Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Primal Music Monday 5/12

Al-hamdu lillah wa shukr lillah, it's that time again. The second Monday of the month is when, for two short hours at Zawiya Perspective, we reconnect to the incredibly rich tradition of communal music. Real music. Music that binds. Music that heals. Music that restores. And music that makes working on a ship a little easier.

I'm in the mood for sea shanties.

We're a family that believes in the importance of a proper musical education. Tonight, Miranda Rondeau will be coming over for a drum and voice lesson for our four daughters. Giving our children a creative outlet is an excellent thing to do on so many fronts. This is worth it's own post, so we'll get back to that later.

But as part of this idea of a proper musical education, my wife was researching communal music that she thought the kids might enjoy. She struck on a rich collection of sea shanties, or what the girls call "pirate songs."

Here are a couple of their favorites:




Now we are ready to sail for the Horn,
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Our boots and our clothes, boys, are all in the pawn,
To be rollicking randy dandy-O!

(Chorus)
Heave a pawl, O heave away!
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board and the cable's all stored,
To be rollicking randy dandy-O!

Soon we'll be warping her out through the locks,
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Where the pretty young girls all come down in their frocks,
To be rollicking randy dandy-O!

(Chorus)

Come breast the bars, bullies, heave her away,
Weigh hey, roll and go! .
Soon well be rolling her down through the Bay,
To be rollicking randy dandy-O!

(Chorus)




I thought I heard the Old Man say:
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her."
Tomorrow ye will get your pay,
and its time for us to leave her.

(Chorus)
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

Oh, the wind was foul and the sea ran high
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
She shipped it green and none went by.
And it's time for us to leave her.

(Chorus)

I hate to sail on this rotten tub.
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!"
No grog allowed and rotten grub.
And it's time for us to leave her.

(Chorus)

We swear by rote for want of more.
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!"
But now were through so we'll go on shore.
And it's time for us to leave her.

(Chorus)

That is undeniably masculine stuff! And I would also call this proof that it is the very heart of a man that has been undermined by the current, dominant model of music performance and distribution. And the kids love it!

We're going to get our hearts back this coming Monday, May 12th, from 7-9 pm, insha Allah. We'll swap grog for tea, of course.

Zawiya Perspective
1800 East Garry Ave. Suite 101
Santa Ana, CA 92705
(949) 394-6090

A quick reminder of the rules:

1) No lassies. Kids are fine.
2) Show up groomed and smelling good.
3) Absolutely no tuned instruments allowed. Bringing your own drum is encouraged.
4) Sound recording devices are fine, but no personal photography or video, please (Note: I have spoken with Brother Abdullah about a commisioned promotional video to help spread the word).

See you soon, insha Allah!

Was-salam,
Ahmed



2 comments:

  1. A few thoughts:

    From the wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_shanty:

    "Shanty songs functioned to economize labor"
    -- I wonder how it did that -- was it by synching everyone together as to be
    more efficient ?

    "they were only sung in work-based rather than entertainment-oriented contexts"
    -- I think this has to be taken into consideration - that in order to fully reap
    the harvest you must be engaged in some form of -real- labor at the time !

    Oh Johnny leave her almost brought a tear to my eye. You can imagine that the words really were borne out by not-a-small-number-of-peoples lives' in history.


    thanks for this

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's right. Songs that lighten the mood and synchronize the work would undoubtedly improve morale and efficiency. I remember a prisoner on one of Alan Lomax's filed recordings saying exactly this- that the songs made the day go by.

      I loved this line from the Wikipedia entry:

      "As time wore on and shanties were established as an indispensable tool aboard the ships of many nations carrying heterogeneous crew, inspiration from several national and cultural traditions fed into the repertoire and their style was subsequently shaped by countless individuals."

      America's a bit of a ship, isn't she? With a heterogeneous crew, for sure. We all know that we've got work to do. Now all's we need is a song!

      Was-salam,
      Ahmed

      Delete

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