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Readers recommend: songs about itinerants, nomads and migration Readers recommend: songs about itinerants, nomads and migration
(about 17 hours later)
“Man’s real home is not a house, but the road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot,” said the writer, Bruce Chatwin. His acclaimed 1987 travelogue novel, The Songlines, set about to explore the culture and traditions of Indigenous Australians, and proclaimed that language itself began as song. Songlines, also known as dreaming tracks, map out landmarks (or skylines) in the form of songs, poems or paintings. When these songs are sung in the correct sequence, they can describe, and therefore relive, vast journeys. The book repeatedly portrays the itinerant lifestyle is the most natural human state, and how, for example, it is “calculated that a Bushman child will be carried a distance of 4,900 miles before he begins to walk on his own. Since, during this rhythmic phase, he will be forever naming the contents of his territory, it is impossible he will not become a poet.”“Man’s real home is not a house, but the road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot,” said the writer, Bruce Chatwin. His acclaimed 1987 travelogue novel, The Songlines, set about to explore the culture and traditions of Indigenous Australians, and proclaimed that language itself began as song. Songlines, also known as dreaming tracks, map out landmarks (or skylines) in the form of songs, poems or paintings. When these songs are sung in the correct sequence, they can describe, and therefore relive, vast journeys. The book repeatedly portrays the itinerant lifestyle is the most natural human state, and how, for example, it is “calculated that a Bushman child will be carried a distance of 4,900 miles before he begins to walk on his own. Since, during this rhythmic phase, he will be forever naming the contents of his territory, it is impossible he will not become a poet.”
Chatwin also portrays the culture of the pilgrim, nomad and hunter-gatherer as healthier in every way than that of city dweller, not just for the geneal environment, but “as a general rule of biology, migratory species are less aggressive than sedentary ones”. He quotes the 17th-century writer and polymath, Sir Thomas Browne, who said the “pyramids, arches, obelisks were but the irregularites of vain-glory, and wild enormities of ancient magnanimity”, and “when people start talking of man’s inhumanity to man, it means they haven’t walked far enough.” To graze and live and move across the land makes us appreciate and integrate with it than to simply build our empire of dirt. Chatwin also portrays the culture of the pilgrim, nomad and hunter-gatherer as healthier in every way than that of city dweller, not just for the environment, but “as a general rule of biology, migratory species are less aggressive than sedentary ones”. He quotes the 17th-century writer and polymath, Sir Thomas Browne, who said the “pyramids, arches, obelisks were but the irregularites of vain-glory, and wild enormities of ancient magnanimity”, and “when people start talking of man’s inhumanity to man, it means they haven’t walked far enough”. To graze and live and move across the land makes us appreciate and integrate with it than to build, as one songwriter put it, an empire of dirt.
Many a song has been made on the move, and so your choices this week might reference anywhere in the world. from those of ancient Australian tradition, to the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian peninsula, Sudan or the Levant, the Gypsy music of Romania, Bulgaria or Ireland, the Maasai of Kenya, or the tales of Mongol horsemen and Tartar descendents of central Asia. Alternatively you might wish to refer to songs travelling closer to home. Wherever you go, you will always feel accompanied. Readers Recommend will virtually supply a friendly camel to help carry your vinyl collection.Many a song has been made on the move, and so your choices this week might reference anywhere in the world. from those of ancient Australian tradition, to the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian peninsula, Sudan or the Levant, the Gypsy music of Romania, Bulgaria or Ireland, the Maasai of Kenya, or the tales of Mongol horsemen and Tartar descendents of central Asia. Alternatively you might wish to refer to songs travelling closer to home. Wherever you go, you will always feel accompanied. Readers Recommend will virtually supply a friendly camel to help carry your vinyl collection.
“Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it,” says an ancient Indian proverb. If not moving on that particular continent, the bridges you cross in and roads travelled may just as likely bring in blues and folk and any travelling rock or pop, or even of circus culture, with songs inspired by the ever-touring, romantic, or otherwise life on the road. Musicians are often restless spirits, and many spend much of their lives in hotels are dosing in vehicles. Louden Wainwright III, for example, on his ironically titled album, Fame and Wealth, is pictured holding hundreds of hotel door keys. “Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it,” says an ancient Indian proverb. If not moving on that particular continent, the bridges you and roads traversed may just as likely bring in blues and folk and any travelling rock or pop. They may even touch on circus culture, or songs inspired by the ever-touring, romantic (or otherwise) life on the road. Musicians are often restless spirits, and many spend much of their lives in hotels are dosing in vehicles. Louden Wainwright III, for example, on his ironically titled album, Fame and Wealth, is pictured holding hundreds of hotel door keys.
Your songs may also be inspired by films or other books. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, about the carefree lifestyle of Beat-generation itinerants, inspired a wealth material in all genres, and an entirely new youth culture. It was made into a film, but its best-known offspring of all road movies is Easy Rider (1969), an early, vehicle for motorbike-riding Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper. Time then, to take a load off, and open up the throttle. Your songs may also be inspired by films or other books. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, about the carefree lifestyle of Beat-generation itinerants, spurred a wealth of material in all genres, and an entirely new youth culture. It was made into a film, but perhaps the best-known offspring of all road movies is Easy Rider (1969), an early, vehicle for motorbike-riding Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper. Time then, to take a load off, and open up the throttle.
An interesting alternative on the itinerant theme is the 1998 sci-fi Dark City, in which inhabitants of a futuristic dystopia don’t realise they are moving home, but time, memories and physical environment are rearranged every time midnight comes around by evil manipulators known as the Strangers, making citizens unwitting nomads in every facet of their lives. Far more light-hearted, however, is the endlessly energetic Black Cat, White Cat of the same year, by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, a film inspired by and portraying the Gypsy music of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. The music is so vibrant that it frees a man from his hospital bed.An interesting alternative on the itinerant theme is the 1998 sci-fi Dark City, in which inhabitants of a futuristic dystopia don’t realise they are moving home, but time, memories and physical environment are rearranged every time midnight comes around by evil manipulators known as the Strangers, making citizens unwitting nomads in every facet of their lives. Far more light-hearted, however, is the endlessly energetic Black Cat, White Cat of the same year, by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, a film inspired by and portraying the Gypsy music of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. The music is so vibrant that it frees a man from his hospital bed.
Homo sapiens originally began to migrate out of Africa around 250,000 years ago, and some people, as shown above, continue to keep moving. But this topic can also cover mass migrations. We’ve previously had the different topics of homelessness and travelling, but this week it is all about a more long-term choice of lifestyle. History is awash with mass migrations, with the movement from east to the west America, or from the south the the north, likely to be the biggest, especially in the world of popular song. But mass migration happens on an even more enormous scale in the natural world. Homo sapiens originally began to migrate out of Africa around 250,000 years ago, and some people, as shown above, continue to keep moving. But this topic can also cover mass migrations. We’ve previously had the different topics of homelessness and travelling, but this week it is all about a more long-term choice of lifestyle. History is awash with mass migrations, with the movement from east to west America, or from the south the the north, likely to be the biggest, especially in the world of popular song. But mass migration happens constantly on an even more enormous scale in the natural world.
The furthest travelling itinerant of all is the Arctic tern - it will annually fly 44,000 miles in a zigzagging journey between Greenland and Antarctica. White sharks, meanwhile are constantly on the move - roughly 6,000 miles a year across the North Pacific. Caribou may hold the land record - a brutal 3,700 miles from the forests to tundra of Canada. But the wildebeest crossing Tanzania’s Serengeti plains take a punishing circular route of around 1,800 miles to follow changing rain patterns and green grasses, braving everything from marauding leopards to wild dogs and snapping crocodiles as they cross Kenya’s Mara River. You may also be inspired by the upstream epic adventures of salmon, the journey of sperm whales, Mali’s circulating elephants, the relentless sideways creep of Christmas Island red crabs, or perhaps most spectacular of all, the millions of Monarch butterflies who migrate as far as 2,500 miles every year to Mexico. Now that truly is inspiring.The furthest travelling itinerant of all is the Arctic tern - it will annually fly 44,000 miles in a zigzagging journey between Greenland and Antarctica. White sharks, meanwhile are constantly on the move - roughly 6,000 miles a year across the North Pacific. Caribou may hold the land record - a brutal 3,700 miles from the forests to tundra of Canada. But the wildebeest crossing Tanzania’s Serengeti plains take a punishing circular route of around 1,800 miles to follow changing rain patterns and green grasses, braving everything from marauding leopards to wild dogs and snapping crocodiles as they cross Kenya’s Mara River. You may also be inspired by the upstream epic adventures of salmon, the journey of sperm whales, Mali’s circulating elephants, the relentless sideways creep of Christmas Island red crabs, or perhaps most spectacular of all, the millions of Monarch butterflies who migrate as far as 2,500 miles every year to Mexico. Now that truly is inspiring.
Feeling well travelled? Now it’s time to share your own nomadic adventures in the form of songs. This week’s travel agent is returning special guru suzi, who on return from her own journey this week, will present a very much on-the-move list next Thursday 16 April. Please put your nominations in comments by 11pm UK time (BST) this coming Monday 13 April. No time for standing still …Feeling well travelled? Now it’s time to share your own nomadic adventures in the form of songs. This week’s travel agent is returning special guru suzi, who on return from her own journey this week, will present a very much on-the-move list next Thursday 16 April. Please put your nominations in comments by 11pm UK time (BST) this coming Monday 13 April. No time for standing still …
To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:
• Tell us why it’s a worthy contender.• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song’s words.• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify, SoundCloud or Grooveshark are fine.• Listen to others people’s suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you’d like to volunteer to compile a playlist, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com• There’s a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are “zedded”, at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of “zedded”, “donds” and other strange words used by RR regulars.• Many RR regulars also congregate at the ‘Spill blog.• Tell us why it’s a worthy contender.• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song’s words.• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify, SoundCloud or Grooveshark are fine.• Listen to others people’s suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you’d like to volunteer to compile a playlist, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com• There’s a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are “zedded”, at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of “zedded”, “donds” and other strange words used by RR regulars.• Many RR regulars also congregate at the ‘Spill blog.