"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

Although I've long considered (most) song lyrics poetry, I sometimes have to wonder if a song's words would carry the same power if they did not have the music behind it. On the other hand, this paradigm works both ways - most melodies definitely would not evoke the same emotions if the words didn't contribute to the overall feeling. With this in mind, I've been thinking about Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'," a song that irrevocably is enmeshed with the political unrest of the 1960s but remains relevent in these uncertain times.

As in many folk songs and ballads, the song opens with a call for people to unite. However, the song does not want to tell a story about the past. Instead, it is a call to action that aims to make people aware that society is changing at a rapid pace and that these changes are irrevocable and cannot be ignored. Consequently, in order to survive, Dylan advises that we stop doing nothing and start adapting to the changes surrounding us ("If your time to you/ Is worth savin'/ Then you better start swimmin'/ Or you'll sink like a stone").

While the words are very moving on their own, there is something about the combination of the impassioned lyrics with the strong melody that makes listening to this song a moving experience. Musically, the melody does not hold any surprises - it remains steady without any surprising dips or key changes. Together, the lyrics and melody simultaneous create a feeling of urgency ("Come mothers and fathers/ Throughout the land/ And don't criticize/ What you can't understand") while maintaining a sense of inevitability ("Please get out of the new one/ If you can't lend your hand"). It is this dichotomy and balance that, to me, makes the song so successful. The real passion (and potential anger) that comes with the song is tempered by the utter certainty in the lyrics and music.

What I find fascinating about this song is the number of covers people have done of it. In addition to the Bob Dylan original, it seems like almost every artist in the past 25 or so years has covered it, which speaks to the song's continued relevance (its this or recording this song is a rite of passage for musicians). For instance, this song has been covered by Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Phil Collins, and Peter, Paul & Mary. If you are still scratching your head over Phil Collins and The Beach Boys doing this song, try to wrap your mind around the fact that Burl Ives, who is best-known for his role as Sam the Snowman in the stop-motion special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, did a version of this song.

Despite the potential humor that listening to some of these covers might invite (just imagine Sam the Snowman whipping out his banjo and singing this song to Rudolph and Santa), for my money, if you want to go with a cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin,'" your best bet is Tracy Chapman's version:

The Trauma of Change

I'm not a fan of change. For the most part, I (like many other people) like things to stay exactly as they are, and even small changes kind of freak me out. Today, I've spent the better part of the afternoon/ evening working on getting my new computer set up. Even though it is the same brand as my old laptop, the big (Vista is confusing!) and small (why is my delete button in a completely different place?) differences are throwing me for a loop.

"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" by John Lennon

I've been reading The World in Six Songs, and there is a very thoughtful section devoted to the poetry of song lyrics. With this in mind, one of the best lyricist-poets is John Lennon. While I love many Beatles songs ("Eight Days a Week," "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Hey Jude" - the list is very long), "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is one of my favorite Lennon compositions.



Even without the the "aww" factor that he wrote the song for one of his sons (or the "uh" factor when you realize that Lennon didn't spend a great deal of time with his first son, Julian), the lyrics are still powerful and moving. There is a sweetness and optimism in the song that wasn't always present in Lennon's work (see "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" for a true example of a real downer from the Lennon songbook). Besides my favorite part ("Before you cross the street/ Please take my hand/ Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"), the assertion that "Every day in every way/ It's getting better and better," which many take as a homage to Paul McCartney's lyrics in the Beatles' song "Getting Better," illustrates Lennon's sense of hope.*

While the song has been covered by many singers (Freshly Ground, Ben Harper, and *shudder* Celine Dion), Lennon's version is the gold standard. However, if you want to see something completely manipulative and sentimental yet still oddly touching, check out Richard Dreyfuss's take on the song from Mr. Holland's Opus. Vocally, Mr, Holland would be cut down by Simon Cowell, but there is something that works about the performance.

*For the record, McCartney's chorus for "Getting Better" is "I have to admit it's getting better/ A little better all the time." Lennon, who was always the more cynical of the two, added "It can't get no worse."

"Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins

For the first day of National Poetry Month 2009, there is no better way to start than with Billy Collins, poet extraordinaire and former Poet Laureate of the United States. While he has written many great poems, his "Introduction to Poetry" is one of my favorites.

This poem brings to the forefront the problem that many an English teacher faces: how does one teach about poetry without beating the life out from it? The speaker wants his or her audience to interact with poetry in a meaningful way, which is what many English teachers want from their students. However, sometimes teachers' best intentions get in the way of their ultimate goal. For a long time, students have been asked to figure out exactly what a poem means and what devices the author employs to convey this meaning. Between looking at the use of assonance, slant rhyme, and metaphor and trying to decide how a poet's mother issues influenced his or her writing, we often forget that poetry is something to be savored, not something that should be beaten with a hose.

During one of his terms as Poet Laureate, Collins started Poetry 180 to encourage teachers to share poetry with their high school students for the sheer enjoyment of sharing poetry. Without the pressure of literary terms or standardized test questions, Collins hoped to make poetry enjoyable for a new generation of students.

With this in mind, here's to National Poetry Month 2009. Let us aim for enjoying the poetry along the way.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my blog's first birthday! In the past year, the country has elected a new president, and I've crawled a little closer to my dissertation. Thank you for reading, and I will do my best to continue to bring you my (ahem) unique view on books, pop culture, and the world around us.

Going over my stats and the number of visits I have had to the blog, it might be interesting to note that the most popular pages on this blog (according to StatCounter.com) are:

• My first entry on "The World is a Beautiful Place"
• "Twilight Haters of the World Unite!"
• My second entry (done on 9/11/2008) on "The World is a Beautiful Place"

Thanks for a great year, and please stay tuned for more!

Reach for the Sun

It's been a rough couple of days. Between dealing with angry/ anxious/ disaffected students and pressing forward with my work, I've been feeling a little worn down. While drinking a bottle of wine, indulging in some retail therapy, or eating a tub of Ben & Jerry's are certainly options for handling these issues, I'm trying to be a little more proactive about this. Consequently, even as I attempt to try and type of midterm assessments, I am listening/ watching this clip from the Scrubs episode "My Choosiest Choice of All."



Not only does the music provide instant uplift (who can be angry when listening to this song?), I have found that JD's assertion "In the end, it's about integrity" is very true. While it may be tempting to opt for the easy route, it is also important to remember that, when it comes down to it, sometimes all you have left is your integrity and your understanding of self.

Additionally, dealing with problems in this fashion does not leave you with any unpleasant aftereffects like hangovers, buyer's remorse, or stomachaches. So watch and repeat as necessary (I've probably watched the clip 20 times in the past two hours).

March 21: World Poetry Day & "Pippa Passes"

According to the wonderful resource ReadWriteThink by NCTE, today is World Poetry Day (who knew?). According to the RWT site:

Believed to have its origin in the 1930s, World Poetry Day is now celebrated in hundreds of countries around the world. This day provides a perfect opportunity to examine poets and their craft in the classroom. In 1999, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) also designated March 21 as World Poetry Day.

To honor of World Poetry Day, it seemed fitting to do two things. The first is to call attention to Poets.org's new Animated Poems feature, which reveals poetry line by line. It is an interesting idea, even if I do like having the entire text in front of me when reading a poem.

Secondly, given the gorgeous (if chilly) weather today in Boston and the start of spring (at least in theory), here is one of my favorite selections that always reminds me of spring (and, less magically, freshman English class):

from "Pippa Passes"
by Robert Browning

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven -
All's right with the world!

While other poems might contradict Browning's optimistic and rather simple assertion of the rightness of the world ("The World is a Beautiful Place" comes to mind), I find this poem comforting. Giving the ongoing strife in the world, sometimes it is important to take a step back from the numerous problems featured in the news (the economic crisis, the war, the problems in foreign countries, etc) and try to focus on the positive.

With this in mind, I'm not completely convinced that Ferlinghetti's "The World is a Beautiful Place" is that different from these few lines of "Pippa Passes." Although Ferlinghetti's poem takes a considerably darker and more satiric tone than Browning's, both pieces make the argument for focusing on what there is to enjoy about the world around us. While Ferlinghetti consistently brings up the problems facing society (bombings, war, death, and starvation), "The World is a Beautiful Place" might be read as an admonition to focus on the good things in life even in the face of seemingly unremitting turmoil. If "even in heaven/ they don't sing/ all the time," then perhaps Ferlinghetti is trying to tell us that, rather than waiting for everything to be perfect, we should try to enjoy what we do have.

With all of this said, I doubt that the titular Pippa would be nearly quite so happy if she happened to run into Mr. Ferlinghetti's nameless narrator.

Want more "The World is a Beautiful Place"? Check out my first and second posts on the poem.