Introduction to Music

When asked at random what they like to do with their spare time, a vast majority of people would likely respond: listen to music. Really, since humans have developed into their current, ‘modern’ form, encompassing thousands of years of history, music has provided an outlet to express love, hate, misery, excitement, or even desire. Whether explicit in this expression or more subdued, all music does indeed have a purpose and attempts to illicit a certain response as determined by the writer or artist.

The understanding of this purpose and response is at the heart of the final assignment presented in FST 180, Mediterranean Modernity. With class readings in mind and greater knowledge of the region as a whole, each student was asked to critically reflect upon a song that has been covered by ‘Eastern’ artists associated with the Mediterranean region (and in some cases, songs with Mediterranean ideals or subject matter). Presented with an extensive list of material and originals from Bob Dylan, James Brown, and Billie Holiday just to name a few, I chose The Bangles 1986 #1 hit “Walk Like An Egyptian”. To fully understand the transformation of the song, I have broken down the analysis of this late ‘New Wave’ hit into the following outline:

Part One (Stumbling on Ferries=Walking Like An Egyptian?)
The Bangles-The Original-1986
-Association with writer Liam Sternberg
-Background on The Bangles-End of the 80s New Wave
-Elements of Walk Like An Egyptian
-Conclusion of The Bangles/lyrics

Part Two (Working Class Egyptians Approve)
Hakim/Cleopatra-Cover-2004
-Background on Hakim
-Purpose of cover?
-Stay true to tradition?
-Elements of cover—relation to original

Part Three (Egypt Goes Reggaeton)
Wilman de Jesus-Cover 2006
-Background (or lack thereof)
-Purpose of cover?
-Stay true to tradition?
-Reggaeton genre
-Elements of cover—relation to original

Part Four
Final Conclusion-Final Project
-Relation in-class topics
-Other projects during semester
-Significance of the Mediterranean/modernity/rambling