The assignment:
"Each student will choose a media text (film, book, comic book, video game, TV episode, webisode, podcast, music video, album, etc.) and write a scholarly essay (of 750-1000 words) in which they make an argument (using the methods discussed and practiced in class) about that text. Students should consider not just textual characteristics (story, theme, aesthetics), but also contextual characteristics (authorship, genre, technology, industry, audience responses, personal experiences, cultural trends, etc.) in their essay."
As I listened to Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City (2013) when it was released, I realized that it often touched on themes by referencing other works. For instance, the album is filled with references to religious symbols and texts, and for a while I made it my goal to find at least one religious nod in each song on the album. However, these references were about more than just one topic, and they did more for the album than guide the theme. The album gained enormous critical and commercial success, with a score of 84 on Metacritic, and reaching the number one spot on four US charts. Modern Vampires of the City was able to achieve its nearly universal critical and commercial success in large part thanks to its artful and calculated use of allusions and references. These references exist both lyrically and musically throughout the album, and they come with many different levels of obscurity. However, they are used carefully so as to purely enhance the listening experience, instead of coming off as preachy or snobbish. Through the careful use of allusion, Vampire Weekend gave their third album a significant place in pop culture.
The most obvious references used by the band are lyrical. The lyrical allusion on this album enhances the album’s theme as well as the listener’s ability to have fun with and feel connected to the album. References such as the line “She’s richer than Croesus,” in “Step, are complex and layered to develop theme. This line, for instance, uses this somewhat out of date saying used to show the speaker’s disdain for old traditions. It furthers this theme by being a reference in itself to the myth of Croesus, which is far older than the saying. However, other references are far more obscure, such as the line about Jerusalem in “Finger Back.” This line can be disorienting because it gives an address for Jerusalem in New York City. However, by making an obscure allusion to Jerusalem Restaurant, situated at the corner of 103rd and Broadway in New York, it helps listeners who are familiar with the reference feel personally connected to the album, as though it were written specifically for them. Such references help these listeners to feel connected and part of something more important, thus inviting them to appreciate the album more. Because the album is almost overflowing with allusions, it is almost impossible for a modern listener to understand none of them. Thus, by using references for multiple purposes throughout the album, Vampire Weekend makes the album more appreciable by making it more fun, personal, and meaningful.
The album uses aural references in much the same ways and for much the same purposes as its lyrical references. However, they are probably somewhat more subconscious as the references must be recognized by the listener without Ezra Koenig explicitly stating them. One clear musical reference occurs in “Step,” whose hook is borrowed from Souls of Mischief’s “Step to my Girl.” This is a fairly obscure hip-hop song, and by using its hook, Vampire Weekend place themselves as a part of the indie hip-hop tradition. The song also uses the familiar motif from Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” a famous classical piece. By linking themselves with various musical genres and scenes, Vampire Weekend makes their album more accessible to people who are already fans of these other musical styles. This certainly widened the album’s fanbase. Of course, like their lyrical references, the album contains more obscure musical allusions, such as the style of “Worship You.” This song seems to combine raga (an Indian melodic mode) raga rock, fast marching, and perhaps yodeling to create a distinctive yet catchy musical style. Like the album’s lyrics, such allusions serve to both develop theme and to bring a more pleasurable listening experience to the audience, which in turn boosted reception and sales.
Merely sprinkling their album with references is certainly not what made Vampire Weekend able to gain such success. Instead, their references are used with restraint and consideration to enhance the listening experience. Musically, this album is perhaps more accessible than their first two. Like Modern Vampires of the City, their first two albums are influenced heavily by a variety of musical genres. However, this album uses these influences with more restraint. This album sounds less influenced by world music—although it still is—and more by rock and pop styles. Similarly, although they use references not every listener will immediately understand, these references do not alienate the audience because they are not central to every moment of every song. Instead, understanding them simply enhances the depth of the songs.
Admittedly, Vampire Weekend could not have had such a successful album based on references alone. Hip-hop music is often known for its heavy use of allusion, but it often cannot reach the same audience as an alternative band merely because of its roots and class sensibilities. Vampire Weekend was able to gain success through their prior fanbase as well as through fairly considerable marketing for a band belonging to an indie record label. Nonetheless, this album could have been a hard sell in some ways, dealing with the uncomfortable themes of spiritual doubt and uncertainty about death, rather than approaching these topics from a simpler point of view. Thus, Modern Vampires of the City’s use of allusion certainly was an important contributing factor in the album’s wide scale success.
"Each student will choose a media text (film, book, comic book, video game, TV episode, webisode, podcast, music video, album, etc.) and write a scholarly essay (of 750-1000 words) in which they make an argument (using the methods discussed and practiced in class) about that text. Students should consider not just textual characteristics (story, theme, aesthetics), but also contextual characteristics (authorship, genre, technology, industry, audience responses, personal experiences, cultural trends, etc.) in their essay."
As I listened to Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City (2013) when it was released, I realized that it often touched on themes by referencing other works. For instance, the album is filled with references to religious symbols and texts, and for a while I made it my goal to find at least one religious nod in each song on the album. However, these references were about more than just one topic, and they did more for the album than guide the theme. The album gained enormous critical and commercial success, with a score of 84 on Metacritic, and reaching the number one spot on four US charts. Modern Vampires of the City was able to achieve its nearly universal critical and commercial success in large part thanks to its artful and calculated use of allusions and references. These references exist both lyrically and musically throughout the album, and they come with many different levels of obscurity. However, they are used carefully so as to purely enhance the listening experience, instead of coming off as preachy or snobbish. Through the careful use of allusion, Vampire Weekend gave their third album a significant place in pop culture.
The most obvious references used by the band are lyrical. The lyrical allusion on this album enhances the album’s theme as well as the listener’s ability to have fun with and feel connected to the album. References such as the line “She’s richer than Croesus,” in “Step, are complex and layered to develop theme. This line, for instance, uses this somewhat out of date saying used to show the speaker’s disdain for old traditions. It furthers this theme by being a reference in itself to the myth of Croesus, which is far older than the saying. However, other references are far more obscure, such as the line about Jerusalem in “Finger Back.” This line can be disorienting because it gives an address for Jerusalem in New York City. However, by making an obscure allusion to Jerusalem Restaurant, situated at the corner of 103rd and Broadway in New York, it helps listeners who are familiar with the reference feel personally connected to the album, as though it were written specifically for them. Such references help these listeners to feel connected and part of something more important, thus inviting them to appreciate the album more. Because the album is almost overflowing with allusions, it is almost impossible for a modern listener to understand none of them. Thus, by using references for multiple purposes throughout the album, Vampire Weekend makes the album more appreciable by making it more fun, personal, and meaningful.
The album uses aural references in much the same ways and for much the same purposes as its lyrical references. However, they are probably somewhat more subconscious as the references must be recognized by the listener without Ezra Koenig explicitly stating them. One clear musical reference occurs in “Step,” whose hook is borrowed from Souls of Mischief’s “Step to my Girl.” This is a fairly obscure hip-hop song, and by using its hook, Vampire Weekend place themselves as a part of the indie hip-hop tradition. The song also uses the familiar motif from Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” a famous classical piece. By linking themselves with various musical genres and scenes, Vampire Weekend makes their album more accessible to people who are already fans of these other musical styles. This certainly widened the album’s fanbase. Of course, like their lyrical references, the album contains more obscure musical allusions, such as the style of “Worship You.” This song seems to combine raga (an Indian melodic mode) raga rock, fast marching, and perhaps yodeling to create a distinctive yet catchy musical style. Like the album’s lyrics, such allusions serve to both develop theme and to bring a more pleasurable listening experience to the audience, which in turn boosted reception and sales.
Merely sprinkling their album with references is certainly not what made Vampire Weekend able to gain such success. Instead, their references are used with restraint and consideration to enhance the listening experience. Musically, this album is perhaps more accessible than their first two. Like Modern Vampires of the City, their first two albums are influenced heavily by a variety of musical genres. However, this album uses these influences with more restraint. This album sounds less influenced by world music—although it still is—and more by rock and pop styles. Similarly, although they use references not every listener will immediately understand, these references do not alienate the audience because they are not central to every moment of every song. Instead, understanding them simply enhances the depth of the songs.
Admittedly, Vampire Weekend could not have had such a successful album based on references alone. Hip-hop music is often known for its heavy use of allusion, but it often cannot reach the same audience as an alternative band merely because of its roots and class sensibilities. Vampire Weekend was able to gain success through their prior fanbase as well as through fairly considerable marketing for a band belonging to an indie record label. Nonetheless, this album could have been a hard sell in some ways, dealing with the uncomfortable themes of spiritual doubt and uncertainty about death, rather than approaching these topics from a simpler point of view. Thus, Modern Vampires of the City’s use of allusion certainly was an important contributing factor in the album’s wide scale success.
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