Project update

This week, I will present one of my secondary and academic sources.

Last week, I shared two possible secondary sources that I found on Jstor:

- “Music Iconography and the Semiotics of Visual Representation”, written by Ann Buckley and published by the University of New York  -> found on Jstor

- “Eye-Tracking Film Music”, written by Miguel Mera and Simone Stumpf, and published by the University of Illinois Press -> found on Jstor

But the first one isn’t accessible, so I found another article. It is a journal article entitled “’Don't let me go! Hold me down!’: inspiration, voice and image in Kate Bush's Hounds of Love” written by Ian Cawood and published by the Cambridge University Press, in January 2016. This article is from the journal Popular Music (Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 41-63).

Today, I will present the second one. It is a journal article entitled “Eye-Tracking Film Music”. This article was written by Miguel Mera and Simone Stumpf and was published by the University of Illinois Press in Fall 2014. “Eye-Tracking Film Music” was originally released in the journal Music and the Moving Image (Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 3-23).

Miguel Mera and Simone Stumpf are two researchers who wrote a research essay on how music shapes visual attention using eye-tracking techniques. They did a professional test with a dozen of participants who volunteered to help them with their research. They used the silent movie The Artist (2011) and they showed three different versions to the participants to analyse their attention. The first version was composed of a silent scene – images were just moving. The second version was made of the same scene of the film, but a “distracting” music was added. They used an orchestral music with a high energy performance but a lack of rhythmic difference. And for the third version, Miguel Mera and Simone Stumpf used a “focusing” music which was also orchestral and had a playful character but was much more relaxed than the distracting music of the second version. The ten participants were exposed to these three different versions. And this study showed that “focusing” music helps to attract visual attention to a target more quickly and to increase the fixation duration. This article completely illustrates the idea that music, whatever its nature, has the effect of concentrating participants’ gaze in the visual scene and has the effect of encouraging greater exploration of the overall scene. This article also evokes that visual attention is primarily affected by emotion and that emotion is affected by music. Therefore, images and music are closely linked.

This will help me to understand my primary sources as I will talk of the mutual impact that Stranger Things and the song of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” have on each other, particularly with the intense scene of Max running away from Vecna.

Moreover, as this song is played several times in the fourth season of the Netflix TV show, people will instantly know that the scenes in which this music is played will have a great significance for the plot.

Concerning my project

This week I will talk about my research project. I chose the topic “Kate Bush and Stranger Things” because I think that the song of Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill” can now be connected to this Netflix show. Her song has been reused and revived in the fourth season of Stranger Things which was released in May and July 2022. First, I wanted to tackle the impact of her song nowadays, but with the advice of our professor, I will now try to link Kate Bush’s song official release to the way it has been used by Netflix this year. It means that I will look at the representation of her song when it was originally released in 1985 and I will look at how this representation has changed in 2022 with Netflix.

My key question will be: How does the representation of the song “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush changed and to what extent has it been revived in 2022?

Therefore, for my time frame, I will focus on the period from 1985 to 2022.

1985 because it is the year of the first release of the song and 2022 because the song is back in the charts and on the radio. However, I'm going to focus more on the current year as I'm interested in the new representation of Kate Bush’s song which has been revived thanks to its appearance in Stranger Things series. Several of my primary sources talk of a “revival” of the song.

Concerning my primary sources and the methodology, I will use a lot the music videos as I will look at the visual representation and the lyrics. I will compare these two music videos.

Music videos:

“Max’s Song (Full Scene) | Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill | Stranger Things | Netflix” YouTube

“Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill - Official Music Video” YouTube

News articles:

- “How ‘Stranger Things’ Landed Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’”, Variety

- “Stranger Things’ ushers in a Kate Bush renaissance”, The Washington Post

Online articles:

- “The Story of... 'Running Up that Hill' by Kate Bush after Stranger Things resurgence” Smooth radio

- “Behind The Song: Kate Bush, ‘Running Up That Hill’” American Songwriter

-> In these articles, I will focus on the meaning and visual representation that have changed between 1985 and 2022. The news articles show the symbolism the music has for the series and they will also help me to develop my point concerning the “revival” of the song of Kate Bush thanks to the series.

Fans’ reactions:

- on Twitter

- on TikTok

-> I will use the fans’ reactions to prove the impact that Stranger Things had on this song this year. People have discovered (or rediscovered) this music through the Netflix series. “Running Up That Hill” has been a song used for numerous trends on TikTok.

Finally, for my secondary sources, I'm not 100% sure because I still have to find out and keep reading. But I will use articles from universities and the concept of Andrew Goodwin that Negus mentioned in the chapter on mediations (chapter that I will use for my project!). I will connect my topic to his theory on illustration, amplification and disjuncture as I will be interested in the visual representation of the song “Running Up That Hill”. His theory will help me to analyse the two music videos I mentioned.

Moreover, I still need to finish reading the academic articles, but I will maybe use:

- “Music Iconography and the Semiotics of Visual Representation”, written by Ann Buckley and published by the University of New York -> found on Jstor

- “Eye-Tracking Film Music”, written by Miguel Mera and Simone Stumpf, and published by the University of Illinois Press -> found on Jstor

Vianney and Ed Sheeran, “Call On Me”

This week I want to talk about the song “Call On Me” by Vianney and Ed Sheeran.

“Call On Me” is a bilingual title in which the two artists sing in English and in French. Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter and Vianney is a French singer-songwriter. This duet was recorded in the basement of Ed Sheeran’s London home. Vianney said in an interview he was not against singing in English and that Ed Sheeran wanted to sing in French. Therefore, both singers share their language in their duet “Call On Me”. And Ed Sheeran even sings in French: “Je la sens la solitude sans toi”. This is a great example of popular music because this music was produced and released for the people themselves. Singing in French and in English multiplies the number of listeners because the audience of this song is composed of two different nationalities – French and English. Therefore, I find that there is a link to the chapter on Geographies by Keith Negus because two places, territories, languages, nationalities were used to make this song !

Moreover, the song refers to a subject that affects many human beings. Indeed, “Call On Me” evokes the loss of a loved one. They wanted to write on such a topic because they both experienced loss of people close to them. This song highlights the pain to move forward.

In addition, I want to look at the image that represents the song.

Images are really significant in the music industry, and sometimes images are even symbolic. The black and white photograph serves to illustrate the background of the song on YouTube since there is no music video. Ed Sheeran and Vianney are musicians that portray a sort of “soft image”. During our class on mediations, we said that images in music are associated to create a certain world, a certain aesthetic ; and here it’s totally the case because Vianney and Ed Sheeran have been photographed while recording the song “Call On Me”, and this photograph conveys softness, proximity, and privacy, as the music is about loss and grief.

Negus mentioned the theory of Goodwin. In fact, Goodwin indicated how relations between sound and image are mediated and combined in quite specific ways. There are three ways: illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Here, illustration is the way that perfectly applies to the song of Vianney and Ed Sheeran because the visual of the image used for the music “Call On Me” tries to illustrate the mood of the song. There is an actual visual narrative that tells the story of the song lyric. Hence, I believe this music and this image are a great representation of our course on popular music.

Sting and his political activism

This week I want to talk about Sting’s activism and his new album The Bridge.

The Bridge is Sting's fifteenth studio album, released on 19 November 2021. Recorded during lockdown, this album deals with themes of loss, separation and unrest. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the frontman, songwriter and bassist in the rock band The Police from 1977 to their breakup in 1986. He started his solo career in 1985.

The Bridge is an album that opens with a song called “Rushing Water” “that seeks to bridge all of the petty differences that can separate us.”

His album discusses the major societal changes that have affected him in recent years, such as the Brexit, the pandemic and populism. I chose to speak about him as he is a political activist and shows interest in social and politic issues. His political activism can be linked to Negus who talked about politics in general in his last chapter.

“Loving You” is the fourth song of the album. While listening to the music, people believe that it refers to the breakup of two lovers and their failure to communicate, fuelled by jealousy and distrust. But it can also be interpreted as the divide between people as a whole and how the actions by some could have caused others to lose faith in them: “You say that I don’t listen / That I don’t give you no respect”. These two striking lines are the opening lines of the song.

More generally, Sting is heavily involved in human rights activism. He has written songs inspired by his concern for world hunger. Released in 1980, “Driven to Tears” is an indictment of inaction on world hunger. Also, he has cancelled concerts in response to human rights issues in several countries. Sting is an activist for human rights and a defender of the environment as well! The cause of defending the environment has been close to his heart for thirty years. He participated in the Live Earth concert in 2007 to raise awareness of the climate crisis and founded an ecological and humanitarian association with his wife Trudie Styler. In 1987, they founded a non-governmental organization called The Rainforest Foundation Fund which is a charitable foundation dedicated to help and save the rainforests and protect and defend the rights of indigenous people -Sting gives his support to the indigenous populations in Amazonia and is extremely affected by the deforestation of the Amazonian forest.

Personally, I think it's an admirable way for an artist to share with his audience the causes that are close to him and the things he is fighting for and calling for. Sting is a remarkable activist who subtly tries to put meaningful lyrics in his songs and is involved in many actions to improve human life. His humanitarian activism has even been recognized by Amnesty International. In class, we said that music can be political if the artist is political and therefore, I believe that some songs of Sting can be considered political because of the fact that he is an activist defending human rights and the environment. Perhaps he has an audience that is mature enough (it is estimated that few minors listen to him) to understand the messages and issues that are hidden or even visible in his popular songs.

Source:

https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/artists-using-music-to-promote-human-rights/

Kate Bush and Stranger Things

For my project, I chose to talk about the song of Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill” which appears numerous times in the 4th season of the Netflix series Stranger Things. I want to look closely at the mediation process that takes place between the two because I think it is interesting to analyse the link between this song and Netflix.

My key questions will be: How does the presence of the song “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush in Stranger Things is related to mediation? What is the impact of mediation on the song of Kate Bush in the 4th season of Stranger Things? Can we talk of a revival of her song?

For my primary sources, I will use:

News articles:

- “Stranger Things 4 Episode 4 Recap And Review: Dear Billy”, Forbes

- “How ‘Stranger Things’ Landed Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’”, Variety

- “Stranger Things’ ushers in a Kate Bush renaissance”, The Washington Post

Chart rankings

Music videos:

- Max’s Song (Full Scene) | Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill | Stranger Things | Netflix

- Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill - Official Music Video

Fans’ reactions:

- on Twitter

- on TikTok

Books:

- Popular Music in Theory, Keith Negus

And obviously:

The Netflix series Stranger Things and especially the 4th episode of the 4th season called “Dear Billy”.

Elton John and Lady Diana

This week I want to talk about Elton John’s song “Candle in the Wind” as it is related to the chapter of “Histories”.

“Candle in the Wind” was originally written in 1973 in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died in 1962. And in 1997, Elton John performed a rewritten version of the song as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. This song serves as a memorial to Diana, who died from injuries caused by a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris on 31 August 1997.

Elton John and Lady Diana became friends in 1981 at Prince Andrew's birthday party at Windsor Castle. The Queen Mother and Princess Anne were huge fans of Elton John since his early days, therefore he had been invited to several intimate family events, including Prince Andrew's birthday party. Some people say it was friendship at first sight when the pair met. That night, they danced together for 20 minutes. Over the years, they have become very close friends.

As one of Diana’s true friends, Elton John performed “Candle in the Wind 1997” at her funeral, which is considered to be one of the singer's greatest performances. The version of 1973 differs from the version of 1997 with the opening lyrics that were changed from “Goodbye Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all” to “Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts”. Elton John’s touching tribute captured the emotion of the British audience after Diana’s death. Nowadays, “Candle in the Wind 1997” is widely remembered as a historical memento. Many audiences were touched by this song which resonated with the entire world. This week, we talked about a continuum between history and popular music, and I think that the idea of a connection between history and popular music can be made here with “Candle in the Wind”. In class, we also said that music can be part of history and can be about history as well. Princess Diana’s death is part of history and as she was deeply loved, the song of Elton John was highly appreciated and supported by the world. “Candle in the Wind” regards a part of history but Elton John’s performance at Diana’s funeral is also a historical event that marked the music industry and is now part of the history of the popular music industry. To conclude, “Candle in the Wind” is historic and memorable because it is the highest-selling single of all time, since records began, and Elton John won a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Pop Performance.

Sources:

https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/elton-john/princess-diana-friendship-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle_in_the_Wind

“Man Down” and the power of words

This week, I will talk about Rihanna’s song, “Man Down” (Trigger warning: mention of rape).

This song, which was released in 2011, enables Rihanna to show Barbados, her native country thanks to the music video released on YouTube. But this music doesn’t serve to represent Barbadians, their way of life or the exotic landscapes, it serves to highlight and condemn abusive behaviours. The lyrics are highly meaningful and significant. Inspired by the 1970s classic reggae tune, “I Shot the Sheriff” performed by the reggae legend, Bob Marley, this song relates the story of a woman who kills the man who raped her. But this word is not used!  Provoked by what seems to be an abusive behaviour – which can be seen when she sings: “What started out as a simple altercation. Turned into a real sticky situation” – she picks up a gun and shoots him dead in the middle of a crowd. She immediately regrets her action ; the very first words of her song are “I didn't mean to end his life, I know it wasn't right. I can't even sleep at night, can't get it off my mind”. Later she confesses she didn’t really mean to end his life, but to defend herself. Rihanna killed the abusive man in the heat of the moment and plans to escape so she doesn’t end up in jail.

This song can be seen as a way to criticise the notion of genres mentioned this week in class. In fact, the sexing of genres exists in the music industry but also in real life. Still in today’s society, male and female representations are discussed, as well as their identities, since the male gender is the one with the most power. This male superiority is illustrated in the music video of “Man Down”.  Linked to the chapter on “Mediations”, the music video is triggering for some people, because the act of raping is present with the images of a man assaulting a woman in a dark place whereas Rihanna does not explicitly use this term in the lyrics. She talks about a “sticky situation”. Images help to amplify the words in the lyrics.

Because of the ‘violence’ in the music video, the Parents Television Council in the United States criticised the music and tried to censor the video. It can remind us of the two videos showing the hearing of Frank Zappa and Dee Snider at PMRC Senate because of rock lyrics – PMRC stands for The Parents Music Resource Centre. Therefore, “Man Down” is connected to several chapters of the Negus. It’s firstly connected the chapter on “Audiences” because the lyrics reflect the murder of a man, which may be considered inappropriate for some younger audiences, for example. This music is also related to “Mediations” and to this week’s chapter “Identities” as I explained above.

Thus, I find Rihanna’s song relevant because it evokes several ideas that we read in the Negus.

Source: https://genius.com/Rihanna-man-down-lyrics

Why are cover songs so numerous in the popular music industry?

This week, I want to talk about cover songs. Called “remake” or “remix” in French, a cover song is a new performance or recording of a previously recorded song by someone other than the original artist or composer. The new recording is generally similar to the original song in terms of structure, though the rhythm and lyrics may slightly differ. Especially since the 1950s, remakes of songs have been quite popular in the music industry and musicians are publishing “cover versions” of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. The remaking of songs is allowed as long as the singer pays a royalty to the song's creator.

Nowadays, streaming services and social media are a means of mediation that enhance communication between different audiences. Therefore, cover songs can be discovered through streaming services and social media by new audiences who didn’t know the original song. In fact, many people prefer cover songs to original songs! I want to mention the fact that cover versions of songs can definitely become more popular than the original. Sometimes it is the date of publication that allows for greater success or even the differences in lyrics and rhythm that are conducive to better sales. In some cases, the only reason a song becomes more popular is all due to a remake by a different artist.

The cover song that comes to my mind is the one performed by Jonas Blue and Dakota of the song “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.

“Fast Car” is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, which was released in 1988. The genre of this song is contemporary folk. But in 2015 it was no longer the most popular and most listened to genre. Therefore, Jonas Blue and Dakota released a cover version which has the particularity of not being the same genre of music anymore, since the musical genre of this version is considered as tropical house, also known as trop house – a subgenre of house music, and a derivation of tropical music, with elements of dancehall and Balearic house – and dance pop.

Jonas Blue is an English DJ, record producer, songwriter, and remixer. His production derives mostly from dance-pop and tropical house. Dakota is a British singer who sang Tracy Chapman's lyrics. Their remix was a big hit, and their music video has been viewed over 500 million times!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version   

The art of collaboration in the music industry

Nowadays, the music industry relies heavily on collaborations between artists as it is considered as one of the most significant creative forces driving the recording industry. In fact, a music collaboration happens when two or more singers and musicians come together to produce a musical project. But what is the purpose of music collaboration? And why does it seem so important for the industry?

The benefits are actually numerous. First of all, music collaborations help the artists to link their fanbases together. Collabs between famous artists often create a “buzz of curiosity”. They give fans a chance to see their favourite artists interact with another. It also helps lesser-known musicians to be into the public eye. Collaborations mean better musicianship – singers have new opportunities to learn and create alongside other artists. While perfecting a collaboration, artists have the ability to stretch their boundaries and to go beyond their musical limits. Sales following collaborations are usually higher, knowing the linking of different audiences.

There have been so many collaborations between singers that it is difficult to mention them all. But I can think of one in particular, which is “Love Me Harder”.

“Love Me Harder” is a song by Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, which was released in 2014. The year before, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd were up-and-coming artists, and they were both releasing their debut albums in 2013.

This song was released by Republic Records, an American record label and both Ariana Grande and The Weeknd were signed to this label. So, the collaboration between them was pushed by their mutual label, and by its executive vice president who stated that The Weeknd would be positioned as the best new artist of 2014. Therefore, this collaboration was part of a strategy to promote The Weeknd.

In the United States, the song peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and this music also became The Weeknd's first top ten entry in the US. On youtube, "Love Me Harder" has been viewed 767 million times, so I believe that this collaboration was a global success!

What happens to the audience when music bands split up?

This week I want to talk about music bands because today a lot of music are sung by bands and by singers who have left their bands to begin their individual careers. And the interesting thing to study is the impact on the audience when a music band splits up.

Firstly, according to ReverbNation Blog, there are three main reasons why band members decide to stop producing music together. Money is the primary factor as everything in the music industry is costly. Band break-ups often happen because of arguments involving money, which can sometimes be considered a poison. Music industry is based on contracts between musicians and producers or companies and the sole purpose of the link between the two is to reach a large audience, or in other words, to earn money. The second reason is the compatibility or rather the lack of compatibility between the members of the band. As time goes on, views are changing and the goals of each are replaced by others. Creative differences can deteriorate relationships. Their perspectives may not be the same after several years of working together. And the last reason can be found in jealousy and quarrels. For example, when a music band goes on tour, living together for months can be difficult and unpleasant and, in some situations, communication turns into disrespect. Hence, the music groups break up. But what happens to their audience? How do fans experience it?

Some bands stop making music altogether, but others start solo careers. It’s notably the case for the One Direction who started their pop boy band in 2010. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after competing in The X Factor the same year. The group was composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, the one who decided to leave the music band in 2015, much to the dismay of the band's thousands of fans. But all the other members of the group decided to split up and go their separate ways and start solo careers. One Direction's fans were considered one of the largest fandoms on the internet and when they heard about the break-up of the group, they were devastated. A part of their audience was angry and didn’t believe in the split. Their responses were pretty unconventional but predictable. The singers therefore began their individual careers shortly afterwards. 1D fans turned out into new fans as they now support one singer or several but not all while some support each singer individually. But their audience has changed and their break-up had a large impact on the audience - some members have now a greater popularity as solo singers.

One Direction was one example but there are numerous famous music bands that split up years ago.

(https://www.stubhub.co.uk/magazine/worst-band-breakups)

The music band ABBA separated in 1982 but two members continued to produce music together whereas the two other members left the group to begin solo careers. The singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) made a solo album, which had a great success with her lead single “I Know There's Something Going On”. Her fans came mainly from the group ABBA but there were also new fans as Frida wanted to distance herself from the typical ABBA pop sound.

I could also have talked about the Destiny's Child, Daft Punk, Genesis, but there is too much to say!

Thanks for reading!

Sources: