Favorite Song

In more old fashioned folk songs there was no set of written lyrics, but it traveled by oral traditions. That  died out around the time when music was a big part of the community and war efforts and “how the cultural politics of Chicana/o youth since World War II have influenced, been shaped by, and intertwined with the lives of young people from multiple racialized communities” (2). Music often brought together the community as a whole. The research article From Zoot Suits to Hip Hop written by Luis Alcareza disputes that the Zoot Suit fashions and music choice was a way to stand out from the dominant white community. “…non-white youth showed that another social world was possible” (7). The zoot music helped give the youthful culture more courage and strength to represent their community and to show what hardships they have endured and to prove to everybody that they still have the strength to party.

I think for anyone it is hard to choose just one song, or even one favorite artist/genre. I have a handful of favorite artist that will always be special to me. Even if I don't listen to them every day, or very often at all, when I do get a chance to listen to them, I know most of all their songs and all the lyrics. And when you listen to your old “jams” from the past, you remember that time in your life, what that song helped you through, or how it made you feel at that time. That is a good quality that music has, it comforts you. My current favorite genre is folk pop… which is folk-like music that is a little bit more modern. It has the same elements, such as the relation to personal or historic events, using hymns, carols, and more instrumentals in the scores. I like songs that sound good (obviously), and the lyrics are straight forward, but it is still left to your own interpretation and imagination. When you listen to the lyrics they makes you feel one way, but the author(s) might have been feeling something completely different when writing it. Some of the time, the writers write about something important to them, an adjustment in their lives, something historical, a break-up, death, and something happy and positive as well. 

The song that I chose to write about is from the band called Bon Iver and the song is called Skinny Love. Bon Iver is a folk band from Wisconsin formed by the singer/songwriter Justin Vernon. The band name Bon Iver derives from the French words Bon hiver, meaning “good winter”.  All the lyrics are very personal and well written and the production is astonishing and very creative. I love how peaceful and graceful the music sound and it relaxes you like no other music can. It’s like when someone goes out and buys one of those machines to help you sleep, and it plays sounds like “rain in a rainforest” and “beach waves crashing”, it is very calming and it helps you sleep or just relax.

This song is baout a lost love, or a love that was ruined, and he is still feeling the pain from the breakup and what was once there. The worst part of losing someone, is remembering how things were before they got fucked up. You remeber that person and how happy you were together and now all you can think about is "where did I go wrong", "How can I fix this" and "that stupid ass hole, look what he did to me." .... you feel all of these emotions from this song and you feel his pain that he went through from loosing this person that he loved so much.

If anyone has a broad range of taste in music, I would check this band out. Some of the music is sad, but if you listen to it and not always focus on the sad lyrics for most of the songs, and you can accept the musical brilliance and beauty of it as a whole, then you might like it.

1. Difficulty Paper (Finished)

When reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua was sort of hard for me. I do not speak Spanish, but I know some words here and there like “ruca” and “vato” and some other ones. I never realized how many different variations of a language there can be depending on the region. Someone in Arizona can speak a different slang compared to California or in Texas. The different variations are Standard English, Working class and slang English, Standard Spanish, Standard Mexican Spanish, North Mexican Spanish dialect, Chicano Spanish (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California have regional variations), Tex-Mex, Pachuco (called calo). The paper was hard to understand at times with different language used. I would try to use context clues, but for some I just looked it up on a translator. I think it must be hard for people who have yet to learn Spanish. They will be taught the language, not the slangs and the different regional slangs. The person learning the language would just have to adapt. Being half Mexican I would like to eventually learn Spanish. No one in my immediate family speaks Spanish, but it would still be something of good use (and it would make my Great-Grandparents very happyJ).

 I also work at a place where the majority of the employees speak Spanish. Sometimes I feel left out, but it doesn’t bother me too much when everyone else around me is talking. If they feel like they want to include me they will, and they do for the most part. On occasion they even scold me for not being able to speak the language. Some customers will come up to me and start speaking Spanish right away. I have been able to take a food order and get it correct with the customer speaking in Spanish. When I need help, my co-workers are always there to help, and they do so without any judgment.

I think that everyone should be bilingual. In Europe, many people know at least one other language. The cause of this is because there are smaller countries that are closer to each other, and they learn the language of border countries. There is more of a variety of languages that are learned, in my opinion. I’m not saying that in the United States people don’t know a variety of languages; I just think it is more common to grow up knowing more languages when living in Europe.

People who have immigrated to the United States have brought over many useful and instrumental qualities, values, culture, and have influenced us greatly. Without the influence of other cultures, we would not be the United States that everyone dreams of. People move here to start new lives… to have the “American Dream”. The United States occupies a great quality, that we are a “Salad Bowl”. Acquiring the languages and cultures that other people have brought here, have influenced and shaped us as a culture and into the country that we are today.

2. Identity Rough Draft/ How to Tame...

Si le preguntas a mi mama, “Que Eres?”

"Identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the concious experience of the self inside."

GERSHEN KAUFMAN

Identity is an important aspect to who a person is, who they see their self as, and how others see them. Some people don’t know what to identify themselves as, and they can be lost because of that. Once you determine who you are and how you identify, it will make you a more confident, self assured individual.

Identity can be based off of one’s values, interest, appearance, ethnicity, friends, choices, creations, etc. It all depends on how you see yourself; it is not defined by how others think of you, unless you let it define who you are.

I know who I am and how I see myself. I am a well-rounded young woman with high aspirations, good values, with established beliefs, whom is proud to be Hispanic, Caucasian, Czechoslovakian, and a mix of a few other ethnicities. I also believe you are who you surround yourself with, therefore I aim to have good friends, whom are caring individuals, and the ones I have are good people. I have big dreams for my future, and I am doing my best to accomplish what I have started.

In Anzaldua’s article "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," she talks about how her identity is based on her language. As a Hispanic woman, she has learned many different variations to the Spanish dialect. When she is around different people, from different places, she has to speak a different variation of the dialect. People from Mexico speak a different dialect compared to other Hispanics in Texas, compared to the ones in Arizona or California. All the different variations are:

“1. Standard English

2. Working class and slang English

3. Standard Spanish

4. Standard Mexican Spanish

5. North Mexican Spanish dialect

6. Chicano Spanish (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California

have regional variations)

7. Tex-Mex

8. Pachuco (called cal6)”(p36)

At times, Anzaldua has problems with the dialect, so she has to adapt to the different regions that she is going to be in, as to not embarrass other Hispanics for not knowing the same transformation of a word. 

“With Chicanas from Nueva Mexica or Arizana I will speak Chicano-15 Spanish a little, but often they don't understand what I'm saying, With most California Chicanas I speak entirely in English (unless I forget). When I first moved to San Francisco, I'd rattle off something in Spanish, unintentionally embarrassing them. Often it is only with another Chicana tejana that I can talk freely.” (p36)

This makes me wonder how many people are the same, having to adjust for others of the same or similar language.

Being Hispanic I wish I could speak some Spanish, but neither of my parents can speak it, and only some family on my father’s side of the family can speak it, and they all live in Arizona. I still identify as being Hispanic, and I plan to learn the language at some point, so that people are more accepting of my background and what I identify with.

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. 1981. 33-45. Print.