- “Hokage’s Funeral”, Naruto (The Original Soundtrack), Japan, 2004, Anime Soundtrack
- “Fada Fada (Ghetto Gospel)”, Phyno (feat Olamide), The Playmaker, Nigeria, 2016, Afro-Beats
- “Hijos de un Mismo Dios”, Macaco, Spain, 2015, Spanish Pop
- “King For A Day”, Pierce the Veil ft Kellin Quinn, Collide With The Sky, USA, 2012, Post-hardcore
- “Shuffering and Shmiling”, Fela Kuti, Nigeria, 1977, Afro-Beats
- “紅蓮華 (Gurenge)”, LiSA, LEO-NiNE, Japan, 2019, Rock
- “Vou Festejar”, Beth Carvalho, Firme E Forte No Pagode, Brazil, 2004, Samba
- “História Para Ninar Gente Grande”, Marquinho Art’Samba, Sambas De Enredo Das Escolas De Samba 2019, Brazil, 2018, Samba
- “葬予規路火烌猶在”, Collage, Taiwan, 2020, Rock
- “Misery Business”, Paramore, Riot!, USA, 2007, Alternative
Music has been used as a medium of expression by artists and a means of emotional release by listeners for hundreds of years. In her essay on the Mexico City punk scene, Kelley Tatro terms this emotional release as “collective catharsis”, describing it as means of “producing solidarity” among listeners by providing “a chance to express personal and collective” emotion (2014, 431-432). In this regard, this playlist explores the different forms of presentation of collective catharsis in different genres and cultures and how this collectivity engages their listeners. Additionally, my analysis of this playlist uses Tatro’s thinking of collective catharsis to interpret each song.
Collective catharsis is produced through the feelings the song elicits from the listeners, and I believe these feelings can be a result of the speed, instrumentation, or key the song uses. To demonstrate the way in which collective catharsis can be produced through a variety of genres played at different speeds, the songs of this playlist cover several genres and are organized in ascending beats per minute (bpm). I chose an ascending bpm organization to show that any emotions that are attached to different tempos of songs are simply a result of social constructs that claim songs of a certain tempo should evoke specific feelings. Therefore, using this organization shows the multiple ways that tempo evokes emotions.
The first and slowest song on the playlist at 75 bpm, “Hokage’s Funeral”, is an instrumental played in a minor key familiar to the collective who’ve watched the anime series “Naruto”. The beginning notes contain background sounds of birds chirping and wind blowing, and the solemn playing of a bamboo flute, then moves into the minor key playing of the piano. Though the song has no words, its bitter-sweet sound elicits a sad catharsis from the viewers. The song welcomes death in a way that figuratively releases sad emotions, while encouraging the literal release of a loved one.
Second, at 90 bpm, is “Fada Fada (Ghetto Gospel)” by Phyno featuring Olamide. This Afro-Beat gospel song has an upbeat tempo, matching its message of praise. The clear collective of this song is the faithful followers of Jehovah. Faith is a very strong way to promote collectivity, as Phyno and Olamide do through the song’s lyrics and instruments. The various drums, chiming of the xylophone, and electric beats of the song all contribute to a praising and dancing environment. The refrain, “Fada Fada eeeeh” is sung by Phyno and a chorus of background vocals, adding another source of collectivity. This ultimately encourages faithful listeners to express their thanks to Jehovah together.
The third song at 105 bpm is Macaco’s “Hijos de un Mismo Dios”. The song employs a light tone, with soft strumming of the acoustic guitar to accompany the lead singer’s soft voice. In addition, the soft beating of the drum in the background and the ensemble of the band’s voices provide a very welcoming sound for listeners. The lyrics, however, do not match the sonic tone of the song; the song questions the equality of humans, and why the same types of people (usually those of lower socioeconomic standing) seem to be suffering. The song reaches the collective of these people being sung about, eliciting catharsis in them by providing a space to be seen and an allowance to express their own questions of what they have done to suffer in the world.
“King For A Day” by Pierce the Veil featuring Kellin Quinn is fourth on the playlist at 112 bpm. It resonates with the type of catharsis Tatro referred to in her essay regarding the Mexican punk scene. “King For A Day” is the run-of-the-mill post-hardcore rock song filled with guttural screams, screeching, quick-tempo drumming, and vicious guitar playing. The song talks about being tired about the life being lived now, and imagines “living like a king someday” instead of “sleeping like a dog on the floor”. These elements allow the artists to elicit collective catharsis through promoting listeners to rage about working more than their richer counterparts while earning less than them. Tatro emphasizes this as an important method used by the Mexican punk vocalists that encouraged fans to “sacar la rabia (“take out the rage”) (Tatro, 2014, 443).
Next is Fela Kuti’s “Shuffering and Shmiling”, at 123 bpm. Kuti was known for his advocacy of social justice in Nigeria, and often sang about injustices in his songs. The hypnotic strumming of the electric guitar, the sound of the shekere, and the constant beating of the drum can be seen as a metaphor for the consistency of the suffering Kuti sings about. In addition, Kuti’s lyrics are strong, with the main message being “Suffer suffer for world, enjoy for heaven”. Overall, the song criticizes people who encourage everyone to suffer with smiles on their faces because there is happiness waiting in the afterlife for them. In doing this, Kuti promotes catharsis in his song through producing solidarity among his targeted collective of “you Africans” and “you non-Africans” to stand up for their rights to live happily in life and enjoy the afterlife.
The next song is “紅蓮華 (Gurenge)” by LiSA, at 135 bpm. Similar to “Hijos de un Mismo Dios”, the sound of the majority of the song does not match its lyrical tone. The song starts softly with LiSA’s voice and the mellow keys of the piano, then quickly increases in volume and tempo by the end of the first verse. Most prominent are the quick notes of the electric guitar and the rapid drumming, which potentially increases the heart rate of the listener. In contrast, the lyrics are quite heartbreaking, as LiSA sings of accepting suffering if it means becoming stronger for someone. This is cathartically relieving for a collective who relates to the feeling of suffering for their loved ones and provides that collective with a chance to express feelings of resilience in the face of suffering.
The seventh song, Beth Carvalho’s “Vou Festejar” at 137 bpm, is another song with lyrics contrasting the sounds of the song. The title literally means “I’ll celebrate”, and Carvalho sings “Vou festejar o teu sofrer o teu penar” or “I’ll celebrate for your suffering and grief”. Contrasting these lyrics are the solid community of singing, clapping, and chirping, the fast strumming of an assortment of string instruments (banjo, guitalele, etc.), and the beating of drums. Carvalho happily encourages her listeners to take revenge on their enemies, and the collective of Carvalho’s accompanying singers also encourages the listeners to join them in celebrating their enemies’ misfortune.
“História Para Ninar Gente Grande” by Marquinho Art’Samba is next, at 145 bpm. This is a nationalist Brazilian song, calling for the inclusion of Afro Brazilians into the Brazilian history that they have been written out of. This song is firstly effective in its message of nationalism because it “give[s] you facts,… entertain[s] you, … and appeal[s] to your emotion” (McConnell, 2017, 32), through the strong community of voices and the major key of the instruments (similarly played in “Vou Festejar”) used to tell the story of Brazil. For these same reasons, the song promotes collectivity and cathartic feelings among Brazilians by giving them room to come together as a nation and express their love for Brazil.
The ninth song, “葬予規路火烌猶在” by Collage at 148 bpm, speaks to social injustices at the hands of politically powerful individuals, similar to “Shuffering and Shmiling.” Collage uses the raging sounds of the drums, guitar, and sharp pronunciation of the lyrics to portray the rage of Taiwanese citizens who have suffered at the hands of their political leaders. This effectively produces catharsis among Collage’s listeners, who now have a space to express their sorrow for the loss of their loved ones, and the anger at the individuals who are supposed to be leading them.
The final and fastest song, at 173 bpm is Paramore’s “Misery Business”. Similar to “Vou Festejar”, this song celebrates revenge, as the lead singer, Hayley Williams, sings “I never meant to brag, but I got him where I want him now”. The lyrics match the harsh tones of the electric guitar and the rough beating of the drums as well as the screams of Williams throughout the song. In this song, the listeners are almost directly encouraged to derive catharsis from the lyrics, as Williams sings “But God does it feel so good, ‘cuz I got him where I want him now” while the instruments build behind her voice.
As a whole, this playlist demonstrates the flexibility in artists’ capacity to evoke certain emotions in their listeners. The numerous instruments used, the different tempo of the songs, language, choice of lyrics and the genre, are equally as important in generating specific feelings of catharsis as using different tempos in songs, ultimately proving that tempo is not as strong an indicator of how catharsis is produced than one may think.
Temilade Adekoya is a fourth year undergraduate at The University of Chicago majoring in Neuroscience. Temilade never seriously played an instrument, but she enjoys listening to many genres of music (this does not include country).
Bibliography
- McConnel, B., Darboe, B., 2017, “Music and Ecology of Fear: Kanyeleng Women Performers and Ebola Prevention in The Gambia”, Africa Today, Vol. 63, pp 29-42
- Tatro, K., 2014, “The Hard Work of Screaming: Physical Exertion and Affective Labor Among Mexico City’s Punk Vocalists”, Ethnomusicology, Vol. 58, pp 431-453