Edgar Allen Poe: Music's New Muse

Edgar Allen Poe’s horror fiction and macabre poetry have inspired a multitude of songs from every genre, ranging from classical to rock, folk to avant-garde metal. Poe’s works, such as The Bells and The Masque of the Red Death have been retold in several musicals and symphonies, and his poems have been referenced in a number of songs (see below list of artists). The most shocking interpretation was in 2001-2002 when Poe’s work underwent the most drastic of transformations. His literary genius resulted in the creation of a theme for a concert tour; a tour, featuring THE Pop Princess, Britney Spears, called Dream within a Dream. Britney Spears incorporated lines from a number of Poe‘s works into her show, making it one of her most theatrical performances yet.

Edgar Allen Poe is not only confined to bubbly ballads and girlish tunes but also inspires bands that appear more fitting of Poe’s work. One such band is called Creature Feature, a Goth Rock duo from L.A. They wrote a song in tribute of Edgar Allen Poe called Buried Alive (video below), which contains multiple references of his work, including “A Dream Within a Dream", "The City in the Sea," "The Valley of Unrest," "Loss of Breath," "The Premature Burial," "The Oblong Box," and "Never Bet the Devil Your Head,". Their music video reveals a genre and style influenced by the gothic movement, indirectly impacted by the Victorian Era.




Other “Victorian Cool” bands or musicians inspired by or using Poe include: Iron Maiden, Tool, HIM, AFI, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Manson, Thrice, Voltaire, Blues Traveler, Bright Eyes, Green Day, Michael Hurley, Good Charlotte, Tourniquet, Mr. Bungle, The Crüxshadows, Roses Never Fade, Cradle of Filth, Team Sleep, Five Iron Frenzy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tiger Army, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows, Utada Hikaru, Elysian Fields, The Smithereens, Symphony X, Rozz Williams, Scarlet Wells, Overlord, Nightwish, Omnia, Insane Clown Posse, Antony and the Johnsons, Marissa Nadler, Lloyd Cole, and Bob Dylan.


Jessica K

Our Modern Day Jubilee

Here is a video of Queen’s legendary guitarist Brian May, playing “God Save The Queen” while standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace. This performance took place during the Golden Jubilee in 2002. The concert fully embodied the feeling of patriotism and engulfing power of festivity outlined in Gissing’s In the Year of Jubilee, just look at all the people.



Jessica K

A Taste of the Wilde

Just for fun, I thought I would post this piece from Monty Python referencing one of the most iconic figures from the 19th Century, Oscar Wilde.



Jessica K

Goth Talk (SNL)

Thought this is a good representation of Gothic fashion drawing on Victorian clothing.
The whole theme of Goth-ism really draws from the Gothic novels from Late Victoriana
It is as hilarious as it is educational.

EDIT: I just realized that the opening and closing music to this clip is the ever famous "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus. This is THE famous Goth song that we all pretended to sway to when we were teenage goths (or at least when I was).
FYI: Bela Lugosi was the actor that played Dracula in Bram Stoker's book and was made famous by that role.

SNL Goth Talk- Prom of Doom
Uploaded by krmb20

Katie

Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge is considered the film to put musicals back on the map after a long period of being ignored by many film goers for a long time.

What made Moulin Rouge such a success?
Maybe it was the percieved conservatism that Victorians pretended to up hold?
Maybe it was the reality of the British Victorian men escaping Victorian sexual morals to indulge in the decadence of the French? This is not uncommon in Victorian underground literature, such as the famous book My Secret Life written by an anonymous author of the time. We even know of Oscar Wilde frequenting France for international exhibitions and other... ahem.... activities.

Maybe it was just an incredibly good looking cast?

The music is not only familiar to our tastes, but the singing and dancing is absolutely splendid and breath taking.

Without further ado....



Katie

Oliver! The Musical!

I don't know how anyone could have made a musical rendition of Charles Dickens' commentary on social problems concerning the Poor Law in London, but LO AND BEHOLD
IT CAN BE DONE!

The following clip is from the movie rendition of the musical "OLIVER!" in the famous "Please Sir, can I have some more" scene.



It definately makes it look much more upbeat than it really was suppose to portray.

And of course MY FAVOURITE CLIP from Oliver!

Because we all know people in London randomly break out in song and dance all the time with flying meat in the back ground.




Katie

Modern Day Fashion Queen

I have to admit I stole this idea from Professor Ogden's blog.. But who's more Victorian cool than Victoria Beckham when it comes to fashion?
She sports the English accent, but she's also one of the best-dressed celebrities. Perez Hilton sums up her place in the celebrity world...

"Vicky B. is back in the U.K. as David plays with the English soccer team.

What's the first thing she does upon her return???

Go shopping, of course!" (PerezHilton.com)

But Victoria doesn't only buy clothes, she designs them and models them too. Here's a behind the scenes look at one of her fashion ads.



Posh Spice has changed the meaning of what "Victorian" fashion is. Her dresses seem to have a little "Victorian" flare, but the 50's style music kind of throws me off. Maybe Victoria Beckham transcends every decade of fashion since the 19th century.

Grow Old with Me

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, Yoko Ono and John Lennon, immortalized in history due to their powerful way with words, connected through song. In 1980, Yoko Ono and John Lennon wrote two love songs based on the writing of the Browning couple. Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43 inspired Yoko Ono’s song, titled “Let Me Count the Ways”. Hearing the song, John Lennon was provoked to write an accompanying piece. His response resulted in “Grow Old with Me”, based on Robert Browning’s poem “Rabbi Ben Ezra”. This song has inspired multiple covers and has become one of many songs played at weddings.
Yoko Ono released the songs in their 1984 album Milk and Honey, shortly after Lennon’s death.


Jessica K

19th Century Brides

Its "cool" to sport the Victorian look down the runways and down the aisle.

"Comme des Garçons" Fall 2005 collection of wedding gowns was completely Victorian inspired. The dresses were all "romantic, Victorian-flavored creations of lace and ruffle" (Mower, Style.com). The dresses all have elements of Victorian fashion, but are very couture and high-end. Comme des Garçons created these dresses in both classic white and Gothic black. Not anything I would want to wear on my wedding day, but interesting how the designer has warped Victorian style into something almost scary (though the makeup on the models contributes to this I think).

Spring Awakening

Hi Everyone,
I wasn't able to log on with my own email address, so I'm just going to borrow Jess' right now

Here is a little musical montage of the recent Tony award winning musical "Spring Awakening"
If you listen to the lyrics, it really displays the trapped sense of sexuality and freedom that teenagers long for in the period of Victorian sensibilities. It is an overall very depressing theme in the musical, which I will explain more in detail in class
Here's the link and enjoy! :D

Katie

Class Divisions in the Whitechapel District

As we can see in the movie, Heather Graham’s character plays a prostitute who encounters bits and pieces of the scandal which causes Jack the Ripper to commit the murders in the movie. At least, in this version of the scandal anyways. There is a great scene in which Anne, former prostitute and friend of Heather Graham’s character, comes back from her new middle class life to visit with her friends of the night and to ask them to take care of her baby temporarily. I say this scene is great because it illustrates the dress differences that are evident between classes, which is depicted in the picture I have chosen to post for this topic. Clearly, one can see that Anne is wearing clothes of a higher caliber than the rest of her friends, not only in the styles in which they wear but simply because she is cleaner and more put-together than her friends.
This scene is also great in demonstrating accents as well. Even though Anne is of a higher class now that she has married Albert, a painter, her accent is still of a cockney variety which is more characteristic of lower class society.

Class divisions are also shown in the evidence in which Depp’s character collects as the inspector looking after the ‘Ripper’ case. By discovering that the killer lures his prey with grapes it can be concluded that the killer is of a higher class since lower class killers could not possibly afford to buy grapes.

Finally, class divisions can be seen in the overall plot of the movie. Queen Victoria wishes to cover up the fact that Prince Albert has chosen to marry and have a baby with a lower class prostitute. Thus, she has Prince Albert’s wife and baby taken away and asks Jack the Ripper to take care of the prostitutes that were witnesses to the marriage. Although in the movie it demonstrates that she did not have murder in mind when asking Jack to take care of these inconvenient witnesses, she still displays a sense of not wanting to be associated with lower class society, something that is particularly characteristic of the class which she is a part of.

So why is class division in Victorian society important? Because class divisions are characteristic of the times. As mentioned in lecture, the Upper Middle Class, wishing to resemble the aristocracy, are also condescending towards the lower classes. The lower classes are self confidence, have pride and are resilient, but are also cynical towards the middle and upper class. Thus, pointing out this very dominant theme in the movie demonstrates that it is attempting to resemble Victorian times in class distinction and division.

Sherlock Holmes and Disney

Sherlock Holmes, some who might call a superhero of the Victorian era, is seen here with the classic look as Connan Doyle presented him vs Disney's representation. Much more humourous. Here's a link to a clip from The Great Mouse Detective and the dramatic interpretation of "Basil of Baker Street."

-Urszula

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OtOurnyFQ8&NR=1

Tennyson and Power Metal?

Tennyson’s pastoral The Lady of Shalott combined with the raw power of electric guitar and heart thumping drum beats? An unlikely combination has, indeed, been done. The Italian power metal band, Domine, appears to have been inspired by the tragic tale of Elaine of Astolat and created a song entitled “The Lady of Shalott” for their 2007 album Ancient Spirit Rising. The new take on the poem is a bit of a stretch from it’s original soft rhythmic beat, but surprisingly enough, was not the first song of its type in Shalott’s history.

There have been other interpretations of the Victorian poem, such as a soft ballad by Lorenna McKennitt. McKennitt plays with a new age, Celtic sound which she used to incorporate the stanzas to a more fitting folk song.
Emilie Autumn created the most powerfully emotional rendition. Autumn, an American singer-songwriter and violinist, captured the desperation and sadness conveyed in The Lady of Shalott and placed a contemporary twist on the Tennyson poem. Mixing classical and electronica music, her song, titled Shalott incorporated strong vocals and her trademark violin; creating a sound she dubbed "Victoriandustrial."
Seems fitting now doesn’t it?




Jessica K

Victoria's Secret Sex Appeal

The first thing that came to everyone's mind when brainstorming about Victorian influence in fashion was the sexiest, tightest style out there --the corset. Made to make the woman look more womanly and highlight curves, the corset restrains the stomach, some so tight no air can enter. This classic undergarment that was so popular in the Victorian era has been transformed into hundreds of styles of undergarments for under the sheets: black leather for the S & M, frilly pink lace for the girly-girl and everything in between. And where better to purchase such apparel than America's favorite lingerie store (named after the era itself), Victoria's Secret.

Depp as Holmes Equivalent

The main character, played by Johnny Depp, is an inspector with many parallels to Sherlock Holmes. Right from the beginning of the movie, the viewer understands that the inspector looking after the ‘Ripper’ case is an opium addict. Though not exactly the same as heroine, it is still related to the highly addictive drug which Sherlock Holmes, as we know from lecture, would use for medicinal purposes. On these opium binges, Depp’s character sees clues into murders already performed and visions of murders to come.

More importantly than this, however, the inspector uses powerful deductive reasoning to bring him to the conclusion that the Ripper murders pose as a cover up for controversy surrounding the heir to the throne after Queen Victoria. Upon arriving at the first murder scene, Depp’s character notices that there is no blood spray on the walls and that the corpse is dry even though the ground is wet. This leads him to believe that the body was murdered elsewhere and then brought out onto the streets. The inspector also notices that an empty sprig of grapes is always beside the body after it is disposed of, meaning that the killer is a member of the upper classes of society with enough money to be able to afford grapes to give to a less fortunate prostitute. In addition, Depp’s character notices that whoever has been carving up the bodies and harvesting organs has done so with surgeon like precision. It is more than likely that the person responsible is an educated person with a keen interest in human anatomy.

These clues have implications for the many examples of class divisions in the movie and will be discussed in greater detail at a later date.

On a somewhat unrelated note, Depp’s character even has a Watson-like sidekick! Though in the movie he is not a doctor as he is in the actual Sir Arthur Conan Doyle version of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” he still asks many questions which would lead the inspector to say something along the lines of “you see but you do not observe” (Doyle 1558). In addition, the constable helping Depp’s character with the Watkins-like presence mentions in the movie that Depp’s character has witch-like powers, quite similarly to when Watkins says “You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago” (Doyle, 1558).

Works Cited:
Doyle, Arthur Conan. "A Scandal in Bohemia." The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch and Kevin Dettmar. New York: Pearson Longman Education Inc, 2006, 1557-72.

"From Hell" - An Introduction

As the student responsible for the movie portion of the blog, I chose to look at various scenes from the movie “From Hell” which takes place in 1888, a few years away from the birth of the twentieth century. It stars Johnny Depp as the inspector investigating the crime of Jack the Ripper and co-stars Heather Graham as a prostitute who is a witness to the source of the crime. As I watched the movie, I saw quite a few parallels to what we have been talking about in lecture and will be discussing them in detail as time goes on. The movie takes place in the ‘Whitechapel’ district in London, which is often referred to as ‘the east end’ in the movie and is a common place for prostitution (obviously), crime and is the epitome of an industrial area of London with its rampant filth and overcrowding.