Sunday, April 24, 2011
Art Essay #4: Opportunity by Bobby McFerrin
So I really struggled deciding what to write about for this final art essay. It was either Bobby McFerrin's Opportunity and Naturally 7's Wall of Sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5MkNOXSdkA). Both are incredible songs (and both prime examples of the vast possibilities of the human voice) but I think that the song and music video of Opportunity make it a more interesting piece of art.
So first of all if you are having trouble remembering who Bobby McFerrin is, he is the guy that wrote Don't Worry Be Happy (also a very impressive song, he sings all the vocal parts! you can go here to mess with them: http://bobbymcferrin.com/dont-worry-be-happy-song/).
Okay now to the piece. First I want to talk about the song. It would be probably the hardest song to sing in modern music. Forget Freddie Mercury (from Queen), Maurice White (from Earth, Wind, & Fire), or any fantastic singer because Bobby McFerrin tops all of their ability, especially on this track.
In this song Bobby McFerrin spans 4 octaves in the melody. The two biggest leaps in the song come at 2:58 and 3:41. Both of these are vocally impossible for most people, especially if you want it to sound at all decent. The lyrical content itself, though, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The story seems to be interesting but it's so broken up by the vocal ad-libs that I can't really follow it. The lyrics don't matter to me though. I almost never say that but when you have the kind of vocal creativity that Bobby McFerrin does the lyrics don't matter. The melody is so creative that it seems sporadic but it does follow an obvious structure. The song itself is a musical masterpiece (although it might not be the most catchy tune in the world). I'm not sure that anyone could disagree but please offer any arguments you can think of :)
Next, the video. Okay so let me say that any guy who can make an entertaining music video with no background footage and just jeans is pretty talented. Throughout the video you see pieces where Bobby is being filmed by someone else and he is holding a video camera. Any close up in the video then, I would assume, is Bobby video-taping himself while he jumps around. Because of the simplicity of the video, it becomes a performance. Most music videos have a story and the lead singer pops up here and there, but they never perform in their videos. I love how McFerrin has stripped down (no pun intended) the video to let his performance enhance the music.
The video also adds a playful quality to the song which can't be found in the lyrics. The story (although hard to follow) seems to have a dark quality to it even though he is talking about opportunities. The video helps to bring out the joy in the song to balance out the dreariness of the story.
As a whole this music video makes a complete, impressive, and entertaining piece of art. The musicianship and performance ability is through the roof. I hope you guys enjoy the piece. I will also include a couple more links if you want to see more of the talented 10-time grammy winner that is Bobby McFerrin.
-Allijah
Drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qOQHB_V2g0
Wizard of Oz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1mvfzoHm9g
Blackbird (beatles cover): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37DHXrFfwrE
Bobby McFerrin on the sing off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwB9SBTQVY4
Ave Maria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgvJg7D6Qck&feature=related
Science thing on the Pentatonic Scale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk
Don't Worry Be Happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
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Yes, I also think you have to take the entire package -- song and movement/visual experience as presented on the video -- into account. But I'm not sure what to do with the dancing. What style are we talking about here? I don't have any vocabulary to talk about modern dance, so I can't begin to analyze or evaluate it. Thematically, the song is uplifting, but because the elasticity (eccentricity?) of his voice is so prominent, the experience of this art seems more abstract than communicative.
ReplyDeleteNaturally 7 are interesting, and incredibly talented, but I have a hard time taking this sort of stuff out of the novelty category. Let's assume that this is my limitation, not theirs.
I guess both of these works can be counted as beat-boxing, which is a an art-form I prefer when folded into other styles or genres. Thus, I like this effect more when it shows up in the middle of some of Matisyahu's songs, for instance.
Oh, and let's NOT forget Freddie Mercury. Just saying...
ReplyDeleteThere is no "style" of dance in this video, Bobby McFerrin is just jumping around like a goofy idiot. That's my analysis of it at least, nowhere have I found that he knows forms of modern dance.
ReplyDeleteDr. Grant, I'd like to clarify your assumption that either of these are beat-boxing. The only beat-boxing done in either piece is the "drummer" for Naturally 7. This is simply singing, just as an acapella group would sing as different instruments.
I think that Bobby McFerrin sings better than Freddie Mercury, but both are fantastic and Queen's music is great, I would never say anything different
Queen's music runs the gamut from great to cringe-worthy. Sometimes in the same song. Sometimes while listening to the same song at different times in different contexts. (And Mike Myers saved "Bohemian Rhapsody" for posterity by permanently putting quotation marks of irony around it. Now we can all listen to this song without being very strange. I don't know what we (teenagers) actually thought of that song in the 70s.) Queen were campy without being campy about it. But Mercury's voice had both range and power and load's of "expression" (or is that "sex appeal"?).
ReplyDeleteI suspect that there is more to McFerrin's "jumping around" than you suggest, but I don't have the knowledge to discuss contemporary dance (or "anti-dance"). I suppose, for me, the dancing and the vocal work go hand in hand.
I accept your correction about beat-boxing only counting when the voice is used for percussion, but I think anytime a voice is used to mimic or impersonate an inanimate instrument, such as the guitar solo by N7, we are in the same territory. Contrast this sort of sound with scat singing for instance -- which is more of what McFerrin does -- and the distinction I am trying to make might be clearer. Nonsense vocal sounds are different from pretend instrumental vocals. Does that make them better too?