not be matched in years to come.
In this article Bruce Miroff explains what a presidential spectacle is and how it relates to the government of the United States and its presidents. A spectacle is a kind of symbolic event, one in which particular details stand for broader and deeper meanings. At spectacle also presents intriguing and often dominating characters not in static poses but through actions that establish their public identities. A spectacle does not permit the audience to interrupt the action and redirect its meaning. The most distinctive characteristic of a spectacle is that the actions that constitute it are meaningful not for what they achieve but for what they signify. What is important is that they be understandable and impressive to the spectators. The mass
As it turned out, Jeff knew someone who needed a band for an ROTC Halloween party to be held in the basement of a campus dorm. The band volunteered to take the gig. Even though they had only been playing together for a few months, they had assembled a play list of cover tunes and a demo tape. They played under the temporary name of Blackwood Convention (Bernstein, 4).
Three weeks ago, Trump’s title elevated from GOP candidate to president-elect. Following this revelation, protests erupted and injured countless civilians and law enforcers. Even high schoolers, trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time, have been tear gassed and endangered through the protests. Yet, these protests determine nothing: on January 20th, Donald Trump will still become president. While hatred continues to simmer below the surface, protesters slowly realize that their street performances cannot ensure a better future, only a violent present. As they become discredited about the state of their country, the democrat’s anger morphs into anxiety. With a president-elect, who, in the past three weeks, has altered his platform and changed
Nothing would be better when President Obama would be at an event and start singing or cracking jokes with the crowd to lighten the mood or to make everybody’s days. During the two terms, he was an amazing president and did so much more than what I have written in this paper.
George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation” is a speech in which he talks about the catastrophic event on September eleventh, 2001. Two airplanes crash into the Twin Towers in New York City on this day, shocking the entire world. He addresses this speech to the people of America on the night of the disastrous event, to let the people of the United States know what is going on. This speech explains how the United States is a strong country, the motives behind the event, as well as to bring the United States together and stronger.
Although considered the day Rock ‘n’ Roll was born, many other events in American history have given foundation to this much loved idea. Rock ‘n’ Roll is much more than just music, rather it is the movement which underlines cultural imperialism. Rock had been promoting a culture of comfort and freedom from social constraints as well. Although the style of ‘Rock music’ is easily adaptable into many different sounds, it is still thoroughly identified by its definingly amplified rhythm. The sudden worldwide popularity of rock and roll resulted in an unparalleled social impact. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide. In its early years, many adults condemned the style of music, placing a stigma on its name, and forbid their children from listening and following its ways. Many considered Rock ‘n’ Roll culture as a bad influence to all people, but as the genre aged and the now not-so-young crowds had matured, Rock was respected and
President Bush’s speech was directed towards an audience of northern Arizonan republican supporters. Bush continuously uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos, the appeal to the audience’s emotions, to gain support from the crowd and connect them to the issues he addresses on an emotional level. The best example of such an issue is the promise of creating a new forest policy. By raises an issue that the audience was emotionally concerned with, Bush is able to persuade the audience to his purpose as well as relate them to it on an emotional level. It was likely that there were people in the audience who were directly affected by the recent forest fires in Arizona who felt very passionately about the topic of a new national forest policy. The appeal of emotion became a very effective tool in motioning the audience in the direction of his purpose, mainly the gain of support for the republican candidates in the next Arizona election.
Throughout the nation catastrophes occur on a daily basis; however there are a few catastrophes that have taken national precedence and left a traumatized nation. Most usually these catastrophes are an act of terrorism. Michael Nelson (2010) describes the nature of such terrorism catastrophes as disconcerting, unanticipated and that unnerve “the country’s sense of safety and identity” (p. 20). When such “a traumatic event results in the death of civilians” and “calls the nation’s institutions or values into question” the nation as a whole looks to their leader, our president, to offer solace and calm through a responsive speech (Campbell and Jamieson, 2008, p. 102). In Presidents Creating the Presidency, (2008) the authors have labeled these speeches as a national eulogy in which they usually occur at the sight of the
Once I let my thoughts return to the music, I knew what lie ahead of me. I tapped the nearest "big guy" on the shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling; the universal signal on the concert floor. He nodded, grabbed my foot, and pushed me on top of the crowd. Once I was up there was no turning back. Soon strong hands were surfing me towards the stage. I had the best view in the house and reveled in the moment. I was fueled by an adrenaline rush that was only heightened by the fusion of the music and the energy of the crowd.