danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

The history of civilization has been punctuated by events that altered empires, advanced science, and witnessed creative genius.  I believe that that history can be divided into two eras.  In the latter era, men have walked on the surface of the moon.

The year 1969 must have been one of the most exciting to experience.  I wish I had been alive that night–forty years ago–to watch Walter Cronkite, with an expression of obvious joy, announce that Neil Armstrong had taken that “giant leap for mankind”.  It represented the conclusion of the dramatic story arc begun even before Cronkite informed America that President Kennedy had died in Dallas.

Today, Walter Cronkite is dead, and the astronauts of Apollo 11 are almost eighty-years-old.  Most Americans alive today were born after July 20, 1969.

Men from the dawn of time pondered the moon.  Even when the ancients understood the lunar cycle and the moon’s effect on tides, so much was still shrouded in mystery.  That mystery inspired artists, poets, and entire religions.  It also inspired men of science, who, by 1969, had at their disposal the technology needed to lift that beautiful veil.  We lost the mystery and wonder forever.

I do not know what the future holds for civilization.  Whatever great strides we may make, we will never equal that “one small step for a man”.

Filed under: Current Events, History on July 20th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I can see many advantages to being a college professor.  For the most part–and particularly for the ones who teach at the 3000-level and above–they interact with students who are capable and have an interest in learning.  Even for the ones who teach at the lowest levels (the “Introduction to Such-and-Such” courses), their students must have at least some ability, or they could not have reached college.  I took a beginning astronomy course, and though I know the professor didn’t give us the same information that he gave his graduate-level courses, the class was still challenging, and he must have received satisfaction from being able to speak about a subject he loved in a manner that he could not were he speaking to fifth-graders.

Professors of foreign languages, however, must feel constantly bemused.  Even if they have studied hard, and worked diligently to secure posts at prestigious state universities, they must feel each day that they are teaching to infants.  I consider myself a proficient speaker of English.  I can write the language reasonably well, too.  I know an assortment of verb tenses.  I command a full arsenal of pronouns.  I understand the difference between determiners, demonstratives, quantifiers, and so on.  I even understand why the preceding sentence is correct, in spite of the way it seemingly violates the rule pertaining to the use of “between” and “among”.  But, regardless of all of that, I am worse than a child when it comes to learning German.  Vocabulary is one thing–all languages require vocabulary acquisition–and pronunciation can be challenging, but the rules can be baffling, especially to one not used to gender, complex declension, or crazy syntax.  The professors–well-educated, highly-paid educators–must feel like they’re dealing with infants.

Filed under: School on July 13th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

The Working on a Dream tour has been going strong for more than six months.  The E Street Band has been in Europe since May, and just like he did during the Magic tour, Bruce Springsteen is taking requests.  The procedure is simple: bring a handwritten sign into the pit, hold it aloft, and, if you’re lucky, the band will play your tune.  Obviously, savvy fans don’t request “Born to Run” or “Badlands”; those are going to be played anyway.  Rather, you see signs for “The Price You Pay”, “Candy’s Room”, and “E Street Shuffle”.  At the last show I attended, I was sad that he ignored the sign that read “Drive All Night”, but thrilled when he grabbed one requesting “Jungleland”.

As you can see on the autograph setlists, Springsteen leaves a few open slots for audience requests.  The most recent trend has been to request covers.  The E Street Band is as good as any bar band, and it’s fascinating to see what kind of tunes people ask for.  Yes, there are some unusual ones, like “London Calling”, “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”, and “My Generation”.  But there are others that make a lot of sense, like “Pretty Woman”, “Louie, Louie”, and “Mountain of Love”.  Last week in Bern, he grabbed a fan’s sign, and played “I Fought the Law”.  Watch the video, and notice how well the band pulls this one out.  Bruce takes the sign, calls out a key, and continues to give cues (“Bridge!” or “I think there’s a solo!”) when appropriate.  Max even remembers the “six gun” fill.  It’s pretty good for being a request.

Filed under: Popular Music on July 10th, 2009 | No Comments »

Bombadil: Tarpits and Canyonlands – Ramseur Records 2729

For many people, I suppose, music is an evolving art, and what suits the taste is what is new and “relevant”.  I am not one of those people.  I don’t dispute that music evolves.  On the contrary, I have made it my profession to know how music has changed over time, and what those slow, incremental changes sound like.  But I don’t care what is current or popular.  Indeed, my favorite piece of music of all time was first presented in 1721, and my favorite piece of popular music was written over thirty years ago.  Music, to me, needn’t be modern.  It needn’t even be relevant to my own experience.  But sometimes it is both, and those are happy occasions.  Bombadil’s new album, Tarpits and Canyonlands, is such a record.

Tarpits and Canyonlands explores one major theme: marriage.  It isn’t difficult to imagine how the band arrived at this concept.  The members all seem to be around the age when marriage is the thing to do.  At their Gainesville show this spring, there was a handwritten note on the electric piano which read, “Just Married”.  I am no longer a newlywed, which makes this album especially relevant, since one question prominently asked is, “What lies beyond the honeymoon?”

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That clip is from later in the song, but in it you hear Bombadil employ a classic musical device, by bringing back the main musical motif of the song, heard here in the first verse:

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And what lies far, far beyond the honeymoon, after decades of being married to the same person?  “What would you say of marriage after…I hurt your dream job offer because I was scared?”  What if “I broke your confidence with a lover that was in my past?”  What if “the nursery rhyme stork never brought a baby to you?”  This is marriage:

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The messages in the lyrics are often serious, and even downright melancholy, when the music itself beguiles you into feeling more cheerful.  An up-tempo number with hand-clapping and a catchy piano riff reminds you of your “Sad Birthday”:

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And even when you get a message from home, “they forgot to say ‘happy birthday’”.

The album’s most powerful lyric comes from a song called “So Many Ways to Die”.  I am wont to avoid a song with such a sinister title, but a more apt name might have been “So Many Ways to Stay Alive”, since the tune asks us to examine the way we look at our own bleak circumstances and find something positive.  “So many ways to think how differently we interpret the brink between the side of life worth living and the point at which you’re better off to sink”:

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I hope you’ll forgive that I made a small edit in the clip above, because I wanted you to hear the second chorus, where the singer rises an octave from where he sang the first chorus.  I really appreciate the extra energy, and the strain in the voice seems honest and appropriate to me.  It’s my favorite moment in the whole album.

I don’t mean to suggest that Tarpits and Canyonlands is all unhappy, all the time.  “Oto the Bear”, and “Kuala Lumpur”, both of which they played at their Gainesville show, are jaunty and fun to sing along with.  “Laurita” is a Spanish-language song with a catchy tune and an adorable arrangement, complete with a change in rhythm – a frequent musical device on this album.

Tarpits and Canyonlands describes marriage as a pyramid.  That may not be instructive, and, indeed, it leaves more questions than answers.  But so do the Pyramids, and, sometimes, so does marriage.  And, though I don’t expect any album to last 4,000 years, I do anticipate that this record will remain a rich and rewarding document well beyond the honeymoon.

Filed under: Popular Music, WAYLTL on July 8th, 2009 | No Comments »

As I wrote last week, WUFT is dropping classical music–and, apparently, almost all other music besides–to go all talk.  WUFT is part of the University of Florida’s College of Journalism, and, as such, is subject to the College’s demands.  And they are demanding change.  But, as you can imagine, I am personally saddened by this decision.

I am receiving some solace, however, in the outpouring of popular support for classical music, and in the reighteous indignation from listeners who have written letters–published today–to the Gainesville Sun protesting the format change.  There have been op-eds, as well, from Raymond Chobaz, the conductor of the University Orchestra, and from Mickie Edwardson, a wonderful lady and former UF professor, with whom I have had the pleasure of working for years during the station’s pledge drives.  Dr. Edwardson knows tons about opera, and her recording collection puts mine to shame.  She is a fantastic emisary for classical music.  She once gave me a biography of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

I don’t know if anything can change the dean’s mind at this point.  But it makes my heart happy to know that people don’t want to take this lying down.  My new battle-cry:

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Filed under: Music, Work on July 7th, 2009 | 1 Comment »