Dancing About Architecture
Welcome to August session! I am calling my blog "Dancing About Architecture" in honor of the comedian Martin Mull, who said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." My belief in the absurdity of that quote gives the blog its name. This week's Shabbat theme concerns Jewish camping and its affect on identity, and I decided to broaden it to be about the relationship between place and identity in order to encompass a broader range of songs for the campers to sing. Stevie Nicks's "Landslide" is about a certain location and the self-discovery that occurs at it. In "Sugar Mountain," Neil Young describes an ideal place and his desire to live there. The song teaches us to realize the beauty of the world around us and the ephemeral nature of our time in any one place. "I Will Follow You into the Dark," by indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie, describes a place between heaven and hell and the fidelity that the narrator shows to the person he's singing to by promising to follow her there. The song praises the value of loyalty even when the place it leads us to may be frightening. The Eagles' classic "Hotel California" paints the picture (in somewhat coded language) of a rehabilitation facility. Though certain places may not always be exactly where we most desire to be, sometimes we can learn from them and they can positively affect our identity in the long run. "Under the Bridge," by alt-rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, depicts the narrator's love of his home city and the vital role that it plays in his identity. In "American Pie," Don McClean gives a history of rock and roll. This fundamentally American art form makes up a crucial part of our identity as Americans, and therefore understanding it helps us to make better sense of our nationalistic identity. Finally, we will conclude Havdalah as we always have this summer (when time has permitted)--by singing the Melvina Reynolds folk song "Little Boxes." As I explained last week, I have been encouraging campers to think about the song in a different way each time we sing it, and I'll post a different way that I myself think about it in each of my posts here. For this week, I like to think about the Pete Seeger live recording in which the audience is laughing the entire time. As I sing the song, I think about why exactly they're laughing and whether or not their laughter is an appropriate reaction. Shabbat shalom.
Max Bledstein
Music Specialist
Welcome to August session! I am calling my blog "Dancing About Architecture" in honor of the comedian Martin Mull, who said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." My belief in the absurdity of that quote gives the blog its name. This week's Shabbat theme concerns Jewish camping and its affect on identity, and I decided to broaden it to be about the relationship between place and identity in order to encompass a broader range of songs for the campers to sing. Stevie Nicks's "Landslide" is about a certain location and the self-discovery that occurs at it. In "Sugar Mountain," Neil Young describes an ideal place and his desire to live there. The song teaches us to realize the beauty of the world around us and the ephemeral nature of our time in any one place. "I Will Follow You into the Dark," by indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie, describes a place between heaven and hell and the fidelity that the narrator shows to the person he's singing to by promising to follow her there. The song praises the value of loyalty even when the place it leads us to may be frightening. The Eagles' classic "Hotel California" paints the picture (in somewhat coded language) of a rehabilitation facility. Though certain places may not always be exactly where we most desire to be, sometimes we can learn from them and they can positively affect our identity in the long run. "Under the Bridge," by alt-rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, depicts the narrator's love of his home city and the vital role that it plays in his identity. In "American Pie," Don McClean gives a history of rock and roll. This fundamentally American art form makes up a crucial part of our identity as Americans, and therefore understanding it helps us to make better sense of our nationalistic identity. Finally, we will conclude Havdalah as we always have this summer (when time has permitted)--by singing the Melvina Reynolds folk song "Little Boxes." As I explained last week, I have been encouraging campers to think about the song in a different way each time we sing it, and I'll post a different way that I myself think about it in each of my posts here. For this week, I like to think about the Pete Seeger live recording in which the audience is laughing the entire time. As I sing the song, I think about why exactly they're laughing and whether or not their laughter is an appropriate reaction. Shabbat shalom.
Max Bledstein
Music Specialist
