Thursday, February 24, 2011

Good Morning Heartache By Billie Holiday

 


 Billie Holiday is renowned singer and performer who made a lot of history though her short life. Holiday was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. She moved to Harlem in the late1920's and lived in a prostitution house where she made her living. There she began singing in bars and clubs around Harlem. She became recognized and seen as a singer with great talent. Good Morning Heartache is a classic song that expresses the hardship in Harlem. The lyrics of "Good Morning Heartache" rely on personification because you can't really say good morning to a heartache. They also show another part of everyday life in Harlem, because there were two different sides of Harlem. There was the thriving area and there was the run down and more industrious side. The industrious side had women called "Thursday Girls" who were gamblers, homeless craftsmen, and hookers. Many people at that time thought of them as domestic slaves. This song shows what their life was like, how they woke up every morning with this heartache of feeling worthless, but having to get up anyway. When Billie was a prostitute she would wail "Good Morning Heartache" because of  where her life was going and how she and many others were taken advantage of. She spoke for many people in Harlem who were taken advantage of, and always carrying that heartache. 


I like this song. It is very sad and gloomy but combining great lyrics with great music makes a great song. Billie is a great singer and this song  shows the talent and joy she has for singing. Her voice shows her heartache and I feel like she is singing from her heart. Her voice fills up the room with the heartache and sorrow of her life story. I think that she is a brave woman who shows other women that even thought they go through hardship there is a brighter day ahead. This song really spoke out to me. She speaks for many that are in pain and shows that darkness has a light. She inspires many people to fight against their hardship

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong


This song is called Summertime and was preformed by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald was born in NY. While she was growing up she was very inspired by the performances and  the music from the Harlem renaissance. She loved to sing and dance and started out just wanting to dance. When she found that her strength was singing she focused on that and loved it.Even though she wasn't in the same time period as the Harlem Renaissance she was deeply connected by the idols that she loved as a kid. She sang with many performers that were in the Harlem Renaissance such as Louis Armstrong and many others. In this song she sings with Louis Armstrong who was a amazing jazz musician who was very much a part of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in New Orleans and learned how to play jazz. He had many idols in Louisiana and loved music. He moved to NY in early1924 and  began recording with major singers such as Bessie Smith, Clarence Williams and countless others. He was famous in Harlem and many people adored him as a jazz musician. This song is from Porgy and Bess, an opera created by George and Ira Gershwin. It illustrated the hardships of everyday life. Even though Porgy and Bess was written after the Harlem Renaissance I thought that it connected because of the way the lyrics of the song it ties to the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem life did influence Porgy and Bess. Even though the movie was made in Hollywood there was still the authenticity of the Harlem lifestyle.

I think that the determination to fight against oppression comes through when she sings "And one day he's gonna rise up singing" I like the child will fight against all the hatred in the world. Then when she says "Hush little baby don't you cry" I thought that it was saying that it's not your time yet to fix the world let others try then you can save it. I feel the baby symbolizes the hardships that they've gone through and that the struggles are not over yet. That there are still bumps in the road that we have to smoothed out in order to make it good for everyone. It opens people's eyes to see what others go through in the United States. It shows the life that cannot be seen on a television screen but only through someone's eyes. Watching their experience unfold and see what they do. You detach from regular life and start to see through their eye's, feel their hurt, pain, and love. Your feel happy when they are happy or sad when they are sad. You start to understand them and want the best for them. How they are fighting the oppression that some of us don't see. They are still  fighting for that freedom that we all feel we have.

I love this song and the arrangement that Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald made of Summertime. The song brings back many memories for me. It's a song I love to sing, especially the lines " Summertime and the living is easy," the opening line is the best because of the range of notes. I love the sound that the voice makes when it hits the top note and comes down for "the living is easy." I think that this is more than a song. It is a stance against the world that we are fighting that says we will win. It is one of my favorite songs from Porgy and Bess. Another reason why I love the song is because  of the emence amount of soul and power that Ella gives to this song. She sings it with such pride and glory. It makes you feel that you can reach and grab the amount of fire that she feels, that the lyrics mean something to her and that she will make them come true. She inspires me to sing more fully and embrace every lyric that I sing. She shows me how to fully commit to the song. She is an amazing singer and performer, and I look up to her.

Fashion in Harlem Renaissance!



This picture is a modern version of what clothing looked like during the Harlem Renaissance. The style was simple with colorful patterns with buttons, and stripes.  They would not wear anything that showed too much cleavage or skin. They were very aware of every detail of their outfit. They saw their clothing as an expression of class and stature. The models look very accurate for the time because they have a proud look in their face. Many women liked to mix different patterns with each other for the dramatic effect. They loved to be the center of attention and complimented for their clothing. Many women went out of their way to get the best  clothing so they would stand out from others. They loved to wear minks, scarfs, and gloves much like the people in "white" Hollywood.

There is a lot of pride present in this picture, the way that the women tilt their head as a sign of class. The way they smirk as they model the clothes to illustrate that they think that they are better than everyone else. I think that this goes back to the Harlem Renaissance too, because those people took great pride in the way they dressed. They were careful not to wear something twice or to look too "normal. They wanted to look flashy and different in order to stand out. The clothes are very beautiful and charming, I can see women of the  Harlem renaissance wearing these exact outfits. They would be strutting down the street bringing a flair and uniqueness  to what they wore. 

I chose this picture because I thought it looked different than the other fashion images that I found. In the picture they look less posed and more natural with the light. It caught my eye because of the unusual type of fashion. It was something totally different than what I am used to with fashion. I like the combination of  patterns and how the different textures go together. It is very simple, yet so complex at the same time. It is complex because all the different colors can be hard on the eyes. Yet it's so simple because of the way the main two piece suit all goes together. 

I really like this picture because it gave me insight into the type of clothing that the women in Harlem wore. I always wondered what they were wearing outside of the Savoy or any of the big clubs. Did they wear jeans or capris? I had no idea, but when I saw this picture I finally knew what they wore in everyday life. I realized that women in Harlem always dressed up to go places, whereas in other places women wouldn't dress up as nice as they did in Harlem. The women in Harlem had class and  poise when they went out. I thought that it was so refreshing because goes against the way women in Harlem were constantly oppressed by other in societies.

Party Picture


This is a watercolor painting on 14X17 inch paper called the Jeunesse made by Palmer Hayden. It is   was inspired by his love of Jazz. Hayden really enjoyed Jazz music and the Savoy club life. He was born in Virgina, then he went to NY. He loved it, and decided to go to Columbia University, where he learned more about art. He loved to paint and to draw and became an art teacher. This picture is about how people love jazz and enjoy dancing. It embraces the freedom of people find in dance and music.There is a main pair in the front and  many people in the background. I feel that the people in the front symbolize the new generation coming about because they are dancing a new dance and wearing different clothes. They are the ones that will be making a difference, while the others are going with the flow. The others blend into the backround while pair in the front are standing out, and making a stand. They are expressing themselves and seem and enjoying their freedom.

In this art I see the pride and determination to fight against oppression. They seem to be going against what the others are doing, and doing things that the "whites" are doing. They are wearing light colors and short dresses, to show that they are just the same as the others, that they are no different, and that they should be treated the same way as the whites. They look like they are having fun with the change that they are making. They have pride in the work that they are creating and that they think that others should follow in their footsteps. The artwork shows them going into the modern age along with Hollywood in that time period. The white shoes and the short dress, and the way that they are doing a new style of dancing shows they are breaking out of the norm and creating something different for themselves.

I chose this picture because it can have two different meanings, it can be seen as a dancing picture  or  as a fighting back picture. I picked it for both those reasons. I also love this picture for colors and the way the dancing silhouettes stand out. The picture also seemed to hold a secret that made me look twice. It intrigued me to see something so simple yet so complex in its meaning. I liked it the way it made me think of the bigger picture,  not just was on the paper. It showed me a different aspect of life, something very different from my own. It was like seeing something through someone elses eyes.