Ricky Conrad

Miss Neal

American History

June 4, 2020

American Album

America is many things, often times contradicting things, good, bad, great, terrible, and

adaptable. As such there are a great many songs that can represent America. Often these songs

contradict each, or even themselves. These songs show either different period of time, a specific
event, or a part of America altogether. These things can be large or small, because without them

America would not be what it is today.

Red & Black (Les Mis) - American Revolution

 Les Misérables is a musical that is set in the time period of the French revolution and this

song is about the coming conflict. This relates simply due to being about revolution but

also goes further than that. The Song addresses the unrest within France which is

mirrored in America before the revolution. Both revolutions wished to end being ruled

over by an absolute power. The song shows the hope of defeating a power greater than

their own which is something both revolutions faced.

One last Time (Hamilton) - George Washinton’s Resignation

 This song is pretty much George Washington’s Farewell Address in the form of a song

and expands on his reasons for stepping down. This Address was a major point in

Washington’s presidency. This set a president for future president to limit the number of

years they stay in office. It Also provided more information such as the fact that

Alexander Hamilton penned much of the address. It also gave insight to Washington’s

feelings on the matter with him wanting to let America get used to presidents switching.

Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas) - Artistic movement and the Hudson River School

 This song takes place as Pocahontas is trying to convince John Smith that nature is

something worth more than what one can take from it. It is a song that emphasizes the

beauty that can be found in nature, a sentiment that many people sympathize with. This
 relates to the artistic movement of capturing the beauty of nature through art. This

movement was largely supported by the Hudson river school which produced several

well-known pieces. One such piece is The Oxbow a beautiful painting by Thomas Cole

Harriet Tubman (Walter Robinson) - Slavery

 The song Harriet Tubman is a song that takes the perspective of a slave. It speaks to how

much of a relief it is to be saved from slavery. It also portrays Tubman as a borderline

mystical figure. It uses interesting background to add depth to the song. This is seen

strongly when singing about the children dressed in red. Slavery is an incredibly dark

stain on America’s history that has had repercussions many years after. That stain makes

those who stood against it shine all that much brighter.

Old Man River (Showboat) - Black Codes & Jim Crow Laws

 Old Man River is song that compares the troubled lives of African Americans to the

steady stream of the Mississippi. Right After the end of slavery was a time of heavy

restrictions being put on African Americans. Often It felt no better as when they were

slaves, still tolling away under those they served. These laws continued for decades in

one form or another always trampling African Americans. They were often forced to just

keep pushing forward as did the Mississippi.

Chant (Hadestown) - Industrialization

 In this song is mainly about Persephone entering hadestown and finding the

industrialization and innovation of the city disheartening.. Throughout the piece, many

voices can be heard keeping a monotonous chant. These are the many workers who keep

the factory running yet profit very little if anything. This is a direct reference to the many
 workers taken advantage of and put into terrible working conditions. Hades, the head of

hadestown is a cruel man, using others for his own gain as was the norm at this time.

New York, New York (Frank Sinatra) - Urbanization

 This song is about the wonders of the city of New York. This was a time when people

were flocking to the cities of America. Much like the song suggests, Cities at the time

were seen as great places brimming with opportunity. Many people wanted to take

advantage this opportunity or make a new life for themselves. As Frank Sinatra sing, it

was the goal of many to climb the ladder and be the best of the best.

Pipes of Peace (Paul McCartney) - WW1

 This song is meant as a celebration of a brief peace during World War 1. On Christmas

day during WW1 there was a period where the two sides had an informal truce and even

had a football game. This Event is in stark contrast to the terrible and gruesome reality of

the war. This event is one that is often used to show the humanity of both sides of the

conflict. This song goal is to show that there is Human on all sides of a conflict.

Everyday a little Death (Count of Monte Cristo) - disillusionment after WW1

 In this song is when Mercedes learns that Edmond supposedly dead in prison. While in

reality he is not dead, this does cause a form of disillusionment to be cast over Mercedes.

This is similar to the disillusionment of the American peoples after World War 1. This

came after the realization that many loved ones would not be returning. Unlike, the

musical, these loved ones were not coming back.

Living it up on Top (Hadestown) - Prohibition

  The people of this song are happily drinking in a time of prosperity. The prohibition

essentially banned alcohol which did nothing to decreased alcohol consumption. The time

during which this happened was during a time a great prosperity for America. This period

had a feeling of hopefulness for the future. This is seen quite well in the song where all

the characters are at rest and are also hopeful for the future.

Icarus (Bastille) - The Great Crash

 This song sings about the tragic story of Icarus and his hubris. Icarus is the story of a

young boy who was warned to not fly too close to the sun yet did so anyways to try and

achieve greater heights, but ultimately crashed and died due to his actions. This can be

seen in the events of the great crash where in a single day, America’s economy crashed

and caused a wound on America to form. America’s bubble grew too big and had to burst

just as Icarus crashed into the sea.

Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) - Manhattan Project

 This song’s name alone draws a connection to the events of the Manhattan project. Even

beyond the obvious connection of nuclear weapons and radioactivity, a deeper connection

can be found through the atmosphere of the song. The Nuclear weapons unleashed on

japan were terrible weapons of mass destruction that caused many, many innocent deaths

and caused a long-lasting impact on the area due to nuclear fallout. The song gives, the

impression to many of a post-apocalyptic world plagued by nuclear fallout. This connects

to the uninhabitable land in Hiroshima and Nagasaki left by the bombs.

The World was Wide Enough (Hamilton) - Cold War

  While the content of the song does not quite match the event, the tension built by the

song does. In this song the song uses the tension and a countdown to lead up to a

conclusion that ends in catastrophe. This is reflected in the cold war were tensions

between Russia and America grew to nearly unbearable levels that was a fuse that could

be set off at any moment. While in the song, the buildup leads to the gunshot that kills

Alexander Hamilton, the cold war, fortunately, does not lead to a disaster. The cold war

managed to heat up and cool down without the seemingly inevitable explosion.

Defying Gravity (Wicked) - Landing on the Moon

 Once again, the title also makes a connection to the moon landing, but it also goes deeper

than that. The space race was a time of great technological advancement across the globe,

especially America and Russia. After Russia successful launched sputnik into space,

America followed it up by sending a man to the moon, this was a great success after a

great time of failure and learning. Defying gravity is a song of hope and reaching for

what you wish. This event raised a hope among Americans that they were superior to

America.

Ya got Trouble (Music Man) - Rock n’ Roll

 Harold Hill easily convinces the town’s concerned parents that the new pool hall would

be a bad influence on the children of the town. It can be seen through the song that

history tends to repeat itself easily. Now, rather than pool, parents are worried about

Rock n’ Roll and other similar trends amongst their children. Harold Hill easily played

with the parent’s emotions to demonize pool just as Rock n’ Roll was demonized in more
recent times. It can be fairly safe to assume that this kind of fear of an essentially

harmless thing, will eventually happen once again.