Week 8

During my eight weeks in the course American Vernacular Music I have learned a great deal of history and musical knowledge.  This course has made me gain a deeper appreciation of listening to music and hearing the little details.  I have learned a great deal about the different eras of music and have also found myself listening to more music from diverse eras.

Radiohead's "Bodysnatchers" is a song that takes a special taste to acquire.  Radiohead is a mix between an alternate rock group, punk, and some heavy metal.  As I said, this takes some getting use to and wanting to listen to it.  For my own opinion, Radiohead was never a group that I listened to.  They did not have a sound that I gravitated towards, but that is only my opinion.  When listening to "Bodysnatchers" there are some items that stick out.  First being the title.  It can have the listener hooked or turned off depending on the person.  There are plenty of individuals who judge before hearing anything.  This band had a very strong presence of electrical instruments.  They went three electric guitars deep.  The album that "Bodysnatchers" is on is titled In Rainbows and is considered to be their gentle album.  "Bodysnatchers" displays edginess and power, which reflects Radiohead's earlier days.

The opening of the song starts with a distorted guitar riff that is repetitive.  The tuning of the guitar is very low.  The words in this song are interesting in the fact that, "The song's lyric describes the alienation of a person incarcerated within his own body.  Like an etherized yet conscious patient, the first-person subject of the song is confined within the limitations of his physical body, unable to connect directly to the world around him" (Starr & Waterman, 2014).  Approximately half way through the song the instruments open up and tend to have a different sound and a guitar solo follows.  Within, there is a great deal of distortion and reverb connected to guitars and vocals.  The vocals are aggressive and the guitars reflect this also.  As all of this culminates, it categorizes under contemporary alternative rock.

It has been a pleasure keeping a detailed listening log for American Vernacular Music.  I hope everyone that has read this has enjoyed the writings and analysis of each of the songs that I have examined.  As we say in music Fine!