Music as An Instrument Of Cultural Alteration

Elsa Maria Sebastian

IInd sem M A English Language and Literature

Vimala College

Thrissur

Abstract

Culture is always intertwined with many factors such as literature, history,

discourse, music soon. Popular culture is the sum total of these entities. These components have

their own influence on today’s culture. This paper deals with music projected as an entity and

how music becomes the most influential thing in today’s arena. This exposition is also tries to

trace out the developments in the field of popular music and its effect on modern society and also

about the blooming of new bands that are eager to preserve their ethnical culture. These bands

expose the generation to popular music by nourishing traditional cultures and by means of

promoting folk songs which are fixed in the culture. In fact, these folksongs are the pulse of the

civilization. By doing this, these popular bands didn’t make them separate from the traditions,

but they are immersed them in the culture. In the present scenario of Kerala, there are upcoming

bands that deal with the above stated things. They are: Avial Band, Amrutham Gamaya,

Thaikkudam Bridge, Masala Coffee etc. They don’t go behind the western stereotype but they

enroot their roots in their ethnicity and reproduce old folksongs which the Keralites have already

forgotten. If we traced the history of in style music such as Jazz and all we may recognize that it

was a revolt against cultural hegemony. Popular culture is fascinating and is at the centre of our

lives.

Key words: popular culture, music, cultural hegemony

Wordsworth had defined poetry in his “Preface” to Lyrical Ballads as the

“spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility.” This theory

can be also applicable to the popular music also. It is also the “spontaneous overflow

of powerful emotions.” The slogan of the well-liked culture of our time is revival. It

tries to revitalize the whole thing in the social order. It reflects on all spheres of life. In

the field of music too the revival is going on. Popular cultures make use of the age-old

folk songs to their latest track. Nowadays it is the trend that the ancient folk songs

were presented in a very different ambience. It filled the folk songs with rock - n – roll

styles and makes this reverberating in the human mind. Remixing is the movement in

the present society. In other words, they are doing a structuralist activity: decomposes

the existing thing and recomposes it into an entirely new thing. This is what happening

in the current music scenario in Kerala. The twenty first century is a new dawn for the

in style music.

The salient feature of Dravidian culture is well reflected in the folk literature

of Kerala. Proverbs, riddles, folksongs and other oral narratives show the common

characteristics of Dravidian culture. Agrarian revolution catalyses the growth of

nadanpattu (i.e, folk song tradition). It gives energy to the people who worked in the

paddy fields under the extreme climatic conditions. Agricultural songs are the precursors

of the folk tradition in Kerala. It was sung in the paddy fields and during the difficult

chores to make them relieved from the physical struggle. Mainly the folk songs are

divided under six heads: labour, amusement, marriage, religious, heroic, and artistic.

Earlier the folk songs were not considered as a genre of literature. Therefore, no one took

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the initiative to preserve it. Some of them are survived by the oral tradition which was

prevailed in our ancient society. Therefore we had lost a sizeable volume of traditional

songs which might have strengthened Malayalam folk literature. The older folk songs

were narrative in mode. They often narrate a story which has a moral which is conveyed

to the village folk. In the folk songs art, legend, proverb, myth, magic, sorcery… are the

manifestations of the folkloristic tradition of the Kerala villager is a derivative of the sum

total of the influence of the family, martial tradition, caste, socio-religious practices,

economic status of the village folk so on.

These folk songs also convey us about the cultural, ritual and religious practices

of a certain community. For example the song “appangalembadum” in the popular movie

Ustad Hotel directed by Anjali Menon was actually a folk song which was prevailed in

the Malabar region of Kerala. This song describes the customs and rituals on the nuptial

eve. During the wedding eve mother of the bride do the preparations to welcome her

son-in-law. This song consists of the details of chores done by the bride’s mother in that

time.

The vanchipattu tradition in Kerala is on the course of revival. It is presenting now

by mixing it with rock and hip – hop style. And this was accepted by the society

wholeheartedly.

Over the past three years, a new expression has arrived with a bang and

resounding rifts: Kerala has been in the clutches of a fusion music revival as a new

generation of inventive and rebellious bands tap folks, classical, rock and temple

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melodies to beat up a frenzy of rhythm and strings, digging into the past to create a real

indie music ambiguity.

It all begins with Avial, a band named after the reputed Kerala dish of varied

vegetables. About seven years ago, when an assorted group of singers formed the band, it

was as though a thunderbolt had hit the declining music industry in Kerala. Avial

borrowed songs from Kerala’s rich tradition of folk and temple music set it to rock

rhythms and put it up a whacky show that Malayalees had not seen before. Sumesh Lal,

who produces Music Mojo for Kappa TV, a Malayalam music channel of the

Mathrubhumi group says that Avial was definitely the trendsetter in Malayalam rock and

its nationwide popularity, cutting across languages was a major inspiration for all

aspiring musicians and bands in Kerala. Avial move towards the front position of the

music industry with its exclusive folk – rock fusion. They made the people of Kerala

open up to home - grown pop music, which paved way for other bands.

Following the successful journey of Avial, a swing of other bands sprouted. A

group of talented musicians breaks the fetters of conservative music. The pure melody, a

favorite of music composers, in which the flute and violin tired to recreate a pastoral

ambience, went out the frame and sounds from far away entered. Rap and hip – hop now

find place in Kerala’s music.

Today, at least ten to fifteen new music bands are giving Malayalam music a new

sound and loads of energy. These bands use temple instruments such as the chenda and

nadaswaram and classical ones such as the mridagam, sitar and even esraj. Their music

also has furious rifts of the guitar and the reverberation of the trumpet, the saxophone and

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the drum sets are the weapons in their search for new frontiers. The violin is no longer

dominates the sound, while the flute has become newly energized.

Named after a small bridge in Kochi, the ten membered band, Thaikkudam

Bridge went up on Avial. It was inevitable that Kochi would throw up a band because it

had a tradition of pop, rock and alternative music in Kerala stretching back to the 70’s

with guitarist Emile Issacs and his band Elite Aces being the early spark.

The Thaikkudam Bridge revolutionized the scenario by the song “Appozhum

paranjille poranda poranda” by singing it with the accompaniment of Govind Menon’s

overriding electronic violin; it brought Malayalam folk new fans.

The band Masala Coffee’s “Kantha,” was a reinvention of folk music. It is full of

yearning, with the protagonist expressing her desire for attending Thrissur Pooram and

sees the display of fireworks. The voice is gruffly, energetic and often high – pitched,

suitable for hip – hop and rap, which merges into the folk rhythms, like the band has done

to great effect in another song, “Krishna nee begane”.

Kerala loves its temples but food is never far away, as seen in the hundreds of

eating joints that line the state’s narrow streets with “Meals Ready” signs hung near the

entrance. It is not surprising that Thaikkudam Bridge rolled out the “Fish Rock”, Govind

Menon’s rap – a tap song naming all of Kerala’s fish varieties. When the sisters Amrutha

and Abhirami sang “Ayala porichatundu, karimeen varuthatundu”, it was a hedonistic

celebration of Kerala’s many – curried meal by their band Amrutham Gamaya.

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When Bhadra sang “vellarum kunnile”, the return of an old favorite theatre song,

she was paying curtsy to the masters. It reminds us of Kerala pastoral, but comes packed

with new beats.

These new in style bands also make experiments with their dressing style. During

the performance many of the bands wears the colourful Kerala lungi and their shirts have

pastel prints and often the Red of forgotten revolutions. In one such show the

Thaikuddam Bridge’s members once done with the traditional mundu with the golden

border. On one occasion Avial Band had introduced the T- shirts with Malayalam film

dialogues printed on it. Some bands choose ripped and stonewashed jeans for onstage

show to express their rebellious attitude to the conventional society. Today, lungi has

taken over as the symbol of a new unaffected disturbance. Lungi can be also considered

as the sign of back to civilizations and furthermore is the expression of revolt. The singer

has become the new comrade and balladeer.

Popular culture is the trendsetter in the society. It reflects the agonies and cries

in the community. Popular culture makes their audience to think and react. This is the

thing with well-liked music also. It helps us to revive the forgotten tradition of ours. The

folk songs are all connected with customs and rituals prevailed in the ancient society.

Refrences

Bohlman, Philip V. World Music. New Delhi: OUP, 2002. Print.

Choondal, Chummar. Kerala Folk Literature. Thrissur: Kerala Folklore Academy,1980.

Print.

John, Binoo K. ”Cokenut Studio”, Scroll.in News. N.P. 08 May 2015. web: 17 July 2015.