politics set to music
By Cathy Saathoff
Battalion Staff
A small group of music fans/
politicians took a musical jour
ney through political issues of
the past two decades Monday
night.
Dr. Terry Anderson, assistant
professor of history at Texas
A&M University, conducted the
tour with music and commen
tary reflecting social concerns of
the times.
“A Musical Journey Through
American Politics” was spon
sored by MSC Political Forum. A
small audience listened atten
tively as Anderson played songs
ranging from "Where Did Our
Love Go" by the Supremes, to
"Imagine," by John Lennon.
Anderson uses the presenta
tion as part of his classes in sur
vey of American history and re
cent American history. Right
now, he is traveling as an oral
historian.
"I think that the music of the
'50s and '60s, especially rock
music, is the most important
music this country has ever
heard," Anderson said. "Music
reflects culture, the way art re
flects it, and of course the
movies."
In the program introduction,
Anderson said that just as songs
like "Dixie" and "Yankee Doo
dle" expressed the mood of the
American people at different
times throughout history, to
day's music is commentary on
the situation of the country.
Anderson said he thought the
50s and the music they pro
duced were dull. The Eisenhow
er administration promised no
great changes, he said, only "re
turn to normalcy." The music
that accompanied these dull
times was boy-meets-girl, boy-
gets-girl — Pablum, as Ander
son called it, songs like Buddy
Holly's "Peggy Sue."
Rock and Roll was bom in
1954, with the release of Bill
Haley's "Rock Around the
Clock." The new sound express
ed the boredom of young peo
ple, Anderson said.
"It meant that kids had ener
gy," he said. The kids with the
energy were the post-World
War II Baby Boom babies, grown
up to their early teens and ready
to go.
The music had energy, but no
meaning. The music of Elvis
Presley, the first white man to
play rhythm and blues, had no
social meaning, nor did the Bea
tles' early music, Anderson
said.
Enter the new decade, and
tensions between blacks and
whites. The sound of Motown
became popular — Stevie Won
der and Diana Ross.
"Now, blacks were being
bought by whites," Anderson
said. The new music, which was
actually old music discovered by
whites, meant new dances, but
still the same old meaningless
themes.
Artists like Riley B. King, bet
ter known as B.B., came off the
"chitlin' circuit" and formed in
tegrated bands, reaching new
audiences.
Whites also responded to ra
cial problems in their music —
Neil Young's "Southern Man."
And Vietnam was a widely-
sung war. Folk music became
popular on the lips of artists like
Pete Seeger, the Kingston Trio
and Peter, Paul & Mary. The
song "Blowin' In the Wind,"
written by Bob Dylan and sung
by Peter, Paul & Mary, was a call
for change, Anderson said.
The war had its opponents,
but it also had fans. "The Green
Beret," the same song played by
the Aggie Band, supported
macho things like war and fight
ing and being a man.
"Youth was alienated,"
Anderson said. Music was a
way to protest the fighting.
In the 70s, more causes were
added to the list of targets.
"The Establishment," which
Anderson said includes the
president, the Pentagon, orga
nized religion and other grown
up things, was a prime source of
song lyrics.
"California Dreamin'" by the
Mamas and Papas attacked re
ligion; the singers stop at a
church and "pretend to pray."
A lack of identity and revolt
against the 8 to 5 world of pa
rents surfaced in songs such as
the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"
and "42nd Street" by Cat
Stevens.
Nasty pollution, created no
doubt by The Establishment, in
spired "Yellow Taxi" by Joni
Mitchell.
Young people became so used
to revolting against The Estab
lishment and its members that
they turned to just plain revolt
against nothing in particular.
"Bom to Be Wild" by Step-
pen wolf expressed this spirit.
"I Am Woman" by Helen
Reddy was a result of the
Women's Right movement.
Then came "Get It While You
Can," by Janis Joplin. Anderson
led into the song by saying it is
good advice for Aggie women
Songs such as these marked
"a change in how men thought
about women," Anderson said.
In the 70s, more causes
sprang up, and songs to go with
them.
Sexual liberation — "Love the
One You're With." Drugs, pro
and con — "White Rabbit" by
Jefferson Airplane, called the
ultimate drug song by Ander
son, and "Damage Done," by
Neil Young.
The space program gave us
Elton John's "Rocket Man."
The sound as well as the mes
sage had changed. Electronic
music replaced guitars; boy
meets girl was tossed in favor of
give us peace, change the world.
Then, Anderson said, a sense
of reunion. "Old Man" by Neil
Young. Did we realize some
thing was missing?
To finish on the theme of "get
ting back together," Anderson
ended the presentation with
"Imagine" by the late John
Lennon.
Summer travel costs rising
Dr. Terry Anderson.
Photo by Bemie Fette.
Students create own beasts
It costs about 14 percent more
to travel this year than last.
"Travel Weekly," in April,
1981, reported that airfares are
the most-inaeased costs, up 30
percent over 1980.
Amtrak and other rail passen
ger carriers increased their fares
by about 16 percent and oil com
panies raised the price of gaso
line about 15 percent over a year
ago.
The cost of getting there has
risen even more than the cost of
living once you're there. The
consumer price index showed
an increase of "only" 11.7 per
cent for the same period.
Travel prices will probably
continue to soar into the fall as
airlines increase fares. Rail
travel is also expected to in
crease when Amtrak raises fares
by more than 30 percent this fall
on some routes and cuts service
to many sections of the country.
One bright spot is that gas
prices should remain level
throughout the year, thanks to a
May price freeze by OPEC. (It
doesn't matter, because it's
already too high to afford
anyway.)
It is wise to plan your trip well
ahead of time. Make all plane
reservations early to avoid rate
increases. It is also possible to
take advantage of special rates
by buying tickets early. (With
catches like "Only $95, if you
buy your ticket between 3 and 4
a.m. on the third Tuesday be
fore you plan to return from
your destination ...") Saving
money makes some things
easier to put up with.
sa
Focus will accept any items submitted 1
[ — 1 Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday before
Editor Cathy Saathoff publication.
Cartoonist Scott McCullar ’
NORMAN, Okla. — A "Side Hill Kiantler," you mieht be
interested to know, is a creature with long legs on one side and
short on the other. This arrangement greatly facilitates walking
on steep hillsides, but it prevents the animal from following a
straight path, earning its reputation at the personification of sin.
This would not be news to you, if you were a member of
sacred Monastery and Convent 301 — a.ka.a. as the ancient and
medieval history class at the University of Oklahoma. Students
who found themselves in that class of Norriss Hetherington's
were told their convent's "bestiary" had been lost, and it was
their assignment to recreate it, page by mythical page.
A bestiary is a medieval book about animals either real or
imagined, which provides parables for human behavior. For
example, one authentic bestiary claimed lion clubs were always
bom dead, coming to life on the third day. "This fable, of course,
parallels the resurrection of Christ," Hetherington explains.
In setting out to create their own bestiary, each student did a
page, complete with illustrations. Thus emerged the "Prey
Seeker," which sits at the right hand of the devil and eats the
innards of a dove representing the clergy. In a more modem
fable, another student created a bear that used its charming
appearance and wily ways to sell sugar-coated cereals to chil
dren — a beast named the "Sugar Bear."
— Collegiate Hedlines
■■1