Messages: Godspell's "Tower of Babble"

Welcome back to Additive Noise! We’re going to spin off in a fun direction today with some practical application. Music is a form of communication, designed to send messages, and today’s song sends more messages than any I’ve ever heard before. We’re diving into the world of Broadway, with the prologue from the musical Godspell: “Tower of Babble”.

                

Cleverly named after the biblical parable of the Tower of Babel, where one language was split into the many languages of the world, “Tower of Babble” is a song featuring eight soloists all telling different messages. The play is based on the Biblical gospel of Matthew, and the characters sing “Tower of Babble” before they have met Jesus. Their minds are clouded with many philosophies, and I mean that literally. Each character sings a solo quoted straight from the works of a famous philosopher. Over many performances and many revisions, these have come to include Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Leonardo DaVinci, Jean-Paul Sartre, Buckminster Fuller, Martin Luther, and many others.

                

Despite the many versions, the song nearly always begins the same way, with the Apology of Socrates. “Wherefore, o men of Athens, I say to you/ therefore, acquit me or not, but whichever you do/I shall never alter my ways, never adjust my approach to this maze/never reform till the end of my days, even if I have to die many times.” As each man or woman steps forward to give their own opinion, the solos intertwine. Sometimes they work together in counterpoint, such as with Leonardo DaVinci and Jonathan Edwards, who sing a duet together that “sings an argument”. Sometimes, they just plain sing over one another. By the end, no one can really tell who’s saying what, or why.

                

This song is an absolute piece of genius, because it takes great skill to create organized chaos. There is a reason the composer, Stephen Schwartz, is a Broadway legend. Not once do the philosophers run over each other to the point of destruction, and the music is designed such that they can all sing on top of one another while still sounding harmonious. This is difficult enough to do with two singers, let alone eight.

                

I highly recommend that we all listen to this song several times this week. We live in an age where differing opinions have the power to make or ruin lives. It is my hope that if these eight philosophers can put out all of their ideas at once while still sounding beautiful, we can learn to do the same with ours. It’s all about respect, folks.

                

Challenge yourself this week!  Look up “Tower of Babble” and select a philosopher to learn more about. Perhaps you have more in common with Socrates than you thought! See you next week here with Additive Noise!

Artist Profile: Sonata Arctica

Welcome back to Additive Noise, your #1 source for music recommendations. We’ve touched on all varieties of cultural music recently, but now it’s time to strike a harsher chord. Follow me to Finland, home of semi-famous power metal band Sonata Arctica.

                

‘Power metal’ as a subgenre does not come with the most respect. In fact, power metal bands are generally viewed as the pansy-ish boy bands of the metal scene. However, Sonata Arctica has managed to take their progressive style (for example, their use of the keytar) and use it to brand power metal with a new face.

When the band first formed in 1999 from the ashes of an attempt at hard rock, it took a little while to get some traction. They first found real fame with their 2004 album, Reckoning Night, which featured the single “Don’t Say A Word”. Both single and album topped Finnish charts for over a month, and even earned Sonata Arctica a place on a European tour with popular symphonic metal band Nightwish.

“Don’t Say A Word” is one of Sonata Arctica’s more harsh, raw pieces. It speaks of the agony of love, how one loves and hates simultaneously, leading to the destruction of the soul. The chorus is an upstanding voice of morals among the chaotic, painful verses: “Mother always said, ‘My son, do the noble thing/You have to finish what you started no matter what’”. This combination of emotional weakness and strength makes the song one of the most relatable songs in Sonata Arctica’s repertoire.

Two albums and much success later, Sonata Arctica smashed through the charts once more with their single “Flag in the Ground”, from the album The Days of Grays. Unlike “Don’t Say A Word”, “Flag in the Ground” is a smoother listen, designed to tell a story rather than invoke emotions. It tells the tale of a couple from the days of exploration and settlement, torn apart as he sails across the sea to find land for them to live on. He leaves behind his wife and unborn child. The lyrics come straight from the letters they share: “Please let me know everything’s alright/thinking about you though you’re out of sight.” It is a much more melancholy album in general, but earned the band great praise for their willingness to try something new.

After the success of “Flag in the Ground”, it appears that Sonata Arctica became even more different. Their most recent album, “Stones Grow Her Name”, was described by frontman and lead vocalist Tony Kakko as “melodic heavy rock” with “Less parts per song, smaller and better arranged songs with strong lead melodies so the backing harmonies would remain just that: backing harmonies” (from an interview with Metal Temple, June 2012).

The leading single from “Stones Grow Her Name” is called “I Have A Right”. It speaks with the voice of a child, declaring children’s rights “to be heard, to be seen, to be loved, to be free, to be everything I need to be me, to be safe, to believe in something”. While it may not be the band’s most complex piece, it brings to light an important issue, reinforcing it with strength and repetition.

These three featured songs are, of course, only the tip of the Sonata Arctica iceberg. Whether you’re a diehard heavy metal fan or have never heard a metal song in your life, Sonata Arctica is definitely worth a listen.

Telling Celtic Stories

No foray through the realm of music is complete without a bit of cultural variety. Where do we find cultural music in a world of crazy college students?

Anyone who has ever raised a bottle will tell you that many college students get their culture in the form of classic Irish drinking music. Today, we’ll be going through a medley of Irish tunes from the Additive Noise library.

We begin with an old classic that many of us already know. If you’ve ever seen a movie with Irish movie, chances are you’ve heard some variation of “I’ll Tell Me Ma.”

It’s a children’s song from the British Isles, and happens to have a game that goes along with it. Children stand in a circle and sing the song, which speaks of a beautiful young lady, dubbed “the belle of Belfast city,” and asking for her name.

To play the game, one child stands in the center of the circle, and every time they sing “Please, won’t you tell me who is she?” the person in the center calls out the name of someone in the circle.

They trade places, and continue singing. The song is a classic at Irish dances and wedding receptions, because it is easy to dance to and it gives the audience a sense of merriment.

Another classic follows right behind it, but this one is a bit farther off the map. “The Raggle Taggle Gypsy” is a native song of Scotland that spread quickly through Britain and Ireland.

It tells the tale of a nobleman chasing after his wife, who has run away with a gypsy lover. The song has held many names over the years: “Seven Yellow Gypsies,” “Black Jack Davy,” and “The Draggletail Gypsies” to name a few.

It was even published in a book of songs compiled by Scottish poet Robert Burns. The most popular recording of “The Raggle Taggle Gypsy” in current times is that by popular Irish band The Chieftains, featuring the American bluegrass group Nickel Creek.

I highly recommend this recording, as it features multiple voices in a ‘call and response’ fashion, making it fun to sing along with.

Last but not least, we’ll follow up two classics with a more modern ditty. If you’ve seen the movie Titanic, then you’ve heard of Gaelic Storm (the Irish dance in 3^rd class scene –sound familiar?)

Gaelic Storm is actually one of the most prominent Celtic bands in existence, and is the essence of world music. Their members come from England, Ireland, The United States and even Canada.

Though it’s not one of their many billboard top hits, the song that speaks most to me from their repertoire is “Lover’s Wreck,” from their smash 2008 hit “What’s The Rumpus?” “Lover’s Wreck” is the lament of a sailor, presumably for a lost lover.

He describes his life as “A hundred days at sea, a retch away from misery,” while pining for his lover, “a siren, dripping with desire.”

He hints that she was stolen away from him by a ‘thieving band’, and vows that he’ll never sin again if only God will bring her back to him. It’s not a classic, but it sure does sound like one.

Now with these three tracks to build on, it is my hope that the Celtic playlists across campus will grow this week. Embrace your inner Irishman, and play on!