Week 6: British Ballads

Last week's class started a lot of good conversations, but the one that stuck with me the most is this issue of gendered violence in "The Banks of the Ohio."

This is such a hot topic in Berkeley right now so I'm not really surprised that it came up so quickly in class. Yet this is probably one of the hardest issues for me to grapple with because it is so far removed from my world. Where I come from, we just had our first violence free gay pride parade and the fact that it was violence free is a huge deal for the Serbian government. However, it was not without a lot of effort: there was 7000 cops, soldiers, water hoses, tanks etc out on the streets to protect 100 walkers.

Pride Parade in Belgrade

That said, the social issues at home are so different and so behind the social issues here that it's very difficult for me to be as passionate about gender issues as maybe I should be. Of course I disagree with gender inequality and of course I don't think there should be violence against women. But do I think that "The Banks of the Ohio" is particularly disgusting because the person who got drowned is a woman? Probably not... I'd probably be just as disgusted by it if it was the other way around.

On the reading: I was so impressed by Sharp's dedication and perseverance in his work. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for him to travel from England to the US and through the US while being so sick. And not only to travel, but to still be dedicated to collecting the music despite being sick. I am also impressed by Maude who stuck by his side through it all. I would imagine it would be tempting to quit on several occasions, but she must have known that Sharp was doing something that would go down in history. One thing I was confused by though was why Sharp didn't get songs from the African-Americans despite his dislike for them... I'm sure their music was excellent as well. 

On the music: I like the story of "Barbara Allen." I think it's interesting how despite her claiming to be "slighted" by his behavior, she still feels guilty and thinks the church bells are accusing her of being "hard-hearted." What is the significance of the brier? Why did the rose grow out of his chest and the brier out of hers?

The recording is really cool. It's very clean. With a song this long, it's difficult to stay in the right key and without your voice shaking when it's a cappella, but the way this is done is beautiful. I imagine this is what some of Sharp's recordings sounded like.

On the art: One thing that stuck with me from last week was when Tony said that he "didn't want to infantilize" me as an artist. I think Tony saw that that would be sort of demeaning or insulting, but my first thought was, "wait, why not?" I haven't created any artwork since about 8th grade so when I make these things I feel like a child again. It's fun to be playful. We are expected to be adults way too often in life...