AllisonP

 Music

**Research Questions:** 1. How did rock music relate to society? 2. What were the influences of drugs and alcohol into rock music? 3. Can this music be compared to African music?

**Intro:** The three songs that I chose were by You me at six, The Beatles, and La Fuga. All three songs have a rock theme and they have an underlined message of a problem with society.

** Current century: ** media type="file" key="09 Contagious Chemistry.mp3" width="240" height="20" You me at six: Contagious chemistry 2010 If I could have a minute please, then I'll bring you to your knees. This contagious chemistry is killing me. Oh you'll never disappear, until I give permission dear. 'Cause you're always gonna, always be knee deep. So please.
 * Lyrics to Contagious Chemistry** :

Dearest enemy, off of that You have just lost me along the way Somewhere between the fake smiles and your free drinks Please don't smother me, I swear that I need some room to breathe. What with you all up, down and over me, you're not a name, you're just a face. It's contagious, so catch it.

This love is dirtier than you think. Don't believe your eyes, believe your ears, trust me. This won't sink lower than you think. Don't believe your eyes, believe your ears, trust me.

Dearest enemy, you should listen to those dreams. Because they tell you all you need to know 'bout who and what you are. No smoke without a fire, with that - our names are a pure lie. This suit of skin and bones, we've not all got...exactly what you are. It's contagious, so catch it.

This love is dirtier than you think. Don't believe your eyes, believe your ears, trust me. This won't sink lower than you think. Don't believe your eyes, believe your ears, trust me.

This is the first and the last time, I swear. There's more where that came from, she said. Do you know what that means? 'Cause I know what that means. This is the first and the last time, I swear. It's a numbers game and I was there. Do you know what this means? Do you know what this means?

No, oh!, who did you think I was, him? No, oh!, is he the only lead you were working on? No, oh!, and you were caught with the best yeah. Oh forget the rest: hotel rooms, cheap thrill dress. Lack of common sense can make this happen.

If I could have a minute please, then I'll bring you to your knees. This contagious, contagious chemistry.

Dearest enemy, you should have never trusted me. You bitch.

(Thanks to Erin for these lyrics) [ [|Contagious Chemistry Lyrics] on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

My first song **Contagious Chemistry** it says "Because they tell you need to know 'bout who and what you are." Well obviously that is a issue is society is telling people who and what they are society is not allowing people to think for themselves which is a horrible thing. You can look at society today and see that society is holding us back and we don't allow each other to express ourselves or be ourselves. I kind of think this is because of our class status. If one person makes more money then another or the have a higher education then they think they are better some of the time. This in turn makes people feel less as people and some times this can lead to drug and alcohol abuse, this leads me into my next song.

**Before the 1970's** media type="file" key="The_Beatles_-_Happiness_Is_A_Warm_Gun_[topinweb_com].mp3" width="240" height="20" The Beatles: Happiness is a warm gun 1968 **Songwriters:** Mccartney, Paul; Lennon, John; She's not a girl who misses much Do do do do do do, oh, yeah
 * Happiness Is A Warm Gun lyrics**

She's well acquainted With the touch of the velvet hand Like a lizard on a window pane The man in the crowd with the Multicolored mirrors on his hobnail boots

Lying with his eyes While his hands are busy working overtime A soap impression of his wife Which he ate and donated to the National Trust

I need a fix ?cause I'm going down Down to the bits that I left uptown I need a fix ?cause I'm going down

Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun

Happiness is a warm gun (Bang bang, shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm gun mama (Bang bang, shoot shoot) When I hold you in my arms (Oh yeah) And I feel my finger on your trigger (Ooo, oh yeah) I know nobody can do me no harm (Ooo, oh yeah)

Because happiness is a warm gun mama (Bang bang, shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is (Bang bang, shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm, yes it is, gun (Happiness, bang bang, shoot shoot) Well, don't you know that happiness is a warm gun mama (Happiness is a warm gun yeah)

© SONY BEATLES LTD; SONY/ATV TUNES LLC;

In my second song **Happiness is a warm gun** it says "I need a fix? Cause I'm going down." This line is related to drug abuse. It is refereeing to need to get high because he is no longer happy. If society is making it acceptable for drug abuse then that's a problem, a major problem. Also, if society is causing the drug abuse that is an issue and in my eyes an even larger issue. It can be said that drug abuse is the aftermath of being laid off or not making a lot of money. If you take a look at the 1970's U.S Census you can see that a lot of America was unemployed or underemployed at this time. Another thing is that at this time there was much protesting so education was not on the mind of most of the youth. This can not only harm the potential future of the youth but can lead to drug and alcohol exposure. Since this song is refereeing to drug abuse I could make the connection between declining interest in education and drug abuse. **Different language:** La Fuga - Hoy media type="file" key="05 Hoy.mp3" width="240" height="20" Hoy, a dicho la television que el señor alcalde se ha ido de botellon que el pan en africa es gratis que por la tarde va a llover que el campo volvera a ser verde otra vez...

Hoy, a dicho la television que se ha acabado el paro las mafias y la corrupcion que el sol ya no sigue enfermo que algun dia regresaras que se avecina una guerra en mi sofa...

Y en la calle lo de siempre, mucho ruido de coches, de gente que se cruza indiferente Y en la casa todo es frio el invierno en pleno agosto se vino y ahora vive conmigo

Hoy, a dicho la television que el hombre va a vivir en marte que alli hay menos corrupcion que tu corazon esta cerrado por derribo que sube el precio de la piel que tu mirada no se deja ver

Que sera otro dia de color marron 24 horas con total ausencia de emocion un borron para tu agenda un zarpazo pa' mi corazon un absurdo caminar de tu reloj...

Y en la calle lo de siempre, mucho ruido de coches, de gente que se cruza indiferente Y en la casa todo es frio el invierno en pleno agosto se vino y ahora vive conmigo

Y en la calle lo de siempre, mucho ruido de coches, de gente que se cruza indiferente Y en la casa todo es frio el invierno en pleno agosto se vino y ahora vive conmigo [ [|Hoy Lyrics] on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

My third song, La Fuga's **Hoy,** is a Spanish song. The translation is Today, The song is about a how the world is overcoming the sad and the world is becoming happy again. One line in the song is "....que va a llover, el campo estará verde otra vez" Translation "...will rain the field will be green again." In other words it will rain again and the grass will grow and the world will grow again. This to me is kind of like a redemption song. It is kind of saying "we just came out of hard times and now we are happy." It is saying that society was having issues and that society wasn't happy but now they are getting better. I can't be certain but I believe this song is from Mexico and i know that there are a lot of drug in Mexico and maybe that is one of the societal issues that are being overcame. Maybe La Fuga is getting over the drugs in Mexico.

Even though **Contagious Chemistry i**s from an American band, **Happiness is a warm gun** is from a British band, and **Hoy** is from a Spanish band I can compare them to African styles. For instance many African song use strong drum beats well in Contagious Chemistry you can easily tell the distinct drum beat, same goes for the other two songs. If you listen carefully in Contagious Chemistry there is polyrythm with the voices, and the singer says " This is the first and the last time i swear" a back ground track plays the same thing on top in a slightly different pitch.
 * Knowledge:**

If we take a look at **Happiness is a warm gun** you can tell the strong drum beat also you can hear how the background track is playing as a polyrhythm. But there is also the element of call and response where the singer says "Mother Superior jumped the gun" and it is repeated back to him. Also, you can look at when "happiness is a warm gun" is said and "bang, bang, shoot, shoot" is replied. Finally look at **Hoy** you can tell the strong drum beat and you can hear the polyrythm in the back ground track. But one new thing is that in a lot of African music they will take pauses where you only here the drums or only the singer, well in **Hoy** there are breaks where you only hear the guitar playing.

Even though music can be from all over the globe and from all different people it can all be traced back to African music. Also, society has a major impacted on rock music and so do drug and alcohol abuse.

Amoakua, W. Komla. "African Music ." //http://www.mnsu.edu//. N.p., mnsu. Web. 20 May 2010. .
 * Citations:**

//http://www.census.gov///. census, n.d. Web. 20 May 2010. .

"The Influence of Music on Self and Society - Values in Music in Eastern and Western Cultures." //www.tparents.org//. N.p., Tparents. Web. 20 May 2010. .