Farewell

I leave this beautiful country in less then a week and I am deeply sad to leave it. It has been wonderful/difficult/amazing/foreign/fun/enlightening and I hope that I can bring all the euphoric and happy vibes back with me to Kentucky to last forever. I will miss the Armchair, Taxi Mark, Editor Mike, Marcielle, Xavier, Rob, Derek, Tatinda, Jim and Ruen, The Black Sash, Stewart and Chance our house mice, getting lost, getting found, being an Obs gypsy, and everything else in between.

music cope

Hows that view for musical inspiration?

           Music consistently pulses through my body. At home, I will neglect the natural sounds of reality and opt for the fabricated sounds of illusion. I thirst for more. The joyous ecstasy that a sentimental lyric or chord can cause for my mind is worth the hunt. I have not had the luxury to constantly absorb myself into newfound tunes by scavenging the internet, so I have had to abandon those means and adapt to new style of discotheque discovery.

In the states, I am spoiled and perhaps paralyzed by the constant display of music. Internet is very expensive here (bandwidth is to be conserved), and as I have lost a good portion of my budget due to my unhealthy habit of Internet indulgence. I have deprived myself of my energy in the forms of YouTube, Pandora, Hypem and Lastfm. Music listening and discovering for me is a solitary enjoyment. I have had to purge this modern way of discovery and prey for something more social and more primitive. I have locked these unique songs to places and people. As a local friend raced us to Hout Bay just in time to see the sunset within a secret cave, a foreign style of music played in the background. I was introduced to a new style of music during a spontaneous adventure, and I had no choice but to enjoy it socially. It was awesome.

The music that is individually South Africa’s, the sounds and lyrics (or lack of lyrics) say something about the roots of the individual, which are intertwined with this country.  I recently read an article found in the Mail & Order by Maya Fisher-French called the Economics of Art that stated; “I saw how the arts are creating a new identity for this not-so-new South Africa, moving past struggle art towards an identity that acknowledges that the past is woven into the fabric of that identity without being trapped by it.” I could not even begin to paraphrase this sentence.

The music and the arts are a coping mechanism not for just an individual but for also a country. I have never heard anything like the music I heard buzzing through the sound system on that trip to Hout Bay. It was unique. The coolest thing of all is that no one else in the world could have created it. The experiences, sights and people of Cape Town, helped mold that sound.While many of the young people I have met listen to a lot of American bands like Kings of Leon and Lamb of God, I can't help but be completely drawn in by the original sounds that are different than my own.

It is interesting to witness the generational gaps when it comes to music in Cape Town. While the young free spirits indulge in trance and American rock bands, the older generation stays close to classics. My dear friends at The Armchair, Mike and Mark, are both self-proclaimed music theorists. I have had intensive conversations with them about the music they listened to during their freedom fighting days of the Apartheid. It interests me to know what kind of music they listened to as young activists. Mark usually grabs my right fist, treats it as a microphone and begins singing The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm,” when I talk to him about music. The more humble and soft-spoken Mike puts Bob Dylan on the same level of Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Mike told me that listening to Dylan gave him confidence to stand up against the government. Cool little fact...Dylan contributed to the charity album, Sun City: of Artists United Against Apartheid.    

I am a firm believer that you are what you listen to. I despise that I am limited to the music I am exposed to due to my geographic location, which limits my creative engine and mindset. I think that exposing yourself to the art and music of a town you visit can reveal more than any souvenir or material item. It is just as important to open your ears when you travel as it is to open your eyes. 

u.s.a world pop

I traveled more than 10,000 miles away from home and I run into American pop culture on every corner. I have to wonder if American culture is global culture? In a taxi, Rhianna and Lil Wayne buzz through the airwaves. In a school, kids tell me their favorite films are Twilight and the Fast and the Furious. In a restaurant, coca-cola and hamburgers can be ordered.  In the homes of the locals, American television shows, posters, and books swarm their homes.

            Most surprisingly, when I was talking about celebrating the 4^th of July with a friend, I asked him, “Do you know what that is?” and he applied with great annoyance, “Are you serious? Everyone does.” Everyone knows about our Independence Day? Where is this taught? The movies, school, television? George Bush, Obama and Fox News come up in conversations frequently. It is unreal to me, because I am not very educated on other country’s pop culture, much less their politics. Am I culturally limited because I am an American? South Africa has American culture and their own, as well as being fairly educated on other African countries.

            I recently read an article about South Africa’s search for its national identity. Eleven languages, many different ethnic groups, the largest income gap in the world, and diverse cultural influences make it hard to identify themselves as one. South Africa does have its own scene. It is uniquely South Africa’s culture, and when you visit the country, you taste something you never have before. South Africa’s culture has not been processed all over the world like America’s. While the sounds and pictures of American pop culture can be seen, aside from that culture there is something that has stayed within South Africa.

            It isn’t just the pop music that I hear buzzing through the airwaves, but the American underground music as well has channeled it’s way to the radios of students and all those seeking it. Websites like Hypem and SoundCloud are even frequently used.  The internet age has made globalization not only easy, but inevitable. Is American culture so easily duplicated and available that it is the culture you will run into? Without a doubt, I believe that American pop culture is the most recognizable culture in the world, and the most integrated into other cultures. I am not especially proud of this, because with that, bad stereotypes and misrepresentations are generated through out the world. Yet, also it is a common thread you share with someone you have never met when you find something you both enjoy, such as a similar music artist.