Politics and Music: Class Meetings

Professor Courtney Brown

Meeting #1
DISCUSSION: This is a general overview of the course material. We discuss how music can have political implications through a variety of mechanisms. Some music is associational, while some is representational. (These terms are defined in class.) Some music contains explicit political content, while other music conveys political meaning without any explicit political content.
SELECTIONS played in class:
Sourat Al-Ahzab (from the Koran), Artist: Sheikh Abdul Basset
Meli Meli, Artist: Cheb Mami
Desert Rose (Club Mix), Artist: Sting
Tomorrow We'll See, Artist: Sting
POINTS: Music can have relative shades of political potency, dependent upon the cultural context of the audience. For example, Saudis generally recite their readings from the Koran without beautifying them with tonality, in contrast with styles favored by Egyptians. Abdul Basset's example is one of tonal beautification following the Egyptian style. On the other extreme, Arabic (a deeply theologically-Islamic language) has been used in the more modern Rai styles of Algeria to introduce modern Western musical forms into Arabic popular culture. This is considered revolutionary by some, and a number of Rai performers have been persecuted as a result. A close listening to Meli Meli reveals a huge mix of Middle Eastern and Western musical styles, including jazz and big band elements. Cheb Mami is an example of a prominent Rai performer. His contribution to the club mix of Desert Rose is proportionally greater than is his comparable contribution to the more commonly heard ballad version, so the club mix is played in class (in part, to remind students that they have heard Cheb Mami previously). The lyrics of Tomorrow We'll See are read in class, and the song played, to show how music can have explicit social content that can have ideological implications. This song, containing a story about a prostitute and her assassinated transvestite friend, leaves an obvious political mark without being explicitly political.
QUESTIONS: What do you think the more conservative Islamic clerics of Iran (for example) feel about the type of Rai music performed by Cheb Mami? How could the love tunes of Cheb Mami be seen as a vehicle for potentially revolutionary political change? Remember to consider the general youthful age of the Iranian population. How would the "Christian Right" in America react to the lyrics and message of sympathy in Sting's song, Tomorrow We'll See? Can you see how this song can generate political energy in both the conservative and liberal ends of the ideological spectrum without having the members of that spectrum reference it explicitly in their public statements?