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04 Oct 03 - 05:49 PM (#1029690) Subject: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: The Shambles Alistair - the young hopeful on the Fame Acadamy TV show tonight claimed to specialise in writing songs that he referred to as 'anthems'. Can someone explain what these are and also perhaps provide some examples of what are referred to as rock/pop anthems? Is it any song that an audience can sing along, sway and wave their arms to? |
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04 Oct 03 - 08:09 PM (#1029753) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: alanabit That's the idea. I think originally it meant that the audience had to particularly identify with the sentiments of the song - as in The Who's "My Generation", for instance. For the way the term is used nowadays, I fear you have it just about right! |
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04 Oct 03 - 08:18 PM (#1029756) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: McGrath of Harlow I've always taken it as a song that is simple enough and catchy enough to be sung by a football crowd or an audience in an outdoor concert, even when they don't necessarily know the words. I don't think the sentiments of the song necessarily come into it a lot of the time. |
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04 Oct 03 - 09:52 PM (#1029786) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Allan C. Queen's "We Will Rock You" comes to mind. |
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05 Oct 03 - 06:44 AM (#1029925) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: The Shambles I follow the example(s) given but don't songs like 'My Generation' tend to become over time, the type of song that an audience adopts in this fashion? Or that a well - known band like Queen would even intentionally write such songs for their audience may be understandable - but it does not fit the concept of a (then) unknown songwriter setting out specifically to write such material. Would you not first need your fans, in order to write such songs for them? |
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05 Oct 03 - 07:23 AM (#1029933) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Bobert Springsteens "Born in the USA", Jefferson Airplane's "Voluteers", The Who's song with the line "We won't get fooled again.." (title escapes the bobert's feeble brain...)... Bobert |
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05 Oct 03 - 09:57 AM (#1029960) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: alanabit "Won't get fooled again," Bobert, from "Who's Next", which in my view is their best album. I think everyone has been more or less right about the term "anthem" so far. When I used to read The New Musical Express, it was used to mean a song which was taken to heart by rock audiences, because they strongly identified with the sentiments. It seems that over the years the term has become used more frequently in the sense which McGrath and The Shambles are describing. |
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05 Oct 03 - 11:23 AM (#1029993) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Steve Latimer Bobert, Won't Get Fooled Again contains one of my favourite lines in Rock music. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.... How true. |
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05 Oct 03 - 11:30 AM (#1030000) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: McGrath of Harlow "Why are we waiting?" perhaps? |
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05 Oct 03 - 01:05 PM (#1030026) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: GUEST,pdq The civil rights movement had an anthem: "We Shall Overcome". Bob Dylan contributed several to the folk revival: "Blowin' In The Wind" and " When The Ship Comes In" are a couple. Billie Holliday's "God Bless The Child" is an anthem about life and reality. |
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05 Oct 03 - 06:23 PM (#1030115) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Little Hawk Bob Dylan's "Changing of the Guards" was an anthem, but it never got played much on the radio, and not enough people caught on to the symbolic lyrics to make it "official". "The Times They Are A-Changin'" definitely rates as an official anthem, as did Paul Simon's "Sounds of Silence". "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a tragic anthem for the defeat of the South in the American Civil War. "Like A Rolling Stone" was long an anthem for frustrated and alienated people. Springsteen wrote a whole series of songs that were anthems for working class people, such as "Hungry Heart" or "Racing in the Street" or "The River". Another Dylan anthem is "Chimes of Freedom", and a religious Dylan anthem is "Gotta Serve Somebody". "Masters of War" is an antiwar anthem, and so is "Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall". They're songs that aim to speak for not one person or two people, but for many or even all people. If they are successful anthems, it's because they ignite a deep emotional response in a great many people. Unfortunately the TV video age has greatly trivialized the whole phenomenon by making thousands of utterly banal and unremarkable songs by easily forgettable musicians "look" like anthems by showing those familiar scenes of enraptured hordes swaying in front of the camera, lighting matches, etc... It's all so predictable. People now go to shows and imitate the behaviour they've seen on the videos. What show does not draw an encore? It used to be spontaneous, now it's mostly unthinking repetation, based on consumption. Video did not just kill the radio star, it killed a whole lot more. It killed the originality of a lot of people's inner dreams. - LH |
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05 Oct 03 - 10:41 PM (#1030229) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: freightdawg Amen, Little Hawk! |
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06 Oct 03 - 12:10 AM (#1030250) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Helen I've been trying to work out the answer to this one. The only common ground I have been able to identify is that the songs described as anthems are often powerful tunes which ramp up the power from verse to verse. I don't know a lot about modes but I suspect that a lot of them are written in specific modes which emphasise the power of the tune. Often I think they change key upwards as they progress, as well. Last night on the Oz tv show, Australian Idol (the search for new Oz singing talent) one of the contestants sang a song by Johnny Farnham (who he is is another very long story - I think he's a weedy little wannabe who has somehow managed to con the Oz public, but who am I when I am at home??) called You're The Voice. It does have that sentiment referred to by alanabit, but its main claim to fame is the powerful style of melody which gets bigger and more dramatic as the song progresses that leads to people wanting to sing along and wave their arms in the air. Well, most people. Not me. It makes me want to wave my fingers in my throat. ;-P Helen |
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06 Oct 03 - 03:24 AM (#1030289) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: The Barden of England Surprised nobody has mentioned Tom Paxton's 'Last thing on my mind' - may just creep in under pop - certainly not rock though |
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06 Oct 03 - 08:58 AM (#1030454) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Geoff the Duck Nowadays the term Anthem has been reduced to a state of meaningless pap by the radio presenter on British Pop Radio. Hardly surprising as they are mainly a set of brainless morons who wouldn't recognise music if it bit them. Club Anthems seem to consist of whatever tune is popular with the disco DJ's that week. Soul Music is NOT what James Brown, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin sing it's just any bland pop or disco mimed to by anyone who happens to be black. R&B is not what Booker T and the MGs did - it's any crap pop. Etc. etc Quack! GtD. |
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06 Oct 03 - 09:09 AM (#1030457) Subject: RE: What are Rock/Pop Anthems? From: Roger the Skiffler What Geoff said. RtS |