The City in Songs, Songs in the City: the Image of London in the Music of the 1970S and 1980S
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University of Pardubice Faculty of Arts and Philosophy The City in Songs, Songs in the City: The Image of London in the Music of the 1970s and 1980s Lucie Žáčková Bachelor Thesis 2017 Prohlašuji: Tuto práci jsem vypracovala samostatně. Veškeré literární prameny a informace, které jsem v práci využila, jsou uvedeny v seznamu použité literatury. Byla jsem seznámena s tím, že se na moji práci vztahují práva a povinnosti vyplývající ze zákona č. 121/2000 Sb., autorský zákon, zejména se skutečností, že Univerzita Pardubice má právo na uzavření licenční smlouvy o užití této práce jako školního díla podle § 60 odst. 1 autorského zákona, a s tím, že pokud dojde k užití této práce mnou nebo bude poskytnuta licence o užití jinému subjektu, je Univerzita Pardubice oprávněna ode mne požadovat přiměřený příspěvek na úhradu nákladů, které na vytvoření díla vynaložila, a to podle okolností až do jejich skutečné výše. Beru na vědomí, že v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb., o vysokých školách a o změně a doplnění dalších zákonů (zákon o vysokých školách), ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a směrnicí Univerzity Pardubice č. 9/2012, bude práce zveřejněna v Univerzitní knihovně a prostřednictvím Digitální knihovny Univerzity Pardubice. V Hradci Králové dne 26. 6. 2018 ……………………… Lucie Žáčková Acknowledgments: I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor PhDr. Ladislav Vít, Ph.D. for his advice, support, and guidance during the creation of my bachelor thesis and my bachelor studies. Annotation: This bachelor thesis analyzes the image of London described in songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The first chapter explores what a city is and what notions are connected with the term. The second chapter describes the historical and cultural background of London in the second half of the twentieth century in order to provide a relevant basis for the following analysis. The analysis consists of three chapters, each one portraying an aspect of the image of London such as a torpid prison, a place of decay and a dream come true. The whole thesis is concluded with a chapter summarizing the overall image of London in the two decades. Keywords: London, image, lyrics, society, 1970s, 1980s Město v písních, písně ve mestě: Obraz Londýna v hudbě 70. a 80. let dvacátého století Anotace: Tato bakalářská práce analyzuje zobrazení Londýna v písních ze sedmdesátých a osmdesátých let dvacátého století. První kapitola se zabývá tím, co ve skutečnosti město je a jaké představy se s tímto výrazem pojí. Druhá kapitola popisuje historické a kulturní pozadí Londýna za účelem poskytnutí relevantního podkladu pro následující analýzu. Tato analýza se skládá ze tří kapitol, z nichž každá zobrazuje jeden aspekt obrazu Londýna, jako je strnulé vězení, místo úpadku a splněný sen. Celou práci uzavírá kapitola, která shrnuje celkové zobrazení Londýna v těchto dvou desetiletích. Klíčová slova: Londýn, zobrazení, texty písní, společnost, 1970, 1980 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1. What Is a City? ............................................................................................................ 3 2. Historical and Cultural Background of Modern London ............................................ 5 3.1. People of London ................................................................................................. 5 3.2. Economy of London ........................................................................................... 10 4. London: A Torpid Prison .......................................................................................... 13 5. London: A Place of Decay ........................................................................................ 20 6. London: A Dream Come True .................................................................................. 35 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 42 Resumé .......................................................................................................................... 44 Bibliography.................................................................................................................. 47 Introduction The aim of this thesis is to map and analyze the image of London in songs from the 1970s and 1980s. There are numerous of poem or other literary analyses conducted with the purpose of finding an image of places and eras, however, song lyrics have been neglected even though they are important as well. They often reflect the political, economic or social situation either in order to bring more attention to it or, on the other hand, they can speak the voice of the public and with the rising admiration of popular music broadcast on radio or TV, the importance of song lyrics grew. It is clear that not all listeners pay attention to the lyrics nor does every songwriter refer to the true every-day situation, nevertheless, a great number of songwriters use their writing to share their experiences or views. That provides an enticing opportunity to uncover yet another layer of the image of the diverse metropolis that London is. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to the concept of a city, not only London but of any city, to establish whether the expression “city” refers to a place or rather to people, or both combined. Both notions will be compared and concluded with the view to establish the foundation and focus for further research. In the second, i.e. theoretical part, the history, people, economy, and overall social situation of London in the second half of the 20th century is displayed in order to provide a relevant basis for the following analysis and also to provide the opportunity for comparison. The third and the most significant part consists of the analysis of the lyrics. It will be made in political and cultural context considering also the reception of the songs by the public. As stated above, the aim of the analysis is to determine the image of London in the two decades, however, social situations and the overall portrayals are often not strictly divided by specific years and therefore a small number of songs released closely outside the period 1970-1989 can be included for the purpose of capturing a change in the image, or a lack thereof. To preface the practical part and the lyrics analysis, it is necessary to clarify that in most cases, the given song lyrics are not complete. Only the relevant and substantial parts of every song are quoted and the extent of the quotes is minimized as possible without losing or twisting the message of the song. In this part of the thesis, partial conclusions will be made based on the image portrayed in the included song lyrics to the recurring themes in the lyrics. 1 In order to conclude the entire thesis, the overall image of London is drawn according to the recurring themes in the lyrics from the partial findings which creates the general overview of the image of London in the music of the 1970s and 1980s. 2 1. What Is a City? The term “city” can be interpreted in multiple ways. When someone says “city,” they might refer to the citizens who dwell in the city, the buildings in a specific area or they might even mean the culture of a city. Some prefer to put the emphasis on the citizens, as for example, Shakespeare wrote in his Coriolanus: “What is the city but the People? True, the people are the city.”1 This perspective can be applied quite easily even today when cities are considerably larger and more populous than ever before, especially than the cities in Shakespeare’s age. The focus on citizens is also shared by Yi-Fu Tuan, who claimed: “The city is a moral universe in which helpfulness is extended beyond kinsfolk to strangers.2” He elaborated on that thought in his work and explained that he believes that in contrast with a small tight community, e.g. a medieval village, citizens and leaders of a city follow certain moral principles which allows them to live together in harmony even though they do not know each other closely. Stronger people help those who are weaker or who suffer from a certain disadvantage, even though the help is often indirect and impersonal, for example through redistribution of taxes. This kind of help often includes conveniences which make life easier despite the fact that people do not even notice them until they need them, e.g. a wheelchair ramps on sidewalks or telephone booths.3 This way, ties are created among citizens and therefore they do not live as individuals and moreover, it is necessary, even inevitable, that they create a community together. When a city is large enough, the definition of a city may move from “a community” to “an aggregation of smaller communities”4 Yi-Fu Tuan also states that there are two types of those communities: one kind has a definite localization and is always connected with a portion of territory (such as a local clan, village or a nation) and the other kind are personal associations without geographical localization. His theory considers the purpose and origins of a city which cannot be neglected. 1 William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 65. 2 Yi-Fu Tuan, “The City as a Moral Universe” Geographical Review 78, no. 3 (July 1988): 316. 3 Tuan, “The City, 316. 4 René Maunier, "The Definition of the City" American Journal of Sociology 15, no. 4 (Jan. 1910): 543.