Wagner and Anti-Semitism - Vini Kuker Page 10

Found Sounds

UNCG Musicology Journal

Volume III - Fall 2018

Table of Contents

Greek Music Theory and the Medieval Church - Andrew Beach Page 2

Wagner and Anti-Semitism - Vini Kuker Page 10

Fordian Slip - Enoch Robbins Page 23

Greek Music Theory and the Medieval Church: The Early European Church’s Use of Greek Music Theory to Counter Emotional Responses to Music Andrew Beach

In this paper the author explores the attitudes of the early church towards music and the ways considered acceptable to interact with it. They compare the writings of Greek mathematicians with those of early church leaders such as Boethius, Capella, Cassiodorus and St.

Augustine. The conclusion is that the stoic ideals purported by the Greeks carry through to the

Medieval church.

Greek Music Theory and the Medieval Church: The Early European Church’s Use of Greek Music Theory to Counter Emotional Responses to Music Andrew Beach

In modern times, when the average person (i.e. non-music theorist) is listening to music, they are generally not too concerned about the mathematical qualities of the music or what the ratios of consonance are in the music or what modes are in use. Though these are components of what music is in a literal sense, people generally care more about how the music makes them feel emotionally. Is this music sad? Is it happy? Does it make us want to dance? Does it make us want to cry? These are the components of music which are the most important to us. The emotional and sense (heavy, light, fast, slow, etc) qualities are what we are drawn to in music.

However, in early medieval Europe the senses were considered to be an untrustworthy method of viewing music; even dangerous ones faith. For the medieval European church, music was best perceived by understanding the aspects of music such as the mathematical qualities of the notes which seem to us now to be of little intrinsic value. By adopting traditionally ancient Greek music theory and philosophy as a means to rationalize music, the medieval church gained a hold of the musical arts and sought to prevent society from perceiving music through purely emotional responses but rather view music rationally. To support this claim, this paper will present works written in Latin (the medieval church language) which borrowed heavily from ancient Greek texts, show the connection between Greek mathematics and medieval music theory that was implemented in the liturgy and show how the prominent church father St.

Augustine of Hippo viewed music and the emotional responses that it invoked.

The Christian Church had an expansive influence over early Medieval European society and was attempting to combat the growing pluralism and secularism in Europe that could potentially challenge their societal and cultural influence. One aspect of Medieval European society that the church wished to influence was how music was perceived by the parishioners and the general public. In particular, they wished to instill the view that music was to be responded to rationally and not emotionally (as some listeners may feel compelled to believe).

Leaders of the medieval church believed that if someone were to respond to music in a way that brought them emotional and sensual pleasure, then it would lead them away from God (and the church) and into sinful hedonism. The medieval church sought to preserve dogmas and traditional philosophical ideas, which included Greek dogmas and aesthetics and the work of

th early 5 century thinkers such as Boethius, Martianus Capella and church fathers such as St. Augustine of Hippo who sought to view music from a logical standpoint using rationality and less as simply an emotionally good subject.

It is important for us to understand why the medieval church adopted a theoretical system for music from Greek thinkers such as Pythagoras, and adopted other aspects of Greek culture and musical understanding because it can help us to understand how the people in the medieval church viewed the function and purpose of music and simultaneously how they viewed Greek culture and thought. Many of the Greek texts were even translated to Latin by Christian

1 philosophers and theologians and most prominently by the philosopher/theologian Boethius.

Music that came from the medieval church was obviously meant to worship the monotheistic

1 Boethius, Calvin M. Bower, and Claude V. Palisca. Fundamentals of music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. xix-xx

Christian God, and yet the church used Greek names for the church modes (Phrygian, Dorian,

Lydian and Mixolydian), used Greek alphabetical letters in their notation system and used

Pythagorean mathematical equations to organize, compose and teach music to be performed

2 throughout the liturgical year. By studying the medieval church’s view of music as being a rational object to be understood by reason and not solely by the senses, we can gain a better understanding of the roots of our current western musical traditions in the modern era and understand what the original purpose of western music theory was intended to be used for.

Both the aforementioned Boethius and Martianus Capella translated works by Greek writers into Latin. This demonstrates how prone medieval thinkers were to borrow from Greek writings and ideas and translate them into Latin. Boethius was a Roman philosopher who was

3 born in 480 A.D. One of the works that he translated was Harmonics by Nicomachus. He contributed some of his own ideas and retitled it De Institutione Musica which roughly translates to The Fundamentals of Music. In this work, the concept of Greek musical modes, consonance, dissonance, intervals, Pythagorean philosophy, Pythagorean music theory and many other subjects are discussed in this expansive work that is comprised of five books (which may be better understood as sections rather than totally separate works). Though the idea of music as a rational art to be viewed as such is certainly an underlining idea throughout the work, this point becomes exceptionally clear when we see that book one, chapter nine is titled “Not all judgement ought to be given to the senses, but reason ought more to be trusted. Concerning the deception of

2 Crocker, Richard L. Studies in Medieval Music Theory and the Early Sequence. Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1997. 79-100.

3 Bower, Calvin. 1978. “Boethius and Nicomachus: An Essay Concerning the Sources of De Institutione Musica”. Vivarium 16 (1). Brill: 1–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42569706. 5

4 the senses in this manner.” In the opening sentence of this chapter he states that “we should not grant all judgement to the senses-although the whole origin of this discipline is taken from the sense of hearing.” which indicates that Boethius was at least somewhat cautious to judge music by our senses alone. He goes on to define reason as “the ultimate perfection and the faculty of recognition…which, holding itself to fixed rules, does not falter by any error.” Certainly we see how important the role of reason is to Boethius when it comes to understanding how the medieval church viewed the function music. The majority of the Fundamentals of Music is spent exploring the musical theories of the ancient Greek thinkers which include Aristoxenus and

Pythagoras.

The Marriage of Mercury and Philology is split into several sections which discuss topics such as geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and harmony. For the section on harmony Martianus Capella borrowed heavily from the Greek writer Aristides Quintiliamus’ work De Musica and 5 translated it into Latin. Capella description of music is starkly different from Boethius’ however. The first half of Capella’s book describes music as having mystical and supernatural powers.

However, his description of music as being a mystical force was controversial and ultimately did

th not become the dominant view of music in the early 5 century. Though there is a clear influence from ancient Greek writers to Latin writer, the ideas which are borrowed or translated from ancient Greek writers had to reflect the philosophy of music as rational. Only certain ancient

4 Boethius, Calvin M. Bower, and Claude V. Palisca. Fundamentals of music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. 16-17.

5 Martianus Capella, William Harris Stahl, Richard Johnson, and E. L. Burge. The Marriage of Philology and Mercury. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971. 53-54.

Greek ideas that aligned with these views were accepted by the medieval church. Otherwise they would be rejected.

In Richard L. Crocker’s analysis of Greek music theory in his work Studies in Medieval Music and Early Sequence we see numerous examples of the intertwined relationship between Greek mathematics, medieval music theory, some examples of the Greek function-names and the

6 Greater and Lesser Perfect pitch system. It is also observed by Crocker that “in Greco-Roman antiquity as well as in the early Middle Ages” the system that was very consistently used to refer

7 to pitches and their names were “the traditional Greek series of names.” An example of a part of

8 the church liturgy that uses notes in this pitch system is the chant, Christi hodierna. This example demonstrates that the medieval church did use ancient Greek music theory and mathematics, which has been established as rational by Boethius so far, in the liturgy.

Viewing music as being rational subject not only helped listeners understand the technical aspects of music and how they may perform it well, but it also served the purpose of keeping the emotions of the people in check and not allowing them to understand music by their senses alone. Church fathers such as St. Augustine of Hippo (born in 354 A.D.) feared that he could give music “more honor than is fitting”; that “[his] physical delight…often deceives me

9 when the perception of sense is not accompanied by reason.” In this passage from the influential work Confessions we see a similar emphasis on the importance of reason that relates closely to

6 Crocker, Richard L. Studies in Medieval Music Theory and the Early Sequence. Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1997. 93. 7 Ibid, 80. 8 Ibid, 389.

9 St. Augustine, and Henry Chadwick. Confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. 207-208. 7

Boethius. To enjoy music because of the way it makes you feel and how it effects your emotions is considered a dangerous thing, “The pleasures of the ear had a more tenacious hold on me, and had subjugated me; but you set me free and liberated me.” The liberator in this passage is to be understood as Christ; God. God is believed to be a rational being and thus would save St.

Augustine from the sin of his irrational pleasures. Considering that one of the most prominent medieval church fathers in history and authoritative doctor of the church avoided viewing music through emotions and the senses gives us insight into how the medieval church viewed the function and purpose of church music.

It becomes especially evident from the writings of Boethius, Capella, Cassiodorus and St.

Augustine that music was meant to be viewed rationally and not solely by the senses. Though these thinkers retained their monotheistic Christian belief, we can clearly see how much influence Ancient Greek music theory, aesthetics and philosophy had on the views of the medieval European church concerning music and how it is to be understood. The early medieval

European church drew from Greek thought and incorporated it into the liturgy to gain social influence over the musical arts and prevent them from straying into what they believed to be irrationality and subjective ideal of the aesthetic value.

Bibliography Boethius, and V. E. Watts. The Consolation of Philosophy. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1969. Boethius, Calvin M. Bower, and Claude V. Palisca. Fundamentals of music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. Bower, Calvin. 1978. “Boethius and Nicomachus: An Essay Concerning the Sources of De Institutione Musica”. Vivarium 16 (1). Brill: 1–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42569706. Cassiodorus, and R. A. B. Mynors. Cassiodori Senatoris Institutiones. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1937. 144. Crocker, Richard L. Studies in Medieval Music Theory and the Early Sequence. Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1997. 79-100. Martianus Capella, William Harris Stahl, Richard Johnson, and E. L. Burge. The Marriage of Philology and Mercury. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971. St. Augustine, and Henry Chadwick. Confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. 207-208.

Wagner and Anti-Semitism: The Inseparable and the Invisible Vini Kuker

In this paper, the author examines Wagner’s anti-semitic history through the writings of

Nietzsche, and an analysis of Wagner’s own writings. The author examines both the personal writings of Wagner, as well as his constructions of characters in Parsifal. The author also provides their interpretation of Wagner through their own personal Jewish perspective.

Wagner and Anti-Semitism: The Inseparable and the Invisible Vini Kuker

In 2016, a production of Parsifal in Bayreuth, Germany, caught the eyes and ears of many people, both critics and Wagner fans alike. In the wake of several violent attacks on the

German public in the preceding week, this production of Wagner’s final operatic work aimed to show a kind of religious unification through the use of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian aesthetics - though do to the attacks, this was to a rather tense atmosphere among the community and the media. Productions often reflect the state of a nation, of the world; even if not overtly, they will inevitably show the reflection of current happenings, whether it be through inclusion of new

10 material and themes, or the exclusion of dangerous topics or ideas. In comparison to this 2016 performance, in 1904, a production of Parsifal in Yiddish was premiered in the Boris Thomashefsky’s People’s Theater. Two productions separated by over 100 years, by a language, and in a seemingly coincidental manner; while an aesthetic merging of the Abrahamic religions may not been approved of by Wagner, a Yiddish version (premiered 21 years after his death) certainly would not have been approved by Richard Wagner, known for his anti-Semitic beliefs.

11 Parsifal in particular is often a topic of contention, as there are arguments that highlight aspects that are characteristic of Wagner’s anti-Semitism, while there are others that claim these

10 Anthony Tommasini, “Review: A Sublime and Provocative ‘Parsifal’ at Bayreuth,” The New York Times, July 26, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/arts/music/review-a-sublime-and-provocative-parsifal-at-bayreuth-f estival-wagner.html., 1.

11 Daniela Smolov Levy, “Parsifal in Yiddish? Why Not?” The Musical Quarterly 97, no. 2 (2014): 140–80.

aspects have nothing to do with anti-Semitism. What aspects of Parsifal can be analyzed as anti-Semitic? What is anti-Semitic in the compositions of Wagner overall? Are there tropes that are plainly anti-Semitic, or is it hidden in the music and in the characters? Through an inquiry concerning Wagner’s writings and relationships, an overview of Nietzsche’s Wagner-related aphorisms, and an examination of the themes and characters of Parsifal, certain ideas, themes, and tropes are revealed; these can assist in breaking down Wagner’s conceptions of the Jewish person, community, and art.

Richard Wagner’s essay, Jewishness in Music, is better understood in the context of his life, especially concerning his relationships with both Jewish composers and women in his life, such as his first wife Minna Planer. Amid their continuously tumultuous relationship, Wagner’s relationships with other women was often a point of contention, and one such woman, Jessie

Laussot, vied for her husband to provide patronage to Wagner. This plan was short-lived and fell through, and at one point, the two planned to run away together: that plan also failed, which is concurrent with a theme that is prevalent in Wagner’s life. Living with financial struggles and

12 poverty was a norm for Wagner and Minna, and monetary misfortunes often plagued the two.

Why would he suspect running away with Laussot to succeed, when his life was plagued with these misfortunes? Misfortunes that he attributed to the success of the Jews.

During his time speaking with Laussot, Wagner wrote and published Jewishness in Music under the pseudonym Freigedank, or “freeman,” though he was fully aware that readers would

12 Milton E Brener, Richard Wagner and the Jews (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006), 26-28.

13 suspect that he was the author, as he was known for writing anonymously. In Milton Brener’s words, “Neither then, nor now, did [Wagner] fool anyone.”

Minna was vocally against this essay, which is shown in a letter she penned in May of

1850.

Since two years ago when you wanted me to read that essay in which you slander whole races

which have been fundamentally helpful to you, I could not force myself to listen, and

ever since that time you have borne a grudge against me…you never again let me hear

14 anything from your works.

Despite the disapproval she had shown in those two years prior, Wagner sent the original work under his pseudonym in April of 1850. However, it is difficult to imagine a reality in which

Minna’s disapproval caused a shift in Wagner’s mindset; how could this have been possible, when their relationship was filled with such strife? When Wagner felt as though his work was

15 misunderstood and underappreciated by his wife Minna? Along with Wagner’s frustration at

Jewish-composed music at the time (something he thought was the cause stagnate music in

Germany), perhaps his dysfunctional marriage was also a part of his drive to publish this essay.

Wagner’s relationship with Mendelssohn is also worth examining. Friends early on, and, at best, acquaintances of antipathy later, Wagner grew increasingly frustrated with his lack of success, and began to criticize Jewish composers for the only aspect of their compositions he could find to criticize; it was not the music, but the Jewishness of said music, and of the

13 Ibid, 38. 14 Ibid, 32. 15 Ibid, 26.

composer, that Wagner choose to focus on. In the Jewishness of Music, Wagner gave readers a view of Jewish composers that was beyond the simple frustration towards his level of success; the ideas contained in his essay are cruel, and for many extremely unpleasant to read. Certainly

Wagner and Mendelssohn were no longer friends by the time of this publication, seeing as

Mendelssohn passed in 1847, but Mendelssohn’s music was damned in a manner that spread like a quick-acting poison in the following years - the following years in which there were

16 republications of the essay.

The language Wagner uses in his discussion of Mendelssohn in his essay take a kind of mourning quality, as though he is mourning the greatness Mendelssohn could have reached if he had not be born Jewish. While an English translation does change some of the tone in the context of the work, Wagner seemingly lavishes praise onto Mendelssohn at first. However, he proceeds to explain that critics, such as himself, are not truly moved by Mendelssohn’s music due to an inherent lack of something. His heart should be moved by the music, but the Jewishness of Mendelssohn prevents the music from stirring emotions deep in his heart. He claims that

Mendelssohn’s attempt to channel Bach is made of “shadowy forms,” and while sates some wants of the listener, is unable to truly give the artistic experience that another predecessor,

Beethoven, had the ability to due. Wagner paints this anti-Semitic picture perfectly; highlighting every aspect of Mendelssohn’s music that was done right, and in that process, highlighting his music in a manner that leaves nothing in the dark, he pushes the reader to the conclusion that he has reached at this stage of his life. Jewishness, in music, is alien and unnatural. He claims there

16 Richard Wagner, “Jewishness in Music,” in Sämtliche Schriften Und Dichtungen, trans. William Ashton Ellis, vol. 3, 1850, http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/wagjuda.htm.

are no true artists, no true musicians, nor true composers that are Jewish, as these states of being are mutually exclusive. Wagner states the following:

The Jews could never take possession of this art, until that was to be exposed in it which they now demonstrably have brought to light— its inner incapacity for life. So long as the

separate art of Music had a real organic life-need in it, down to the epochs of Mozart and

Beethoven, there was nowhere to be found a Jew composer: it was impossible for an

element entirely foreign to that living organism to take part in the formative stages of that

17 life.

Jews, according to Wagner, are so alien they are not able to produce music that is organic, unable to produce that which is evidence of life. This, in several ways, an idea evident in the tropes in

Wagner’s works that can be interpreted as Jewish stereotypes. Music resembling anti-life, whether in the appearance of flat-line melodies or “demonic” sounds, harkens back to this idea

18 that Wagner had expressed.

Friedrich Nietzsche, while originally a Wagnerite, became increasingly disenchanted with Wagner and his ideologies. This culminated in a number of writings by Nietzsche, including a number of aphorisms. They range in topic, but several of them address Wagner’s anti-Semitism. The writings on Wagner overall, at this late stage in Nietzsche’s life, are detailed yet succinct; they cover many topics that give an insight on Wagner that is still invaluable today, made more valuable by the friendship that they had held earlier in their lives.

17 Ibid, 99.

18 Lucy Beckett, Richard Wagner: Parsifal (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1981). 76. 15

Nietzsche states that “Wagner’s ideas straightaway become manias […] For instance by

19 his hatred of Jews. He kills his themes like his ‘ideas’…” Nietzsche is concerned over the ability of Wagner to wrap murky thoughts and themes in exceptional dressings. Wagner was able to take his dogmas and present them through incredible music, an ability like that of an amazing, but unreliable, narrator. Nietzsche accuses too of him changing the public’s taste for opera, and in this change, made it so he was the most palatable composer of his contemporaries, regardless of themes hidden among the music, through the glorification of the German person, and the condemning of the Jewish person. Another aphorism covers Mendelssohn, in which Nietzsche claims that Mendelssohn’s self-imposed limits and boundaries in his music allowed him to create his own beauty in his music. This is in extreme contrast to Wagner’s criticism, who accuses the late Mendelssohn of a lifelessness, not of carefully laid boundaries.

Nietzsche also ventures to say that Jews understand the themes that Wagner often focuses on, such as sorrow, emptiness, and horror, more so than gentiles do. Alongside this, Nietzsche harshly lists many of the reasons he believes that Wagner is un-German, including a focus on the envy that Wagner expressed over the success of the Jewish composers around him. This is imperative to understanding Wagner’s beliefs, and his intentions. Nietzsche recognized that

Wagner’s dogma rose out of envy, and did his best to communicate that in his writings.

However, for the people who agreed with Wagner, how could one try to remove the hatred already instilled in them? Hatred is blinding; even if the evidence is strewn before someone, their eyes are already shut, and their ears closed. The damage was done, and it emboldened

19 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Selected Aphorisms, trans. Anthony M. Ludovici (Edinburgh and London, 1911), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25012/25012-pdf.pdf.

people to be more outward with their anti-Semitism, as affirmation of hateful beliefs will always

20 cause.

Nietzsche speaks in length in these writings on Parsifal admitting that this work, in its ability to entice and persuade the audience, is a “stroke of genius.” Relying on the heavy use of

Christian symbolism in its retelling of story of the Holy Grail, Parsifal tells the story of a young fool coming into his “compassion,” and he rises into his own power, leading to scenes such as the destruction of real of the evil sorcerer Klingsor, the baptizing of the manipulated seductress

Kundry, and the healing of the Amfortas; these culminate in a finale in which the man, Parsifal, is exalted as king in his righteousness and compassion. Nietzsche hails the work as Wagner’s greatest, but also as “too bright.” He questions the readers, asking if they comprehend what

Wagner has accomplished through this framing. He proceeds to frame Wagner as the “mightiest of Klingsors,” a sorcerer, a magician, a figure that beckons the audience with seductive sounds

21 and sights.

Nietzsche continues on to lament the price of having followed Wagner. He considers the corruption young people, the inevitable want to essentially worship as a Wagnerite. The use of incredibly strong language is prevalent through the whole collection of writings, something he acknowledges in a second postscript. Regardless of the language he uses, even in the more comical sections, he exposes to the reader the enormous number of fallacies in Wagner’s beliefs, and how they are weaved into his music, into his operas. He paints as rather terrifying picture in

20 Ibid, 87. 21 Ibid, 48.

these writings as a whole; a picture of cunning persuasion, a picture that might as well been a photograph.

As Nietzsche discussed in his writings, Parsifal, and its villain, Klingsor, both play an important role in understanding Wagner’s beliefs and ideologies. Parsifal is the presence of compassion and ascendance, with the absence of tragedy. It is the presence of overtly Christian themes, with the absence of hellfire (but with a demonic-related character). As Nietzsche states

“…that [Parsifal] casts so to speak a shadow upon all Wagner’s earlier achievement; it seems too bright, too healthy […] How he appeals to every form of cowardice of the modern soul and with charming girlish notes!” It is the presence of this light, and the absence of any strongly stereotyped Jewish character, that creates this amalgamation. Wagner uses these aesthetics in

22 response to the Jewishness that he envied, and the same Jewishness that he damned.

Klingsor, while not exhibiting overtly Jewish tropes, has characteristics that are at least somewhat Jewish-coding. One of the most apparent is the discussion of his castration, which is told of to the audience long before Klingsor is introduced on stage (and reiterated by Klingsor himself later on). The custom of circumcision among the Jewish is often contended today, and

th that was also true during the 19 century. Arguments against circumcision often equate circumcision with a kind of castration, with genital mutilation. It was very likely that the audience made this connection, and, as scholars such as Marc A. Weiner offer, the symbolism of

23 the spear Klingsor controls could be of that which he lost through his own mutilation.

22 Ruth HaCohen, “The Judengasse Synagogue versus the Temple of the Grail,” in The Music Libel Against the Jews (Connecticut: Yale University, 2011), 242.

23 Marc A. Weiner, Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination (Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 1997)., 190-91.

Another aspect of Klingsor is his presentation as a sorcerer, as a user of magic and dark arts. His introduction in the second act is in his castle, dark and dismal, and in some productions,

24 surrounded by items to be used for magical purposes. Alongside his status of the magical villain, he is also painted as demonic, using magic to manipulate and control Kundry (sentenced

25 to eternally reincarnating fate due to her laughing or ridiculing Christ). This is in contrast with the light land the houses the kingdom of the Grail, and in contrast with the knights he so desperately wanted to join (and, at the beginning of Parsifal’s realizations of compassion, in contrast to him as well). His rejection from the brotherhood of the Grail, due to some sin (which he attempted to right with his castration) led to him injuring and stealing the spear. This alienation through the rejection of Klingsor initially for an unknown sin, to his alienation as a demonic manipulative presence who simply vanishes into nothingness at the collapse of his

26 realm, is similar to the alienation that Wagner pushes onto the Jewish person. Unable to truly be German, they are aliens in a country, in a land that Wagner believes they are intruding in.

Lastly, in relation to Klingsor’s portrayal as alien, the vocals also show a kind of alienation. In the first act of Parsifal, the entrance of Kundry brings the most dissonance, which 27 is foretelling of what is to come in the second act. This is contrasted with the knights,

Amfortas, and Parsifal. Klingsor’s introduction works in tandem with Kundry, and with this introduction, there is chromaticism, large minor intervals, and corrupted themes, such as the theme of the Grail. The interaction between Kundry and Klingsor varies, with Kundry often

24 Beckett, Richard Wagner: Parsifal, 37.

25 Ibid, 42. 26 Ibid, 30. 27 Ibid, 27.

replying in laughter, or initially when she is being woken by Klingsor, by moaning motions, shown below.

This is all to say not only are there subtle references to Jewish and otherwise alienating tropes, but with the contradiction between Klingsor and Kundry against the brotherhood, and ultimately Parsifal, are in accordance with Wagner’s beliefs of the Jewish people. Not truly

German, they cannot ever possibly reach the levels a true German can, not like the possibilities that Parsifal, the fool who killed the bird, was able to do. Klingsor mourns that he was unable to reach that possibility as his “unknown sin” kept him from reaching that mysterious place. Some may argue that this alienation shown in Parsifal is an attempt to show the alienation that Wagner felt, but it is equally important we examine this as the same kind of alienation he attributed to the

29 Jews.

Wagner is an individual that has always loomed over academia. There are many interpretations of Wagner, his compositions, and his beliefs; these interpretations often come

28 Richard Wagner, Parsifal, Dover (New York: Dover Publications, 1986).

29 Hektor King-tak Yan, “The Jewish Question Revisited: Anti-Semitism and ‘Race’ in Wagner’s Parsifal,” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 43, no. 2 (2012): 343–63. 20

with a history of divided opinions, harsh oppositions, and slews of musicians who have their formulated opinion of Wagner. Some are against any analysis through the lens of anti-Semitism, while some believe that is all that is the most important analysis to perform. There are so-called

“Wagner Apologists,” those who call them out, and those who are simply looking to receive their paycheck after a long opera season. Why is it so imperative to understand this individual in this context? Is it for the same reason we must learn about Hitler and the atrocities of the Holocaust?

Yes, and no. Hitler used a regime to create propaganda and censor to cultivate a hate already created; Wagner created his music, followers praised him, and he used his platform to create both forward anti-Semitic messages, and, frankly, subliminal ones. However, Hitler and the

Third Reich are accepted by (most) people as creators of genocide; Wagner is accepted as a creator of beautiful sophisticated music that had an enormous impact on the mid to late 19th century and beyond. He was also composer whose envy of the Jewish composers around him led to a response rooted in anti-Semitic dogma. The anti-Semitism is often a side note for musicians and listeners, as they accept that Wagner had less-than-kind beliefs, but created astounding music nonetheless. However, why should we separate these ideas? Wagner certainly did not.

Why not take the opportunity to learn and understand about the implications, the effects, the consequences of Wagner’s dogma, and the reach of his dogma? These are many raised questions with no easy answers, but they are questions I believe are of upmost importance; some may be able to separate the anti-Semitism from Wagner, but I am unable to separate the Jewishness from myself. As such, I will never stop asking the musicians around me these questions. Jewishness and Judaism are sometimes difficult to navigate and understand, but the effects of the hatred of an entire people are relatively simple to recognize.

Bibliography

Beckett, Lucy. Richard Wagner: Parsifal. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1981.

Brener, Milton E. Richard Wagner and the Jews. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006.

HaCohen, Ruth. “The Judengasse Synagogue versus the Temple of the Grail.” In The Music Libel Against the Jews, 242. Connecticut: Yale University, 2011.

Levy, Daniela Smolov. “Parsifal in Yiddish? Why Not?” The Musical Quarterly 97, no. 2 (2014): 140–80.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Case of Wagner, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Selected Aphorisms. Translated by Anthony M. Ludovici. Edinburgh and London, 1911. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25012/25012-pdf.pdf.

Tommasini, Anthony. “Review: A Sublime and Provocative ‘Parsifal’ at Bayreuth.” The New York Times, July 26, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/arts/music/review-a-sublime-and-provocative-parsi fal-at-bayreuth-festival-wagner.html.

Wagner, Richard. “Jewishness in Music.” In Sämtliche Schriften Und Dichtungen, translated by William Ashton Ellis, Vol. 3, 1850. http://users.belgacom.net/wagnerlibrary/prose/wagjuda.htm.

———. Parsifal. Dover. New York: Dover Publications, 1986.

Weiner, Marc A. Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination. Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 1997.

Yan, Hektor King-tak. “The Jewish Question Revisited: Anti-Semitism and ‘Race’ in Wagner’s Parsifal.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 43, no. 2 (2012): 343–63.

Fordian Slip: A Study of America's Automotive Obsession in Popular Music Lyrics Enoch Robbins

When asked about The Back Seat of My Car, Paul McCartney said “obviously ‘back seat’ is snogging, making love.” In the 20th century, America’s growth was catapulted forward by the advent of the automobile, and since then, the auto industry has been a driving force in the country’s economic growth as well as a major influence on our cultural development. While cars have consistently been employed as a romantic metaphor, over time their uses have become more varied and complex over time, and their significance will likely continue to change along with American cultural values. This paper will explore through lyrical and video analysis the ways in which automotive imagery has become culturally ubiquitous in American music, as well as the ways in which it presents itself differently across gender and ethnic lines.

Fordian Slip: A Study of America's Auto-Erotic Obsession in Popular Music Lyrics Enoch Robbins Americans measure travel in more ways than one. The official unit is miles, but more often journeys are discussed in terms of travel time. This is different from Europeans due to the sheer amount of land mass that America has come to occupy. In America, one can drive for hours and still be in the same state. While in Europe, a driver could pass through multiple countries in that same time span. As a result, travel and transportation have historically been influential in American art. Automobiles in particular have had a large impact on American song, as they are the most common mode of personal transportation. Their frequent occurrence in song lyrics can be attributed to their universal appeal, but it carries a deeper meaning or symbolism going on under the hood. Because cars are so deeply ingrained in American culture, their symbolic meanings have changed over the years along with America's changing culture, and some genres have their own unique relationships to cars, based on the cultures of their

songwriters.

The impact of travel on

American art can be traced back to the

19th century. One noteworthy inclusion

that highlights the importance of travel

and transportation is the painting

American Progress by John Gast.30 The

30 John Gast. “American Progress.” Chromolithographs. George Crofutt., 1872.

artist depicts Columbia, the early personification of the United States, bringing light as she leads white Americans west and pushes Native Americans out. This image represents the ideology of

“manifest destiny,” the idea that the American people had a right to claim and modernize the entire North American continent.31 When reading the painting from left to right, a progression in transportation can be seen from horses, to stagecoaches, to carriages, and finally to trains. If this painting were created today, it would extend further right and include cars following behind the trains. To this day, automobiles remain the primary mode of transportation for the majority of

Americans.

In his text The Automobile and American Life, John Heitmann catalogs the earliest songs about cars. He notes the pervasive influence of Henry Ford and the connection of cars to romance in American song.32 Since their inception, cars have been a key source of imagery for

American songwriters. Over the years and across genres, this imagery has had changing meaning to reflect the changing American cultural landscape.

Early Songs about Cars

“My Automobile Girl” is a song written in 1900, when vehicles were still costly and inaccessible to the masses.33 The lyrics describe a courting couple riding in the singer’s vehicle.

The speed and ease of travel are central elements to this song; the couple are described as

“gliding,” “flying,” “whirling,” and “like a flash.” It is noted that the vehicle is a luxury, as they are planning a “novel” wedding, and the singer describes himself as feeling “like a Duke or

31 J. L. O'Sullivan and O. C. Gardiner. “Annexation.” The United States Magazine and Democratic Review 17, 1845.

32 John Heitmann. The Automobile and American Life. Jefferson, , NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2018.

33 R. J. Morris, My Automobile Girl. NYC, NY: M. Witmark & Sons, 1900. 25

Earl.” Even in this early song, the car plays a role in the couple’s courtship and wedding planning.

As the availability of cars increased, so did their use in songs. Ransom E. Olds was responsible for the first mass-produced vehicle in 1903, the Oldsmobile.34 The 1905 song “In My

Merry Oldsmobile” is the first example of a reference to a specific make and model of vehicle in a song.35 In this song, the car is central to a love story between two characters: Johnny Steel and his girl, Lucile.

This example shows how cars began to emerge as a place of private intimacy for young lovers, adding to the aforementioned courtship elements. The lyrics describe a variety of amorous behaviors between Johnny and Lucille. They engage in a lot of premarital sparking and spooning long before wedding bells are mentioned later in the song. It is worth noting that during this time period, groups such as the social hygiene movement were fighting to encourage abstinence.36 Lyrics for the songs from the early 1900s have been included to provide the reader with a more full context, as these songs will be less familiar than the ones from the later 20th century.

34 Robert Lacey, Ford: The Men and The Machine. Boston, MA: Little Brown and Company, 1986. 61

35 Billy Murray. In My Merry Oldsmobile. Vinyl recording. Billy Murray Sings "In My Merry Oldsmobile", n.d.

36 R. H. Everett, “Social Hygiene and Public Health.” Social Forces 2, no. 1 (1923): 61–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/3005183.

Cover artwork for My Automobile Girl Cover artwork for In My Merry Oldsmobile

1st Verse, Chorus, and 2nd Verse 1st Verse, Chorus, and 2nd Verse Ev’ry day you’ll see me, Young Johnny Steele has an Oldsmobile When the weather’s fine, He loves his dear little girl Gliding out the Boulevard, She is the queen of his gas machine Where all swelldom shine, She has his heart in a whirl In an Automobile, Now when they go for a spin, you know, Proud as a duke or earl. She tries to learn the auto, so ‘Tis such a treat to be with my sweet, He lets her steer, while he gets her ear My Automobile Girl. And whispers soft and low...

In our Automobile along the road we fly. Come away with me, Lucille Nothing is too fast for us; like a flash we pass them In my merry Oldsmobile by. Down the road of life we'll fly There'll be a novel wedding As through the town we Automobubbling, you and I whirl. To the church we'll swiftly steal How happy I’ll be when she marries me; Then our wedding bells will peal My Automobile Girl You can go as far as you like with me In my merry Oldsmobile. Yesterday I asked her If she’d be my bride, They love to "spark" in the dark old park And then we planned our wedding As they go flying along Seated side by side, She says she knows why the motor goes In our Automobile The "sparker" is awfully strong We’ll take a wedding tour. Each day they "spoon" to the engine's tune You’d not blame me if you could but see Their honeymoon will happen soon My Automobile Girl. He'll win Lucille with his Oldsmobile And then he'll fondly croon…

Henry Ford implemented mass-production on a larger scale than anyone had before, and revolutionized the entire manufacturing sector. Although the Model T Ford, released in 1908, was not the first mass-produced vehicle, it is considered by many to be the first consumer vehicle.37 It was then that Henry Ford became a household name. This is evident in the 1916 song “In the Old Back Seat of the Henry Ford.” This song describes a young couple utilizing the privacy of the back seat to engage in amorous activities, with a chauffeur keeping their confidence. Likewise, the 1927 tune “Get ‘em in a Rumble Seat” continues this tradition of utilizing a car as an intimate space, highlighting the sensation from the motor as a source of pleasure.38 The lyrics of this song claim that between a car and a house, the car was the preferred intimate space. These examples further connect the themes of speed, power, intimacy and sexuality.

From the turn of the century to the 1920s, automotive metaphor was consistently used in a romantic context, but was influenced by the changing social environment of the time. The changing moral standards39 and increased availability of cars to the working class led to more overt sexual innuendo. Lyricists shifted their focus from cars as an intimate space for courting couples, to the activities those couples would engage in. Once again, the lyrics for these songs are included for the reader’s benefit.

37 Robert Lacey, 87-94

38 Jack Marshall, Carl Lampl, and Morey Davidson. Get 'Em in a Rumble Seat. San Francisco, CA: Villa Morét, 1927.

39 M. R Rockwell, “Gender Transformations: The Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties.” OAH Magazine of History 19, no. 2 (2005): 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/maghis/19.2.31. 28

Cover artwork for In The Old Cover artwork for Get ‘Em in a Rumble Seat Back Seat of the Henry Ford 1st Verse 1st Verse and Chorus Just get 'em in a rumble Hiram Brown went to down, In a little rumble Bought himself a Ford the other day Get 'em in a rumble seat Now the charm of the farm, Girlies always tumble Loses out whenever he is on his merry way. Like the bees they bumble Susie Green has been seen, Sittin' in a rumble seat Riding when the moon was shining clear, Now, they just cuddle up, and oh, boy! How you feel! Chauffeur didn’t tell, But we know very well, You sure can love 'em when you're not behind the That Hiram too, was sitting in the rear. wheel!

On the old back seat of the Henry Ford, There's a great attraction They didn’t mind the rumble Lots of satisfaction of the old buck board, Sittin' in a rumble seat The winds were blowing, but that care they It's a great invention Hiram said “I’ll be a little bold!” And for close attention He placed his arm right around her waist, Positively can't be beat! Then the chauffeur loudly roared, Now, you can love your sweetie in the parlor at night “The motor’s getting warmer, But if you want your lovin' and you want it done right So brighten up the corner,” Just get 'em in a rumble On the old back seat of the Henry Ford In a little rumble Get 'em in a rumble seat!

The Great Depression and The Post War Revival

The Great Depression brought sales in the automotive industry down by 75 percent40 and many manufacturers including Ford motors went into massive debt.41 Fewer people were able to purchase cars and as a result, automobiles returned to the luxury item status they held in the early

1900s. As a result, music to commiserate and process hardship became more prominent than songs about cars during this period.42

During World War II, American resources and manufacturing were diverted to the war effort, so the automotive industry was put on hold.43 The period of post-war prosperity led to a boom in the automotive industry. This correlated to an increase in references to luxury vehicles, the Cadillac in particular. Jimmy Liggins’s 1947 song “Cadillac Boogie” uses the Cadillac as a status symbol, specifically allowing the narrator to attract more female attention. Likewise, Roy

Brown’s Rhythm and Blues song “Cadillac Baby” describes a woman who is obsessed with riding in the narrator’s new car, and advises the listener to stop and park the car in a place that their girl likes. The advent of the Cadillac to the lyrical cannon is noteworthy because it primarily receives mention from black artists. Up until 1932 Cadillac had an unwritten rule that salesmen were not to sell to black Americans. This was borne of a desire to maintain Cadillac’s

40 David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter, “How Automakers Accelerated Out of the Great Depression.” BCG Global. BCG Global, February 16, 2010. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2010/growth-automakers-accelerated-out-great-depression.

41 Robert Lacey, 306

42 “Songs of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl Migrants.” The Library of Congress. Accessed August 14, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197402/.

43 Frank P. Huddle, “Automobiles in the Postwar Economy.” CQ Researcher, August 21, 1945.

status as a luxury vehicle.44 Because of this, the Cadillac was a symbol not only of money, but of social status. Many black Americans would hire middlemen to buy from the dealer45 or would purchase them secondhand.46

One notable exception to this is “Maybellene” by Chuck Berry.47 This song heavily describes the singer driving his Ford, seeing his ex-girlfriend sitting with her new lover in the more prestigious Cadillac Coupe Deville. The song describes a race between the Ford and the

Cadillac, where the Ford overheats but is saved by the rain, easily outrunning the Coupe Deville.

The lyrics present the Cadillac as a symbol of social status, but turn that presentation on its head by showing the Cadillac losing a race to the singer’s Ford. This is a case of flash versus substance, where the Ford represents a person with a modest appearance having more resolve and stamina, while a person obsessed with appearance cannot keep up with them.

The Beginnings of Counterculture

Up to this point, the use of automotive imagery was primarily romantic, with the vehicle representing a private space, and the speed and power of the vehicle playing a role in the male’s courtship or wooing of the female. The Beach Boys famous song “Fun Fun Fun” demonstrates a

44 Jim Koscs, “How Nicholas Dreystadt Ended Racism at Cadillac in the 1930s-or Tried To.” Hagerty Media. The Hagerty Group, October 22, 2019. https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/nicholas-dreystadt-ended-racism-at-cadillac-in-the-1 930s/.

45 Ibid

46 Warren Brown, “CADILLAC'S CULTURAL TURN.” The Washington Post. WP Company, December 24, 1995. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1995/12/24/cadillacs-cultural-turn/7374f4c7-b78f-400 7-9938-51ab24bf3522/.

47 Chuck Berry, Maybellene. Vinyl recording. Chuck Berry Is on Top, 1955. 31

slight shift in the use of imagery.48 In this song, the vehicle is primarily a way for the young girl to develop and exercise her independence from her father. It draws negative attention from her female peers, as she exhibits more freedom than they have. This theme of rebellion is common among surf rock and was impacted by the culture of rebellion in the sixties. However, the romantic context still persists. In obtaining this power and freedom, she becomes more attractive to the boys, who she proceeds to lead on a wild goose chase. Even after she loses access to her father's vehicle, the narrator invites her to come along with him and continue the fun.

Well the girls can't stand her 'Cause she walks looks and drives like an ace now She makes the Indy 500 look like a Roman chariot race now A lotta guys try to catch her But she leads them on a wild goose chase now And she'll have fun fun fun 'Til her daddy takes the T-bird away49

Further examples of this thematic shift towards rebellion against parental authority can be found in early seventies songs like “The Back Seat of My Car” by Paul and Linda McCartney.

McCartney describes himself out on a drive with his girlfriend.50 Paul McCartney himself says that “obviously ‘back seat’ is snogging, making love.”51 The context of this song is overtly sexual, but the lyrics also repeatedly reference “her father’s song” which contains warnings such

48 The Beach Boys. Fun Fun Fun . Vinyl recording. Why Do Fools Fall in Love, 1964. 49 Ibid.

50 Paul McCartney, Back Seat of My Car. Vinyl recording. Ram. 1971 51 “Paul McCartney On His Not-So-Silly Love Songs.” Billboard. Last modified January 4, 2013. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/80344/paul-mccartney-on-his-not-so-silly-love-songs.

as “don’t stay out long” and “making love is wrong.”52 The singer and his girlfriend ignore these warnings, reprising the theme of rebellion against parental authority.

Up to this point, automobiles have served as external symbols. In the early 20th century, they symbolized wealth and freedom, while playing a role in courtship. Later, became more closely associated with the physical intimacy of a relationship. In the post-war period, elements of wealth and intimacy became more explicit through the genres of rock and R&B. And in the sixties, they took on the added meaning of rebellion against parental authority. While the meaning may have changed, the cars have consistently served as an external symbol or setting.

However, starting with the seventies, two major developments began to occur. The first is that artists began to use luxury cars to represent ostentation and decadence in a negative light. The second is that artists began to use automotive imagery for more abstract representation, imputing the traits of vehicles to people. Attributing the features of inanimate objects onto people is called chremamorphism; however, in the context of the following songs, automomorphism is the appropriate word.

Rebellion Against Materialism

During the seventies, rebellion and counterculture grew and many people began to reject the materialistic opulence of luxury vehicles. Certain brand names became synonymous with living in excess and were used to invoke images of the upper class. One example is Janis Joplin’s

“Mercedes Benz,” an ironic prayer poking fun at materialistic ideals.53 In this song, Joplin prays

52 Paul McCartney, Back Seat of My Car. 53 Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Mercedes Benz. Vinyl recording. Pearl, 1970.

to the Lord for a Mercedes and other luxury items, because her friends are affluent and she is embarrassed by her lack of high-class possessions

“Be Thankful for What You Got” by William DeVaughn54 is a soul song that urges the listener not to focus on status symbols such as a car. He describes a Cadillac with special luxury features such as “Gangsta whitewalls, TV antennas in the back,” “diamond in the back, [and] sunroof top.” The “diamond in the back” was a reference to the unique design of the rear window. His target audience would recognize this as a piece of iconography specific to this vehicle. A different kind of Cadillac is referred to in “One Piece at a Time” by Johnny Cash.55

This song tells the story of an assembly line worker who cannot afford the cars he builds. He resolves to steal car parts over the course of many years. "By the end, he has built an unappealing vehicle, which consists of parts from 1949 to beyond 1960. He finally got his

Cadillac, the status symbol he chased after for years, but it was built like Frankenstein."

Abstraction and Automomorphism

While some artists were experimenting with the meaning of vehicles in songs, others kept the same meaning, but experimented with implementation. These artists began to embrace more abstract and symbolic prose and used the vehicles’ features to ascribe traits to people in their songs. The artist who most clearly exemplifies this approach is Bruce Springsteen. This is evident throughout his album, “Born to Run.”56 In his lyrics, Springsteen equates speed to life, and stillness to death. Fast cars represent freedom from suburban normalcy and standing still is

54 William Devaughn, Vinyl recording. Be Thankful for What You Got, 1972. 55 Johnny Cash, Vinyl recording. One Piece at a Time, 1976.

56 Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run. Vinyl recording. Born To Rn, 1974.

akin to being trapped in a life that he does not want. Driving was his way out and he commonly seeks a girl with whom to share the ride. Springsteen is one of the first to utilize automomorphism in his lyrics. Specifically, the line “wrap your legs ‘round these velvet rims and strap your hands across my engines,” presents a major safety concern for Wendy, if taken literally. It is more likely that he would prefer she wrap her legs around him. This is the beginning of a transition from external lyrical symbolism through personification.

At first glance, “I’m in Love With My Car” presents significant homoerotic imagery.

While this interpretation is consistent with the work of Queen, this song was written by Roger

Taylor, the band’s drummer. While the meaning has been widely debated, Taylor insists that that the song is to be taken at face value and is not really about a man realizing he prefers men over his girlfriend. He simply wanted to write a song about a man with his hand on a “grease gun”57

... sure Roger.

A more transparent example is “Little Red Corvette” by Prince.58 The song’s lyrics fully embrace the transition to personification by describing a woman as though she was a vehicle. It is worth noting that the attractive or challenging features he describes are in terms of speed, comparable to Springteen. Later in the song, he says “your ride is so smooth you must be a limousine.”

57 Queen. I'm in Love with My Car. Vinyl recording. A Night at the Opera, 1975. 58 Prince. “Little Red Corvette,” recorded in 1982, Vinyl Record, Track 2 on 1999, Warner Bros.

21st Century - Women can make car metaphors too

Throughout the sexual revolution, women began to express their sexuality in popular music.59 Moving into the 21st century, women were given more freedom to record sexualized lyrics, and the presence of automotive imagery can be observed here too. The female narrator often takes a passive or objectified role while the assumed male listener takes action. In Gwen

Stefani’s “Crash” released in 2004, she tells the listener to “crash into [her] real hard.”60 She describes the listener as an expert driver, while she is waiting for his “engine,” which is an atypical example of automomorphism being used to describe a male. While this is an automotive trait, this is the part of the car where the power comes from, which makes this reference slightly more masculine.

When automomorphism is used, the heteronormative schema layed out for pop music is maintained; the vehicle traits are applied to the female, even when the female is the narrator. In her 2008 song “Shut Up And Drive,” Rihanna portrays herself as a “supersonic speed machine,”

61 a wild vehicle in need of a skilled driver, while simultaneously making reference to multiple luxury cars: Limousines, Ferraris and Cadillacs. In Ke$ha’s 2012 song “Gold Trans Am” she tells the listener to “climb into [her] golden cockpit,” a transparent play on words that provides strong yonic imagery.62

59 Jon Stratton, “Coming to the Fore: the Audibility of Women's Sexual Pleasure in Popular Music and the Sexual Revolution.” Popular Music 33, no. 1 (2014): 109–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/s026114301300055x.

60 Gewn Stefani, “Crash,” recorded in 2004, CD, Track 8 on Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Interscope.

61 Rihanna, “Shut Up and Drive,” recorded in 2007, CD, Track 5 on Good Girl Gone Bad, Def Jam.

62 Kesha, “Gold Trans Am,” recorded in 2012, CD, Track 14 on Warrior, Kemosabe.

This trend of women expressing their sexuality through song has been met with some controversy. Some contest that sexualization of female artists sends an unsavory message to young girls that sexual acts directly translate to empowerment. This debate has become so culturally pervasive that it can be seen in satirical comedy sketches, such as Key and Peele’s

Mother Majesty skit.63 So the question remains: Is Gwen Stefani asking the listener to crash into her as an expression of her own sexual independence, or is she providing the listener with a scripted list of double-entendres to use?

Special Codes: Country Music

Since the early 1900s, the significance of cars in popular music has been relatively consistent at any given time. However, some genres have their own symbolism and code for automotive metaphor. Country music has a deep relationship with cars that is even recognized by the layperson. As Tumblr user fenrislorsrai points out, “With the rise of self driving vehicles, eventually there WILL be a country song about how your truck left you too.”64 Many country songs use cars as a symbol of masculinity, virility, and independence. Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a

Highway” uses the road to symbolize the dangers of life, and uses driving to symbolize the freedom to navigate it.65 It also highlights the theme of romantic companionship. These themes can be seen in other country songs such as Rascal Flatts’s “Fast Cars and Freedom,”which makes

63 Mother Majesty. Comedy Central. United States of America: Comedy Central, 2014. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/y81wku/key-and-peele-mother-majesty.

64 Fenrislorsrai. 16 June 2017, http://fenrislorsrai.tumblr.com/post/161873319766/with-the-rise-of-self-driving-vehicles-eventually.

65 Tom Cochrane, Life Is a Highway. CD. Mad Mad World, 1990.

the connection to romantic intimacy without subtlety.66 The connection to cars in country music can be attributed to the history of moonshine and NASCAR in the south. NASCAR originated from moonshine runners driving fast enough to outrun the police. A car’s speed is directly representative of the singer’s freedom.

Trucks specifically have a symbolic correlation to power in country music, and are typically associated with self-sufficiency. Songs such as Toby Keith’s “Big Ol’ Truck” describes a woman who drives a large truck, implying that the power and style of her vehicle make her desirable.67 Other songs reprise the more traditional symbolism from the early 1900s. For example, Brad Paisley’s “Mud On The Tires” highlights the off-road capabilities of a truck as a way to further provide an intimate space.68 Likewise, Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” portrays the truck itself as an intimate location.69 The power of a vehicle is directly related to the singer’s sexuality. These two ideas of speed and power are the foundation for automotive symbolism in country music.

Women also have a more active role in country music when compared to the pop artists mentioned earlier. Traditional gender roles are upheld by the lyrics, but the traits of independence and strength are still seen as desirable like in “Big Ol’ Truck.” In the case of Shania Twain’s “You Win my Love,” Twain proclaims that she needs a lover who can “rev his little engine up” because she is the kind of lady “you just can't slow down.”70 In her song “In My

66 Rascal Flatts, Fast Cars and Freedom. CD. Feels Like Today, 2005. 67 Toby Keith, Big Ol’ Truck. CD. Boomtown, 1994. 68 Brad Paisley, CD. Mud On The Tires. 2003. 69 Kip Moore, Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck. CD. Up All Night. 2011. 70 Shania Twain, “You Win My Love,” recorded in 1995, CD, Track 8 on The Woman in Me, Polygram.

Car,” Twain asserts that she will let her partner take the lead in other situations, but in her car, she makes the rules. She is saying that she will not give up her autonomy in pursuit of a relationship.71 In Carrie Underwood's “Before He Cheats,” she is singing from the perspective of a woman scorned and she demolishes her philandering ex-lover’s car as punishment, symbolically destroying his manhood in the process.72 Each of these examples portrays women with more independence and self-efficacy.

Special Codes: Hip-Hop

In the case of hip-hop, automotive imagery presents itself differently. One archetypical example is the song “Drive Slow” by Kanye West, where the car represents a coming of age.

This differs from Bruce Springsteen's sexual metaphor, with cars serving as symbols of external achievements. In this genre, cars represent status and wealth; and certain models of luxury cars are especially iconic. Cadillacs, Mercedes Benz, Maybachs, and the 1964 Chevy Impala are excellent examples of cars that have become well-established within hip-hop.73 These particular models represent wealth and status by virtue of their price tag. This sends the message that those who own one or more of these car brands are viewed as wealthy and important. Hip-hop also features cars more prominently in music videos and album artwork compared to other genres.

This goes beyond individual songs written about cars themselves, and extends to an entire culture where cars are synonymous with wealth. A common trope is a rap album cover that

71 Shania Twain, “In My Car (I'll Be the Driver),” recorded in 2002, CD, Track 18 Up!, Mercury Nashville.

72 Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats,” recorded in 2005 CD. Track 7 on Some Hearts, Arista Nashville.

73 Carlos Matias. “Gallery: The 25 Most Iconic Hip-Hop Cars24.” Complex. Last modified October 20, 2016. https://www.complex.com/sports/2011/08/gallery-the-25-most-iconic-hip-hop-cars

features the artist posing with a vehicle. In this case, the car is supposed to be a demonstration of the artist’s wealth and status. It is not directly related to masculinity or virility, but rather an expression of success. This idea of accruing wealth and property “in spite of disadvantages” is shown in the early writings of African-American sociologists and has become an integral part of

African-American Culture.74

One particularly eye-catching example is the music video for “Otis” from the Album

Watch the Throne,75 where Kanye West and Jay-Z chop up a Maybach using blow torches and drive it around an industrial complex. While the lyrics of the song are about their wealth and fantastic experiences, the vehicle in question was rendered undrivable in the process. Casually destroying a luxury vehicle for pleasure contributes to their display of wealth and opulence. The music video for “The Way You Move” by Outkast is another example of a music video in which cars are featured, while not being the subject of the lyrics. It begins with Andre 3000 and Big Boi

74 W. E. B. Du Bois. “The Souls of Black Folk.” The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Du Bois, February 1, 1903. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm#chap07.

75 Kanye West. “JAY Z, Kanye West - Otis ft. Otis Redding”. YouTube video, 3:15. Posted Aug 11, 2011. https://youtu.be/BoEKWtgJQAU.

in an auto shop run by women in varying stages of undress while the artists are dressed in over the top and comically opulent clothes.76 In both videos, the automotive imagery is used in connection with women to represent wealth. The point of destroying the Maybach, and starting the video in a playboy autoshop is to represent extrinsic wealth and status. A different example is in the music video for Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor.”77 After the death of his son, Dr. Dre reminisces about his career while driving along a coastal road. He drives faster and faster, as the memories flash more rapidly, until he flips the car and crashes. This can be interpreted as a representation of Dre rejecting his accrued wealth and status, realizing that no material possessions could match the value of his son. This is a callback to the ideas of flash and substance expressed in Maybellene, and the rebellion against materialism expressed in the 70’s.

76 OutKastVideoVault. “OutKast - The Way You Move (Video) ft. Sleepy Brown”. YouTube video, 4:49. Posted Apr 26, 2013. https://youtu.be/xI5NQ-0Ubfs.

77 DreVEVO. “Dr. Dre - I Need A Doctor (Explicit) ft. Eminem, Skylar Grey”. YouTube video, 7:36. Posted Feb 24, 2011. https://youtu.be/VA770wpLX-Q.

Gold Eagle, an automotive manufacturing company, conducted a study regarding the frequency of cars mentioned in song lyrics. 78 Their study was limited by their methods, as the authors used an automated search of a single lyric database, and only searched for specific terms.

The study only sought to examine the frequency with which artists mentioned cars, and the kinds of cars that they mentioned. It did not take into account the meaning or significance behind the lyrics. However, it does present a couple of noteworthy data points. On average, the hip-hop artists who reference cars most frequently do so more than three times as much as artists from other genres. While the quantitative value of these numbers does not take into account the size of an artists discography and whether or not words are repeated in a chorus or hook, it does demonstrate a qualitative relationship between hip-hop and other genres. The study also compared the most frequently referenced car manufacturers, with the top three being Mercedes,

Cadillac and Bentley. Once again, these figures are limited by the search terms used, and do not account for repetition within a song. The terms do not include common nicknames for vehicles such a “Benzo,” and other noteworthy vehicles such as the Maybach were omitted entirely.

Nevertheless, this study does provide cursory insight into the frequency of use by hip-hop artists.

Summary and Conclusion

In conclusion, automotive imagery and metaphor are staples of American art music. Its use began in the early 1900s as a symbol of courtship, virility, and sexual intimacy. There was a lul in its use during the Great Depression that ended during post-WWII prosperity. Upon its revival, it was used with similar significance throughout the fifties. However, as racist business

78 Genesis Bult. “Musicians Who Sing the Most about Cars: Data – Gold Eagle Co.” Gold Eagle, December 12, 2018. https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/musicians-sing-most-about-cars/.

practices made luxury cars less accessible to black artists, imagery centered on luxury cars began to be employed more frequently by black artists as a symbol of social status. The counterculture movement of the sixties began to utilize cars to represent independence and freedom from parental authority. This shift continued throughout the seventies and eighties, with the addition of abstract metaphor and automomorphism to artists’ repertoires. Outside of this broad arc, specific genres such as country and hip-hop have their own rules for automotive imagery that directly relate to their own histories. In all of its forms and applications, automotive symbolism is undeniably a core element of American popular music. While cars have consistently been employed as a romantic metaphor, over time their uses have become more varied and complex over time, and their significance will likely continue to change along with American cultural values.

Bibliography

The Beach Boys. Fun Fun Fun . Vinyl recording. Why Do Fools Fall in Love, 1964. Berry, Chuck. Maybellene. Vinyl recording. Chuck Berry Is on Top, 1955. Brown, Warren. “CADILLAC'S CULTURAL TURN.” The Washington Post. WP Company,

December 24, 1995.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1995/12/24/cadillacs-cultural-turn/73

74f4c7-b78f-4007-9938-51ab24bf3522/.

Bult, Genesis. “Musicians Who Sing the Most about Cars: Data – Gold Eagle Co.” Gold Eagle,

December 12, 2018.

https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/musicians-sing-most-about-cars/.

Cash, Johnny. Vinyl recording. One Piece at a Time, 1976. Cochrane, Tom. Life Is a Highway. CD. Mad Mad World, 1990. Devaughn, William. Vinyl recording. Be Thankful for What You Got, 1972. Dogg, Snoop. Ego Trippin. CD, n.d. DreVEVO. “Dr. Dre - I Need A Doctor (Explicit) ft. Eminem, Skylar Grey”. YouTube video, 7:36. Posted Feb 24, 2011. https://youtu.be/VA770wpLX-Q.

Du Bois, W. E. B. “The Souls of Black Folk.” The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Du Bois,

February 1, 1903. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm#chap07.

Edwards, Judy, ed. “Welcome to the Brass-Nickel Touring RegionWeb Site!” HOME. Accessed

August 14, 2020. https://www.bntraaca.org/.

Everett, R. H. “Social Hygiene and Public Health.” Social Forces 2, no. 1 (1923): 61–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/3005183.

Fenrislorsrai. 15 June 2017, (9:35 pm) “With the rise of self driving vehicles, eventually there

WILL be a country song about how your truck left you too.”

http://fenrislorsrai.tumblr.com/post/161873319766/with-the-rise-of-self-driving-vehicles-

eventually.

Gast, John. “American Progress.” Chromolithographs. George Crofutt., 1872.

Huddle, Frank P. “Automobiles in the Postwar Economy.” CQ Researcher, August 21, 1945. Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Big Jaz, D M X., Too Short, Amil, Ja Rule, et al. Jay-Z Vol. 2-- Hard Knock Life. CD. Joplin, Janis. Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Mercedes Benz. Vinyl recording. Pearl, 1970.

Keith, Toby. Big Ol’ Truck. CD. Boomtown, 1994.

Kesha. Gold Trans Am. CD. Warrior, 2012. Koscs, Jim. “How Nicholas Dreystadt Ended Racism at Cadillac in the 1930s-or Tried To.”

Hagerty Media. The Hagerty Group, October 22, 2019.

https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/nicholas-dreystadt-ended-racism-at-c

adillac-in-the-1930s/.

Lacey, Robert. Ford: The Men and The Machine. Boston, MA: Little Brown and Company, 1986.

Marshall, Jack, Carl Lampl, and Morey Davidson. Get 'Em in a Rumble Seat. San Francisco, CA: Villa Morét, 1927.

Matias, Carlos. “Gallery: The 25 Most Iconic Hip-Hop Cars24.” Complex. Last modified

October 20, 2016.

https://www.complex.com/sports/2011/08/gallery-the-25-most-iconic-hip-hop-cars

McCartney, Paul, Hugh McCracken, Denny Seiwell, and David Spinozza. Back Seat of My Car. Vinyl recording. Ram, n.d. Moore, Kip. Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck. CD. Up All Night. 2011. Morris, R. J. My Automobile Girl. NYC, NY: M. Witmark & Sons, 1900. Mother Majesty. Comedy Central. United States of America: Comedy Central, 2014. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/y81wku/key-and-peele-mother-majesty.

Murray, Billy. In My Merry Oldsmobile. Vinyl recording. Billy Murray Sings "In My Merry Oldsmobile", n.d. O'Sullivan, J. L., and O. C. Gardiner. “Annexation.” The United States Magazine and Democratic Review17, 1845. OutKastVideoVault. “OutKast - The Way You Move (Video) ft. Sleepy Brown”. YouTube

video, 4:49. Posted Apr 26, 2013. https://youtu.be/xI5NQ-0Ubfs.

Paisley, Brad. CD. Mud On The Tires. 2003 “Paul McCartney On His Not-So-Silly Love Songs.” Billboard. Last modified January 4, 2013.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/80344/paul-mccartney-on-his-not-so-silly-love-

songs.

Prince. Little Red Corvette. CD. Prince 1999, n.d.

Rascal Flatts. Fast Cars and Freedom. CD. Feels Like Today, 2005.

Rhodes, David, and Daniel Stelter. “How Automakers Accelerated Out of the Great Depression.”

BCG Global. BCG Global, February 16, 2010.

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2010/growth-automakers-accelerated-out-great-depres

sion.

Rihanna. Shut Up and Drive. CD. Good Girl Gone Bad, n.d. Rockwell, M. R. “Gender Transformations: The Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties.” OAH Magazine of History 19, no. 2 (2005): 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/maghis/19.2.31. “Songs of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl Migrants.” The Library of Congress.

Accessed August 14, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197402/.

Springsteen, Bruce. Born to Run. Vinyl recording. Born To Run, 1974. Stefani, Gewn, and Tony Kanal. Crash. CD. Love. Angel. Music. Baby., n.d. Stratton, Jon. “Coming to the Fore: the Audibility of Women's Sexual Pleasure in Popular Music

and the Sexual Revolution.” Popular Music 33, no. 1 (2014): 109–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/s026114301300055x.

Twain, Shania. In My Car (I'll Be the Driver). CD. Up!, n.d. Twain, Shania. You Win My Love. CD. The Woman in Me, n.d. Underwood, Carrie, Mark Bright, and Dann Huff. Before He Cheats. CD. Some Hearts, n.d. West, Kanye. Drive Slow. CD. Late Orchestration, n.d. West, Kanye. “JAY Z, Kanye West - Otis ft. Otis Redding”. YouTube video, 3:15. Posted Aug 11, 2011. https://youtu.be/BoEKWtgJQAU.