Disco, Rock, Jazz and Popular Music: Comparison Report (Assessment)

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Greenwood, Dylan and the Supernatural

Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Bob Dylan’s “With God on Our Side” songs are compositions that have captured the imagination of the American society whenever the society is threatened by a sad event. Specifically, Dylan’s “With God on Our Side” composition fuses the modern techno sound with the conservative Irish instrumentation groove. The lyrics of this song are poetic and simple to understand. In comparison, Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” song fuses heavy techno sound and carefully balanced country music beats associated with the traditional American culture. The lyrics to this song are equally poetic though very complex.

The compositions by Greenwood and Dylan are jingoistic tunes that inspire hope during trying times in life. With the support of God, the songs encourage the audience to believe in the power of God to overcome the unfortunate events. Interpreting Dylan’s “With God on Our Side” presents the irony of belief in God’s intervention in the wars even when their course cannot be justified by man. Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” composition is more inducing as the comforting message relates to everyone in a predicament. Several other contemporary compositions with similar message as the two songs are Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and “The Star-Banner” by Hendix.

Disco Music Hatred

Unlike the previous conservative sounds of the 1960s, disco music attracted a lot of reservation among the conservative American society in the 1970s since it promoted a rebellious culture among the underdeveloped minds of the then teenage Americans. Disco music was characterized by excessively abusive lyrics that promoted gang activities and sex before marriage (Bergman 31). This did not go well with the older generation. The present pop music has heavily borrowed from disco music in terms of instrumentation and use of repeated short and lewd lyrics targeting a specific audience. For instance, musical compositions such as Lady Gaga’s “Born that Way” and Nicky Minaj’s “Monster” songs have similar beats and explicit content as the disco music.

The Bitches Brew

In Miles Davis’ album the Bitches Brew, the song “Spanish Key” has a clever mixture of rock and jazz music in its instruments. The high electronic and ambient tones are borrowed from rock music. Besides, the aural accordion of high pitch instrumental sound can be related to jazz music. The high pitch instrumental music in this composition has more valences as compared to the companion CD. Any response to a composition is often aligned to the ability to harmonize sound and the lyrics in that song (Bergman 22). This music appeals to me from the points of sound-lyrics flow and mature fusion of techno and instrumentation.

Live instrumentation and ambient sound in jazz music is likely to propel this genre to popularity in the near future. Jazz music has a wide appeal among the young adult listeners bracket. The live instrumentation and fusion of modern and traditional rhythms has created a mellow sound which the young audience can associate with. The popular songs, “Blue in Green” and “Psalms” by Miles Davis and John Coltrane respectively have attracted positive acceptance among the young generation in the five continents of the world. The indispensable technique variations between pop and jazz music are that jazz music is essentially melodiously softer, more experimental and have complicated composition than the pop music (Bergman 27). Beside, the chords and rhythm of jazz music are faster than those of pop music.

Works Cited

Bergman, Mark. In the groove: Form and function in popular music, San Diego: Cognella University Press, 2013. Print.

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