Footnotes: A scenic ramble through the English language: July 09

[To be read in conjunction with the July issue of the Sedbergh Sheepspotter]

(1) (Context: “My favourite band”) Show of Hands: http://www.showofhands.co.uk - I don’t often play them here as acoustic is not everyone’s cup of tea. But maybe this song ‘Roots’:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h4PFBuzvw
Lyrics: http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/show_of_hands/roots-lyrics-1259096.html
(because it is some English people singing to others about questions of identity) may be of wider relevance. This is what it feels like to see the Union Jack and the Cross of St George hijacked by the far right (British National Party etc) for their propaganda and to listen on TV almost exclusively to the accents of imported soap (opera)s and the language of the area around London and to the east (Essex etc): Estuary (ie Thames estuary) English (prevalent on reality shows). There is nothing wrong with either of their accents in their place. They’re just not the authentic voice of the entire UK.

(2) (Context: “And I completely re-evaluated my attitude to hip-hop lyrics (American Boy, Dead and Gone – Veronika’s CD)”) Finding the lyrics to these songs:

American Boy: http://www.lyrics007.com/Estelle%20Lyrics/American%20Boy%20(Feat.%20Kanye%20West)%20Lyrics.html

and
Dead and Gone:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/dead-and-gone-lyrics-ti.html

made me ask myself the question is this the sort of language I should be giving to students: there are four letter words there, the grammar is, shall we say, non-standard and the language is that of a specific group and is unintelligible to most native speakers without help. I found and used this: http://www.urbandictionary.com to decipher it.
After a lengthy process of reflection which I won’t bore you with here my conclusion was yes.
The key points seem to me the following:
- Someone has expressed an interest in this (these songs are on Veronika’s CD) so let’s listen to what they have to say. (Otherwise life’s too short, let’s find something more accessible).
- When you listen to them there are parts which are clearly expressed and say some quite brave and memorable things (e.g. “swallow that pill that they call pride”).
- When I got to the bottom of the fast, hip-hoppy bits I found quite a bit to appreciate there.American Boy is funny and clever (I especially liked the line ‘I feel like Mike [Jackson, RIP] at his Bad-dest, like the Pips at their Gladys-t (Gladys Knight and…/sounds like ‘gladdest’)). It also provides a good example of how to swear acceptably. Listen to it and the four letter word is just f…. That preserves the power without causing offence.
The violence described in Dead and Gone is happening all the time on the streets of London and Manchester. It’s a --- tragedy. And you can fill that gap with as colourful a word as you like. This song enabled me for the first time to see and to feel what the world looks and feels like to the young men caught up in similar situations. I’m not sure you could actually convey that in standard English without resorting to imagery, maybe ‘it’s like when you’re driving and you hit black ice on a corner. And no matter how much you want to rewind your life five minutes and just be more aware there’s no going back. And whichever way and however frantically you turn the steering wheel it makes no difference. And all you can do is close your eyes, brace yourself and wait for the impact’. And I’m not sure I could have written that before I read these lyrics.
- It doesn’t stop there. When you listen to the song, there is a line, quietly spoken at the beginning, not actually included in the lyrics which lifts this to a whole new plane. Something like “This one’s for you Phil”. I search on the internet and I find this article:http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1530402/20060508/t_i_.jhtml
This is a man singing to his dead friend about how losing him has changed his life. In human terms for me this is now up there with Keats and Shelley. And the language is written in tablets of stone.
- My next guest, Anna arrives and points me in the direction of the accompanying video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WxDesCYVmM I think this is a beautiful and very moving film. For all of that, Veronika and Anna, thank you.
- And the train of thought continues…non-standard black language in songs…negro spirituals…Ol’ Man River.
Here are the words: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/showboat/olmanriver.htm
Here’s Paul Robeson singing them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEQEeNhtosg
And it’s the 1930s and there is a young girl somewhere in what was Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia (it could be either, her father was a protestant priest who worked at different times in both)) looking these strange-looking words up in a dictionary. Because her father (who had also worked in the US) loved English and loved this man.
Her name is Hana. She was my first Czech friend. She died aged eighty-something in September last year. Wherever you are these days Hana/Hanicko, the Lord be with you/Pan s tebou. And all the above is for you.