CULTURAL REINTERPRETATION OF POPULAR MUSIC : THE CASE OF JAPANESE/AMERICAN COVER

SONGSJudy Yoneoka

Kumamoto Gakuen University 　 judy@kumagaku.ac.jpwww.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~judy

ＩＡＷＥ　Ｏｃｔ．　７，　２００６　　Ｃｈｕｋｙｏ　Ｕｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ

Introduction

♫ A short history of cover music in Japan

♫ Covering: copy or re-creation?

♫ Processes of hybridization in cover music

(with examples)

A brief history of cover music in Japan

Rockabilly and Group Sounds1950’s - 60’s

♫ 1950s- 　 early 60s “Rockabilly”♫ Tennessee Waltz♫ Heartbreak Hotel♫ Great Balls of Fire ♫ Que Sera Sera

♫ From 1964 “Group Sounds” ♫ Beatles cover groups = The Tigers, the Blue Comets, th

e Spiders, the Carnabeats, etc.♫ The Monkees = the Timers

• http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-204/artist_name-the_tempters/%3C!--DOC_ROOT--%3Eartist/artist_id-196/artist_name-the_tigers/

Kayokyoku and New music 1970’s-80’s

♫Early 1970’s ♫Venus♫A Bridge over Troubled Water ♫Your Song♫Alone Again, Naturally, etc.

♫Late 70’s: Village People Covers♫In the Navy “Pink Lady!”♫YMCA

“1987 Stolen Pop Songs”

ドロボー歌謡曲 Stolen Pop Songsby “Japan Committee for ethics in

Japanese pop music”日本歌謡曲倫理委員会編集

J-pop 1990’s

• Go Hiromi • Bye Bye Baby (Bay City Rollers) 1975• Aishu no Casablanca 1982 (Berty Higgins)• Careless Whisper 1994 (George Michael)• Goldfinger 99 1999 (Ricky Martin’s Living the Vida L

oca).

• Seiko Matsuda • Last Christmas (Wham) 1984 • Hold On (Wilson Phillips) 1991• Was it the Future (Your Precious Love, Marvin Gaye a

nd Tammi Terrell) 1994.

Into the 21st century: “revival cover”Hirai Ken

• Grandfather’s Clock (1876 Henry Clay Work) • Desperado (1973 Eagles)• The Rose (1980 Bette Midler)

Suga Shikao • Only You (1955 The Platters)• Just Like Starting Over (1980 John Lennon)

GORIE• 2003 Mickey (1981 Toni Basil)• 2005 Pecori Night (Saturday Night, 198? Bay City

Rollers) • 2006 Koi no Pecori Lesson (I will Follow Him, 1964

Petula Clark)

Reverse cover: From Japan to the world

♫Sukiyaki Song (Ue wo Muite Aruko, Sakamoto Kyu)

♫Ray Charles’ “Ellie My Love” (Southern All Stars)♫Greg Irwin “Japan’s Best Loved Songs”

故郷＝“ My Country Home”

Cover music : copy or re-creation?

Tradition of cover music

♫Originally to popularize a piece of music rather than a singer -- “copying” was fine as it gave the music publicity

♫“The process by which a song gets promoted is predicated upon principles of repetition and covering. “ (Yano 2004:4)

Covering as a virtue in Japan

♫ “Through [covering] an individual demonstrates respect for one's teachers, acknowledgment of one's place in a hierarchy, and mastery of an art form up to a certain point. Within this cultural context … covering is a moral act. “ (Yano 2005:2)

♫ Both “original” and “copy” are foreign loan words that have no Japanese equivalent (Ugaya 2005:229)

Now: covering is acceptable with…

♫ 1. legal permission to cover the music, and

♫ 2. reinterpretation in a different style and/or for a different audience.

“All cover songs are cross-cultural”

But Japanese cover songs have often been criticized as

♫ “pakuri”

♫ bowing to Western imperialism

♫ immoral

Cultural Hybridization

Cultural Hybridity

♫Hybridity (Bhabha, 1994) cultural change is not simply “a linear diffusion model of ‘the West to the rest’” .

♫=cover music can be reanalyzed as a legitimate mode of creativity that “layers” the original with different cultural elements to produce a hybrid version.

cultural hybridization processes

Wang and Yeh （ 2005 ） propose that cultural products may undergo three processes

　 ‘deculturalization’ – culture-specific elemen

ts are removed ‘acculturalization’ – culture-specific elemen

ts are added　 ‘ reculturalization’ – culture-specific eleme

nts are changed

The Cultural Cline : Universal to Specific

Universality Specificity

Themes transcend time and space:

unrequited love tragedy of war joy of spring, etc.

Themes address specific places or events

references to cultural norms of a certain era, such as laws, dress, housing, customs, etc.

Grandfather’s Clock : an example

Universality Specificity

My Grandfather’s Clock

It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,And was always his treasure and pride,But it stopped short never to go again,When the old man died.

Sequel to My Grandfather’s Clock

From the clock-peddler's cart to the junk-shop it went, Where its cog-wheels were sundered one by one; And the brass-founder joked as they writhed in the flames "Melt'em up," says he; "then they will run.“

Processes of cultural reinterpretation

specific universal(1) Deculturalization S U(2) Acculturalization S U(3) Reculturalization S

S(Wang and Yeh (2005) )

(4) (Maintenance) UU

Deculturalization Tennessee Waltz

(Patti Page 1950Eri Chiemi 1951)

I was dancin' with my darlin' to the Tennessee waltz,

when an old friend I happened to see.

Introduced her to my loved one, and while they were dancin',

my friend stole my sweetheart from me.

去りにし夢　あのテネシー・ワルツA past dream…that Tennessee Waltz,なつかし愛の唄　The old nostalgic love song面影しのんで　今宵も歌う　 Shadows creep in, and I sing it again,うるわしテネシー・ワルツBeautiful Tennessee Waltz思い出なつかし　あのテネシー・ワルツNostalgic memories, that Tennessee Waltz今宵も流れ来る　別れたあの娘よ　I hear it again, the girl I parted with,今はいずこ　呼べど帰らないI call her now, but she will not return.

Acculturalization Yellow Submarine (The Beatles 1966 ）

Yellow Submarine Ondo (Akiko Kanazawa 1982)

Ondo : A form of Japanese folk music that combines Pop music with Japanese Traditional music. It is typically played at summer festivals and in a 2/2 time signature. It's typically associated with the Osaka area of Japan, although it's also played/enjoyed in other parts of Japan. http://www.talok.org/Music/ondo.htm

Now available on “Exotic Beatles” (2006)

Reculturalization I’ve never been to me (Charlene 1982)

Love is All ( Shiina Megumi 1982)

Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life,

You’re a discontented mother and a regimented wife,

I’ve no doubt you dream about the things you’ll never do

but I wish someone had talked with me like I wanna talk to you

Sweet fairyl'm waiting what you just take out melt's really my dreaml want the Wedding Bell TonightEverything is you

Almost completely faithful maintenance

Grandfather’s Clock Henry C. Work (1876) 　大きな古時計 : 　 Hirai Ken （ 2002 ）

• Only one cultural change:

It stood 90 years on the floor

= 100 年いつも動いてた= (It ran steadily for 100 years)

YMCA: Reculturalization goes full circle

From Village People (1979) A gay statement

To Saijo Hideki (1981) A “wholesome” mainstream version

•

VILLAGE• PEOPLE VERSION (1979)

• Young man, there's a place you can go. …you will find Many ways to have a good time. …. You can hang out with all the boys ...

• … You can do whatever you feel ...

SAIJYO HIDEKI VERSION

(1981)

ヤングマン 楽しめることがあるんだから Young man, There are things you can enjoy

　若いうちはやりたいこと 　何でもできるのさ You can do whatever you want when you’re young

“2006 HG version”

男なら腰を振り　話しのコシを折れShake your hips if you’re a man, break down the conversationこびぬ　ひかぬ　かえりみぬ　空気は読まぬDon’t be afraid, don’t look back, don’t worry about

what others thinkアドレナリン　出しまくれ　腰グラインドハイGet the adrenalin going, grind your hips, open your a

rms and say fo--!両手広げフォ～！　

Final Words

From cover to “repack”

Otani, Y. (2001) J-POP REPACK! White Paper

• 2001 Ｊ－ＰＯＰ〈リパック！〉白書 歌ってみたらアラ不思議？？徳間書店、オタニユキノリ

• “repack” means recycling an older song and adding new values to it. This guidebook introduces J-pop “repacks” and their original versions not to criticize them as “pakuri” but rather to enjoy their skill of adding new elements. (translated from a Japanese explanation)

Parting Words

• In recognizing hybridization processes (deculturalization, reculturalization, acculturalization) in cover music

From condemnation of “pakuri “

to appreciation of creativity

References

• Bhabha, H. (1994) The Location of Desire, London and New York: Routledge.

• Wang, G and EY Yeh （ 2005 ） Globalization and hybridization in cultural products The cases of Mulan and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, 175-193

• Ugaya, H. (2005) J-pop no Shinzo Fukei (in Japanese), Bunshin Shinsho Publishing.

• Yano C. R. (2005) Covering disclosures: practices of intimacy, hierarchy, and authenticity in a Japanese popular music genre, Popular Music and Society online