Stranger Theme Card

Quotes:
“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.”
“She was right. There was no way out.”
“I told her that it didn’t mean anything, but that I didn’t think so.”
“I said that people never change their lives...”
“Do you want my life to be meaningless?”

Vehicles:
-Conflict
-Allusion
-Irony
-Setting

Conflicts:
-Meursault vs. Himself
-Meursault vs. Society
-Raymond vs. the Arab

Subjects:
-Physical world
-Death and life
-Indifference

Themes:
-What ties a man to the earth is not his consciousness of physical stimuli, but the emotion that stimuli creates, whether in the man himself or those who surround him.
-Extreme alienation from society results in the ability to reflect on one's self, yet also receives reproving views from society.

Plot: Meursault, a man who cares about hardly anything, is asked to write a hate letter to his neighbor’s mistress. This stirs up trouble, and Meursault ends up murdering an Arab. This lands him in jail, and forces him to contemplate the importance of his own life.

Title: “The Stranger” refers to Meursault’s position as an outcast, and the situation his indifference has left him in. No one in the story is able to understand him or his actions, and this isolates him from the rest of society.

Major Characters:
-Meursault
-Marie
-Raymond
-The Chaplain
-Magistrate
-Tome Perez
-Meursault’s mother

SMELL

Coors Light aired their famous “Twins” commercial after a Super Bowl in the early 2000’s. The reason was clear, as they tried to reach a football-fan audience with their words and images. The commercial begins with a heavy guitar note, and then a short song about football-related pastimes. The song starts soft, climaxes, and finishes with a cliche rock anthem feel. Coors Light advertisement tries to reach a high concentration in beer drinkers by speaking in a fun-time manner. The language is somewhat childish and simple, “I love playing two-hand touch/Eating way too much/Watching my team win/...And twins!” A pair of scantily-clad identical girls are shown from time to time, furthering the masculine theme of the advertisement. The message, like most beer commercials, seems to convey that people will have more fun when consuming Coors Light. Everyone is shown smiling, partying, and generally having a good time.

The Coors Light team also used strategic advertising to further a stereotypical activity, thereby tying their product to a widely performed pastime. By showing many guys participating in partying and drinking around football, Coors uses logos show viewers that it is normal. Therefore, the audience will unknowingly link Coors Light beer and football celebration. Coors also incorporates heightened intensity, and pathos, both through song and video. The images of the man overeating, the bodypaint, and especially the twins serve to invoke excitement within most men. The anthemic rock song also “pumps up” the audience, highlighting the general partytime theme within the clip. Coors utilization of ethos is the backbone behind their advertisement and, most importantly, their validity. By incorporating footage of young and middle-aged men, football, parties, and attractive women, Coors speaks to their audience on their own level. If Coors Light beer can make itself seem “hip,” people will buy it not because of the taste, but because of the image it conveys. Therefore, the product’s popularity can fuel itself, and cycle towards more sales.

When the “Twins” commercial emerged, it was considered one of the raciest advertisements on television. Although that would certainly not be true anymore, Coors garnered attention and turned heads in a crucial time. Now, Coors is one of the top three brewing companies in the United States, and top five in the world. Sometimes it takes more than a catchy jingle to set a company apart from the others, and Coors Light certainly knows how to release a well-rounded commercial into mainstream television.

Song

"A Day in the Life of Benjamin Andre" by Andre 3000 (Outkast)

I met you in a club in Atlanta Georgia,
Said me and my homeboy were coming out with an album
You looked at me like, yeah right
But you gave me your number anyway you were on the talcum
Powder. Hows about them oranges?
Moved away from home to school with big plans
By day, studied the history of music
By night, to pay for that ****, you danced.
To get your pants was a mission impos-sible.
We were both the same age but I, suppose
Wasn't on the same page, but in
The same book of life so I paged you when
I felt that you were getting off of work,
Or either when you on your way to school,
We started hangin like Ernie and Bert,
And in my idle head Im thinking cool.
Just when I think Im goin down your shirt
You're hiking up your skirt now.
The events that followed
Had me volleyed if your hometown
Would be, heaven or hell.
The angelic nastiness you possessed
Made you by far the best
Therefore, hard to tell.
You dropped me off by the dungeon,
Never came in but I knew that you were wondering:
Now are these n****s in this house up to something
Sellin crack sack by sack so they can function?
W-w-well, yes and no
Yes we were selling it, but no is wasn't blow.
Cook it in the basement and move it at a show,
Grab the microphone and everybody yelled Ho!
Meanwhile the video starts playing
BET college radio in a van
Packed full of n****s with a blunt in they hand
And one in they ear, you know what I'm saying.
But, I kept your number in my old phone
Got a new chip flip with the roam-roam.
So it took me a minute to retrieve 7 digits
But I promised I would call you when I got home.
But when I got home I never did,
By the time I did, heard that you had a kid
By some n**** in Decatur who replied see you later
When he got the good news, that's life, s***.
Now Im 19 with a Cadillac
My father had a Lex, with the gold pack.
Got a plaque but Im living with my pop-pop
So I got a glock and a low-jack.
You kinda fast for that fella in class who used to draw
And never said much ‘cause half of what he saw
Was so far from that place you wanna be
That words only f***ed it up more, follow me.
Are you starting to gather what Im getting at?
Now if Im losing you, tell me, and I’ll double back
But keep in mind at the time “keep it real” was the phrase
Silly when said it now, but those were the days
When spring break, and Daytona,
And freak-niks, made you wanna
Drop out of college and never go back
Move to the south, but that ain't a Kodak
Moment, on went, myself and Big Boi, well you knew him as Twan
That's right you were around before this shit begun.
Well Twan had a daughter and sorta
Was made to mature before the first tour.
We hit the road like jack,
Laughed and cried
And drived it back with some ac.
Girls used to say, Ya’ll talk funny, ya’ll from the islands?
Without laughin, they just keep smiling
No, I’m from Atlanta baby,
He from Savannah maybe
We should hook up and get tore up,
And then lay down, hey we
Gotta go ‘cause the bus is pulling out in 30 minutes
She's playing tennis disturbing the tenants.
15 - Love, fit like glove
Description is like, 15 doves
In a jacuzzi catching the holy ghost
Making one woozy in head and comatose, agreed?
Enough about me, hows about you,
Hows the little kid?
She was about two the last time we spoke.
I haven't smoked or took a shot of drink
‘Cause I started the second album off on another note.
Now, that note threw some n****s in the hood off
But see I balled out, and before I falled out
I slowed my 'lac down to a nice speed
The brain is that fried egg I might need.
New direction was apparent
I was a child looking at the floor staring
So changing my style was like relief for the primitive beast
Yes I was on the rise, yeast was the street.
To make bread, never primary concern
Just to hop on these beats and wait my turn.
I'd meet Muslims, gangstas, b*****s, Rastas,
And macaroni n****s - imposters.
So on a trip to New York on some beeswax
I get invited to a club where M.C.s at
And on stage is a singer with some thing on her hair
Similar to the turban that I covered up my dreads with
Which I was rocking at the time
When I was going through them phases trying to find
Anything that seemed real in the world
Still searching but I started liking this girl.
Now you know her, as Erykah on and on Badu
Call Tyrone on the phone, why you
Do that girl like that boy you ought to be ashamed
The song wasn't about me, hm, that ain't my name.
Well young in love, in short, we had fun
No regrets, no abortion, had a son,
By the name of Seven, and he's five
By the time I do this mix, he'll probably be six.
You do the arithmetic, me do the language arts
Ya’ll stand against the wall blindfolded,
Me throw the darts, to poke you in the heart
And take you from the start
To one luxury transportationment, a Marta card.
Or either when your girlfriend that went to May’s
Momma or her daddy let her borrow the Benz because she smart
Or maybe if your neighbor does you a huge favor
And he sells you that rabbit that's been sitting in his yard.
You fix it up, you trick it out,
You give it rims, you give it bump,
You give it all your time ‘cause that's all you can think about.
And that's as far as I got

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjjHtSwFPnU

Throughout its history, hip-hop music has been generalized into an exaggeration of a certain lifestyle. Rappers and MCs often often speak about subjects such as male superiority and increasing wealth, while trying to maintain their “hood” or “ghetto” image. These songs usually appear to be false images, and candy-coated party beats keep the lyrics bouncing from verse to verse. When the hip hip duo Outkast released separate solo albums in 2003, Andre 3000 (one of the two members) conceptualized his music and lyrics in a way that didn’t just formulate songs, but delivered messages through words and complementary background. “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre”, the final track on Andre’s solo album, wraps things up by delivering a condensed autobiography laced with images, paradoxes, unique flow, and many other poetic devices normally absent from hip-hop music.

The song’s structure immediately places it within its own distinctive realm. The background beat consists of muted snaps and light bass, separating it from usual booming hip-hop percussion. Squeaks and scratches are heard every now and then, bringing an off-kilter swing to the song’s traditional 4/4 meter. Andre’s lyrics are also presented in an unorthodox style. Rather than delivering traditional couplets of lines (A/B A/B), Andre weaves a rhythmic flow through turnaround rhymes and off-rhythm rhymes. Rhyming words are found in groups of 3 or suspended 2’s, stopping the listener from just “bouncing” through the track, “ Enough about me, hows about you, how’s the little kid? She was about two the last time we spoke.” This warped flow grabs the audience’s ear, commanding them to listen intently. Even when four lines take on a normal rhyme pattern, Andre twists it by pausing or emphasizing words that normally wouldn’t be “But, I kept your number in my old phone/Got a new chip flip with the roam-roam./So it took me a minute to retrieve 7 digits/But I promised I would call you when I got home.”

Andre 3000 utilizes abstract vehicles and devices to highlight the difficulties he experienced in his life. The first subject is a girl whom he met in a club, the first of two girls in the song. He describes her immersion in her own appearance, “But you were on the talcum powder”. The pause after “powder” breaks the rhythm of the song in a unique way. When talking about their growing relationship, Andre incorporates an allusion to Sesame Street, “Or either when you on your way to school, we started hanging like Ernie and Bert.” The well-known reference strengthens Andre’s portrayal of his early life, and adds credibility to the intensity of the feelings he had for the girl from Atlanta. Andre’s utilization of paradox draws contrasts between certain things, drawing attention to points that receive reinforcement, “The angelic nastiness/Made you by far the best/Therefore hard to tell.” The song’s title, “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre”, is a creative construction of paradoxical elements. The alternation of “life” and “day” refers to Andre writing down his life story over a day’s course. He also reverses his first and last names, toying with expectations of the song’s content. Towards the song’s end, Andre 3000 draws a comparison between yeast and the metaphorical “streets” that refer to the path of his future, “Yes I was on the rise, yeast was the street to make bread, never a primary concern”. The fusion of streets and bread displays Andre 3000’s confidence in himself, and his creative direction.

The second girl in the song is Erykah Badu, Andre’s present wife and mother of his son, Seven. The imagery of Erykah’s hat, described to be similar to Andre’s, foreshadows their convergence and relationship together, “And on stage is a singer with some thing on her hair, similar to the turban that I covered up my dreads with.” Through all the choppy flow and off-rhythm rhyming techniques in the song, Andre bookmarks his story with Cadillac references in both the beginning and end. At the song’s start, “Now I’m 19 with a Cadillac”, Andre treats the car as a welcoming present. The new lifestyle goes hand-in-hand with his car and fortune. At the song’s end, Andre 3000 poses a situation with the listener’s girlfriend borrowing a Benz, “Momma or her daddy let her borrow the Benz because she’s smart.” This contrasts Andre’s accumulation of fortune with some people’s easy road to wealth.

Through all of his attention to detail and description analysis, Andre 3000 subtly promotes the unreliability of language. Masked by the eventful life story, the theme makes appearances through Andre’s struggles with conveying speech perfectly. “Girls used to say, Ya’ll talk funny, ya’ll from the islands? Without laughin, they just keep smiling.” This line highlights girls’ misinterpretation of Andre’s accent, and promotes the idea that language is sometimes futile. The concept also includes the girls’ obliviousness to the rapper’s intentions, as he lies to them and, in a way, takes advantage of them. Another supporting idea comes through Andre 3000’s description of a man who “Never said much ‘cause half of what he saw was so far from that place you wanna be that words only f***ed it up more, follow me. Are you starting to gather what Im getting at? Now if Im losing you, tell me, and I’ll double back.” The man has trouble describing things he saw for fear of convoluting them with words. The selection conveys the idea that language would be inadequate in this situation, and Andre caps it off by questioning the listener’s ability to understand him. Andre 3000’s powerful description of his life story, combined with an underlying theme, unorthodox poetic devices, and unique structure, melds into a beautifully crafted mixture that rises above average hip-hop.

Purple

She's here, pouring softly towards my lips
Curves and glossiness mesmerize
The strength of taste and shine
She settles before me, at first an eclipse
Then luminous flowing sways and dips
I desire a sense, not of the eyes
The taste of joy a thousand times
Dullness sets in as the venom drips
And soaks through my senses,
Slowly invoking a passionate surge
Of emotion, unhindered by those
Inhibitions; once providing fences
That did all they can to suppress and purge
The unfiltered love that now thrives and grows

Romancipation Proclimation

A red velvet love so fragile,
They play like Romeo and Juliet
Wild thing or coolwater?
I stare up at the luminous moon
And devour a cupcake
But my heartbeat feasts on dark lights
And diesel fuel. Aqua chrome, racing
Rubies; These taint the fairy peach
In a cavity low. A mermaid’s treasure,
Black amongst the blue.
An endless circulation of load, re-load,
Exasperate as the gelatinous beast
Squats heavy on the flux of emotion.
He is present in ferrari black omniscience.
He takes not a kilo of existence,
But perpetuates the horizon
Of neverending nervousness.

Vocab Poem

It was the night of the tuna hot fish jamboree. Despite snowfall the day before, we still went for a walk. It had barely waned. The roads were frosted and iced, paths coruscating around dangerous twists and turns. On past families eating dinner, bright lights, jagged ice. Ascending, and then a drop down. Convalescing, then digressing. Laughing, a bet, drollery, then action. A smile hit the pavement, grin meeting terra firma. Now in a car, the world a white streak passing by. We felt the cold. We commuted to the hospital. The cool white pillow blighted by blood, bandages were applied. Some memory was bereaved. Outside, children played in the snow.


jamboree (n) - a party or gathering
wane (v) - to decrease, diminish
coruscate (v) - to shine/admit light
convalesce (v) - to improve
digress (v) - to wind off at random
drollery (n) - humor, being comical
terra firma (n) - firm ground
commute (v) - travel
blight (v) - to ruin
bereave (v) - to strip from

Hungry Freaks, Daddy

FRANK ZAPPA

"Hungry Freaks, Daddy"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HARftxbkX2M

Oftentimes lyricists and vocalists are compared to poets, due to their poetic word structure and use of figurative language. While some artists sing about love and feelings, others utilize satire and criticism to convey their ideas. Artists also use creative methods of presenting their ideas, and certain categories of music present expected styles of delivery. One of these artists is Frank Zappa. Throughout his massive catalogue of albums and films, Zappa has changed with the times, and explored countless styles of musical composition and delivery. His early work exemplifies in-your-face lyrics about change and reform, while his later work deals with musical complexity and precision.

Frank Zappa drew his influence from a number of sources, ranging from blues classics to bizarre avante-garde composers. The first album Zappa purchased was “Ionization”, by Edgar Varese. The album is known for its rhythmic brilliance, and odd time changes. Zappa also collected music from guitarists such as Howlin’ Wolf. The erratic assortment of his influences shows where Zappa obtained his combination of quirkiness and brilliance. His compositions bear some resemblance to other artists of the time period, particularly Captain Beefheart, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. Zappa is particularly hard to classify, and excels in many genres. Although many people have tried to pigeonhole Zappa’s style, he usually refuses to be confined to musical categories. In his lyrics and interviews, Zappa mocks conformity and pop idolatry, and he eludes supposedly “normal” tendencies.

Many artists of today and past decades have praised Frank Zappa’s work, and claimed to have been influenced by him. Trey Anastasio, the lead songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist for Phish, says “Zappa was incredibly vital to me, as a composer and guitarist. I think he was the best electric-guitar player, other than Jimi Hendrix.” Anastasio also acknowledges Zappa’s classical compositions, in which he mapped out the music note for note, instrument by instrument. Zappa’s influence is seen in the complexity and structure of Phish songs, and Anastasio composes songs with bizarre arrangements. John Frusciante, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, also shares interest in Zappa, and remembers studying his guitar playing for hours.

Most of Frank Zappa’s lyrical work came at the beginning of his career, with the Mothers of Invention. Before he started arranging pieces as a solo artist, Zappa utilized “shock rock” techniques, usually providing intense lyrics and radical stage shows. His earliest albums criticize pop culture, and mock people like hippies and activist groups. He also attacks the government, and political policies in the United States. This is clear in “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”, off The Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out! album. The lyrics of the song speak out against conformity, and questions just how ideal American society really is.

“Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds”

The words describe people being shunned for speaking their minds, and not expressing themselves. American society is targeted, and Zappa speaks out against the way that people give in to accepted standards, instead of daring to be original or try to make a difference.

“Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached”

This verse gives America an arrogant personality, blaming schools for not teaching and people for not being open-minded. Zappa cries out to change the standards by which people live, telling people not to be afraid to be different. The “Walk on by” line helps visualize a passive “America”, creating a visualization of passiveness, indifference to the specific needs of an individual.

Despite Zappa’s crafty satire and criticism, the shock value of his work often presents a shallow image to the public. Because of his crazy antics and offensive lyrics, people tend to overlook the brilliance of Zappa’s musical pieces, and the groundbreaking styles used in his instrumentals. Hailed as a musical genius by prestigious organizations and individuals all across the world, Zappa is one of the most underrated musicians to ever put the pen to paper. He also introduced methods of using an instrument emulator called the Synclavier, which mixes sounds that normal man-made instruments cannot make. Before he died, Frank Zappa created yet another technological advancement, xenochrony. This refers to the process of extracting a sound from one recording, and mixing it into another, as if it belonged there.

Frank Zappa died of prostate cancer in 1993, but still managed to have one of the most prolific careers of any composer in music history. Releasing over 80 albums and 15 films, most of which were produced by himself. Overall, Zappa’s message may have been received as immature and profane, but I feel that he has introduced positive aspects to today’s music industry, whether they be instrumentally, compositionally, or lyrically. He set new standards with each decade that he composed, and continually challenged other artists to improve their work. He formed touring band of the finest instrumentalists available, which performed insanely complex material with proficient excellence. Whether it is through word articulation, musical wizardry, or sound management, Zappa’s works command you to listen, and still remain timeless up to 40 years later.

Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached
Mister America
Try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of
Hungry freaks, Daddy . . .

They won't go
For no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds
(The left-behinds of the Great Society)

Hungry freaks, Daddy . . .

Mister America
Walk on by
Your supermarket dream
Mister America
Walk on by
The liquor store supreme
Mister America
Try to hide
The product of your savage pride
The useful minds that it denied
The day you shrugged and stepped aside
You saw their clothes and then you cried:
THOSE HUNGRY FREAKS, DADDY!

They won't go
For no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds
(The left-behinds of the Great Society)