|
|
|
Ong
and the Orality of American Song (page4)
Simon--list (vi)
Agonistically toned In this section, Ong stresses the importance of, "verbal
and intellectual combat," in oral cultures (44). This verbal competition
should be seen as, "not a real fight but an art form" (44). Likewise,
a nearly identical form of competition can be seen in many forms of American music.
Probably the most significant form of this combat seen in American music takes
root in the jazz jam session. A jam session is generally described as a gathering
of musicians that gather to play for their own enjoyment. Jazz musician Coleman
Hawkins described the nature of many jazz jams, "What you're calling today
a jam, we used to call them cutting contests. Like I hear about regular tenor
players playing down there, and I had to go down and cut them, you know"
(206, DeVeaux). Scott DeVeaux, author of The Birth of BeBop, explains, "the
focus in jam sessions was on competition
This ritual of competition was deeply
ingrained in African American culture" (210). This African American tradition
can also be seen in rap and hip-hop. In VH1's Behind the Music, Snoop Dogg talked
of the importance of developing one's skills and earning respect by very similar
forms of verbal competition. This form of competition is not just a phenomenon
of the African American tradition. Many white rock 'n roll guitarists also attribute
the function of competition to the furthering of their skills and musical fluency. (vii)
Empathetic and participatory rather than objectively distanced American music,
just like oral culture, has importance, "encased in the communal reaction,
the communal 'soul'" (46). Concerts are a working example of this function.
No matter what the scale, coffee shop to arena show, live performance and communal
reaction are imperative to the importance of our culture's musical tradition.
Ong explains that writing allows for a, "sense of personal disengagement
or distancing," (46). Live performances, on the other hand, keep an audience
engaged and allow for an active form of feedback. The ability for communal reaction
to a concert is limitless. People can dance if they feel the music, they can clap
to the beat; they can boo for disapproval, or chant, "one more song,"
at the end of a night of great music. (viii)
Homeostatic Because of its social significance, American music has lived very
much in the present just like oral societies. Ong says that oral societies keep
themselves in equilibrium or homeostasis by, "sloughing off memories which
no longer have present relevance" (46). In the same manner, American music
has always been concerned with the current social condition of the day. Early
blues dealt with the harsh conditions of life in the South, protest music of the
60s called for social change when our nation was at a breaking point, and the
music of the 80s displayed the excess of our new consumerist culture. Just
as song reflects the relevance of current society it also maintains new slang
and colloquialisms while dismissing old ones. As Ong says, "Words acquire
their meanings only from their always insistent actual habitat," and this
is consistent with song examples (47). While "Mr. Tambourine Man" was
referred to as drug related lyrics in their day, no longer do songs reference
a tambourine man as a person to score drugs from or puff the magic dragon as a
marijuana reference. Today, drug references are seen in songs such as Weezer's
"Hash Pipe" and many rap songs that use newer slang terms as doja. Continue
to page 5 of Ong and the Orality of American Song
|