La Bamba was suppose to be the second track to what was assumed to be the hit record Donna but it was La Bamba that stole the show. Valens and the recording studio was shocked that a Latin based lyric song could be popular. Valens was an American Mexican who did not know Spanish and was incredibly hesitant to even perform La Bamba. La Bamba for him was a Mexican folk song that was well known in his parent culture with over 500 verses. The true roots probably go even further back to African cultures who interpreted La Bamba to be wood, the wood dance floor. In the Mexican tradition La Bamba is a dance performed by newlyweds by tying a ribbon with their feet to symbolize their love. Valens was very concerned that he would mock his culture and his roots but he worked on his accent and sang the song in Spanish and it was a smash hit. Valens was accompanied by great side musicians and ended up making a lot of TV appearances. He was a very talented performer who knew how to sell a song and that is exactly what he did. La Bamba is a fun loving song that can catch everyone’s attention. I thought it was very interesting to learn that La Bamba was one of the first Latin American songs to hit the stage in the music industry because to me Mexican roots have always been intertwined with American history. It is also very interesting to note that Valens was very concerned with performing the song correctly with the right Spanish accent he wanted to represent his culture correctly. The importance of being “politically” correct goes a long ways back.
The second song that really caught my attention and that I have a lot of fond memories of is Respect by Aretha Franklin, the queen of music. Growing up in a household of all girls in a fairly conservative household as the oldest I took it upon myself to flex my feminism ideals and Respect became a theme song in our household. I often led dance rehearsals with my five younger sisters directing movements and costume designs. The song Respect was all about a call to action and has been for a very long time, not just for me as a young white American girl growing up in the Northwest in the 1990’s. Respect is women at all stages of life. Evelyn C. White made a direct connection with the song as a young thirteen year old girl growing up in the middle of the civil war movement. Following the Birmingham church bombing White idolized Franklin as a black female singer who demanded action. She was a black woman who had a voice and gave a voice to women everywhere who were facing great turmoil. Women started demanding rights as the civil movement progressed. Franklin with her song became a leader.
Music has the power to become a face of a movement. The song has a raw energy to it with a twinge of triumphant elation that did not paint a dream-like life but a harsh reality that many women were facing at the time. The song makes women feel good about them, like they can conquer all of their troubles and worries to have hope. The song continues to be a powerhouse of motivation for women everywhere. It is a common topic in the Mormon community that women are under attack of degradation by the media and society but Respect is a landmark of a song that gives women power and confidence. I thought it was very interesting and motivating to learn that one of my favorite songs has such deep roots that have affected women over many centuries and was recorded during a very tumultuous time period in the civil rights movement.
The third song that I chose to study was the musical Oklahoma by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Growing up my parents went on date nights so my sisters and I would cook up some pizza or fish sticks and pop in a movie. There was a period of time when we, mainly me as the oldest sister became fascinated with musicals and Oklahoma was one of the first to win over my heart. Since then my father has been a huge supporter of my musical love as we often get in the car together and he will start to sing the ever famous lines “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a wonderful feeling everything’s goin my way”. Curly the hunk cowboy star starts the show as he enters stage singing the docile, sweet, optimistic song. My first time of seeing the play I loved the opener it was an absolute hit as it was with other critics only after it was rigorously reworked. The docile opener is unique to Oklahoma as that was not a traditional way of opening a musical.
The play was done by Richard Rodgers without his previous lyricist Lorenzo Hart who became a nonfunctional alcoholic and so Rodgers pursued this opportunity to work with Oscar Hammerstein in 1943 to produce Oklahoma. The lyrics were written first and then the music was added later and because of that this was one of the first times that the plot and storyline became the leading characteristic in a play over music. Although Oklahoma had a very uncharacteristic opening song as mentioned previously in that it began with a sweet, docile opener it was a success because when it was first showed the song produced an overwhelming sigh from the audience in New Haven. The play was originally showed in New Haven under that name Away We Go instead of in New York to avoid the harsh critics that it was sure to follow but after a few alterations, particularly of adding the whole ensemble Oklahoma song the play moved to New York performing over 2000 times on Broadway. The story of two lovers was an instant success in a war torn America who fell in love with Curly and Lori.
"Oh What A Beautiful Morning"
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