Music and Romance

The topic, romance, and the two playlist entries connect because the lyrics to both songs speak about love and loving someone in a  relationship. Romance is defined as a feeling of excitement towards love, and the lyrics in both playlist entries, such as “all of me loves all of you” align with that definition. Specific musical characteristics are not shown, but the social context relates to the topic because “all of me” is written about the singers wife, who he feels romantically towards.

If I were to write about this topic, a musical characteristic I would look for in songs is a higher pitch, and faster tempo. I believe these characteristics portray the excitement about love that is romance. With a pleasant and high pitch sound, the listener hears and feels what it is like to be so in love and so happy when you act romantically. I would also look for lyrics that talk about loving someone and positive feelings towards another person. Lastly, I would look for a social context of someone who is feeling romantic, and has or has had someone they felt strongly enough about to be romantic. Having the social context involve a romantic love story would connect to the topic. Both of the songs I selected fit this description.

Both of my parents are Jamaican, and the music genre most popularly associated with Jamaica is reggae. Created in the late 60s, it quickly became extremely popular throughout the island in the 1970s, and reached worldwide popularity, gaining instant recognition in the United States and Britain. The most famous reggae artist is most definitely Bob Marley, and alongside his ska-turned-reggae group The Wailers he revolutionized the reggae genre forever. Other notable reggae artists besides Bob Marley & The Wailers include Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, and Jimmy Cliff. Besides reggae, there are more genres that are associated with the island, including dancehall, ska, and rocksteady. Many of the genres are closely related or are heavily influenced from one another, and as a result they are often mistaken for one another, even though there are distinct differences that separate them, such as date of creation and the primary focus in the songs. Another genre, mento, is heavily influenced by the genre calypso that is present in many other Caribbean islands, particularly Trinidad & Tobago, and is widely popular throughout the island.

In my culture, there is a dance associated with it called the horah. This dance is performed at any celebration such as a wedding or bat mitzvah. You may see these dances take place in Israel and other parts of the world. The dance needs a group of people to participate, and can include up to hundreds of people and layer circles of dancing around each other. This dance encourages togetherness and inclusion and bonding. As you can see, the people in the video are locked hands which forces them to feel more comfortable with each other.

The song is played with joyful and upbeat music to encourage the celebration and keep up a good mood overall. As people watch and see the infectious joy the dance creates, more and more people join and there is no limit to how many people can partake. The “Hava Nageela” song is usually played with this dance, and is included in the video. The dancing is to the beat of the music. The genre is tied to my culture because I see it very often and is performed in events I attend such as weddings and other celebrations.

Since both of my parents were born in Ecuador, I will be discussing the genre called Sanjuanito which is a form of music that goes along with a type of waltz that we mostly refer to as Danza. Sanjuanito, while has now become the “national rhythm of Ecuador”, it can be linked to pre-Columbian dances but is possible goes back further in time. Sanjuanito is mix of indigenous culture and mestizo culture as well. This type of music is played with indigenous instruments such as the pinguillo (a type of flute), rondador(type of panpipe), bandolin (type of chordophone), and the dulzania (similar to oboe). This music also has foreign instruments as well such as drums, guitars, etc. Dancers are wearing bright colored capes and most of the time danced in pairs and in ponchos. Sanjuanito is danced to honor a relationship to mother earth or to celebrate one’s national indentity. This dance is still being danced today, in Ecuador as well as here in the US in parties. This song in particular is part of the San Juanito genre.

My parents were both born in Iran. Genres of dance in Iran vary depending on the area, culture, and language of the local people. The dances can range from sophisticated court dances to energetic folk dances.The population of Iran includes many ethnicities, such as Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen, Jews, Armenian, and Georgian people. However, in general Iran has four categories of dance: chain or line dances, solo improvisational dance, war or combat dances, and ritual or spiritual dances. 

One example of a chain or line dance is Raghse Kurdi. Raghse Kurdi originated during the Medieval era. Kurds are the third largest ethnic group in Iran, so it is without a suprise that they have their own dance. In Raghse Kurdi, or Kurdish Dance in Farsi, the dancers stand in line and hold on to each other. One of the participants wags a handkerchief and sets the rhythm, which is a significant musical characteristic in this dance. The other dancers follow along in small steps. The musical instruments that are used are called dozal, tombak, sorna, and daf which also help with setting the rhythm and tempo. Today, the genre is still tied to my ethnicity. Even though I am not Kurdish, this dance has been made known to all Persians, so in parties and weddings I have been exposed to it and I have seen parents dance to it. It is hard to replicate it nowadays in American events, since the original dancers would wear colorful clothing with bells and handkerchiefs, so we dance in our typical dresses and use napkins instead as improvisation.

The genre that I chose for my ethnicity is K-Pop, or Korean Pop. K-Pop originated in the early 90’s and gained popularity since the 2000’s. Starting then, it has been steadily growing into a “global phenomenon”. K-pop uses a wide variety of instruments, musical components, and dances, making each and every song unique. In the Korean industry, there are countless people who perform usually as groups, solos, duos, bands, and etc. I think this genre has become a part of popular culture that many different kinds of people enjoy. K-Pop has been widespread and is now considered to be one of the most popular kinds of music. However, I also think that it is tied to my ethnicity, because I am Korean and K-Pop is continuing to bloom throughout many other cultures too.

BTS, also known to be the most popular K-Pop boy group right now, has allowed K-Pop to grow even more and let people know about Korean music and the culture. They were the first Korean artists to break cultural barriers and also “broke the social stereotypes and obstacles by spreading powerful messages through their songs by including themes of female-empowerment, social injustice, and mental health, which are unusual themes in culturally-conservative South Korea.”. For Korea, they have made multiple accomplishments that have never been achieved before. The song that I included is BTS’s “Boy With Luv” featuring Halsey, an American singer and songwriter. This is an “upbeat electro-pop song” with a catchy beat and rhythm. It consists of vocals, instruments like the guitar, chorus, rap, and etc.