An easily recognizable song, Benny Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing is a staple at many dances and featured in media even today. The song is upbeat, lively, and speaks of a classic American age defined by an outspoken and hard-working public and a collective national spirit. The boisterous melody reflects a fighting spirit as well as it reflects the epitome of a grand old time.
This piece, and many like it, is meant upfront to make people feel good and optimistic. It's a dancing song, without a doubt, meant for enjoyment. The first three images here are a representation of that aspect; the first two with bright colors and the third with a depiction of the informality and inclusive nature of the music. The first, with the dancing couple, is perhaps something of a stylized version of what most people probably think of when listening for the first time (or at least the first time when looking for meaning). The second is a more abstract image, evocative of a fast-moving night life. The excitement of being overwhelmed with instruments and color and people is what inspired this, capturing for me the feeling of being okay with having life move on around you, if for just a moment, happy to just watch--watching anything that this music accompanies is sure to be something to behold by itself. The third image is meant to show the easygoing artfulness of the music, where the body danced just as much as the notes did. If the song is being listened to right, there should be no reason for anyone to be sitting still--least of all the musician.
The next image is a pretty outspoken one, but then America has never been a nation to take anything quietly, has it? The point of the lipstick art was to remind people of this. One must remember what the country was like in this time--this particular song came out around the end of the Great Depression and held its popularity through the 1940s--war time; this music thrived in a time where little else did. Odd as it may seem--what with the differences between the seriousness of the American situation and the joyfulness of the music--swing music such as this was actually a very good fit. If one was to think about it, doesn't it sound just like someone talking back? Proving that, yeah, we got knocked down a few pegs but we're alright. This fourth picture, as well as many of the others, stands for our knack of getting right in the face of our troubles and displaying complete defiance when other people seem to think that we'll just sit and take it. Other images include the fifth, portraying a soft-looking woman in harsh light and definitely not helpless, as the song is inclusive of everyone in dance and play (also applicable to the third image of the man of color being the one to play); the sixth image, the draft letter with the kiss, as a sign that such a thing as fighting for what was right was supported openly; and back to the first image, where half of the dancing couple give service to the military, and still manage to be happy.
Say what you will about America today; I think it's a bit of a mess myself. But regardless of who you are or what you stand for, I truly believe that as Americans, we all still believe in the unity and optimism displayed with this music. It may take a good kick in the pants to get us back on track, but every time we've been knocked down so far, we've gotten right back up as a stronger people. Maybe we don't agree on the how, or the why, but everyone is united in the basic understanding of what we're supposed to be.
The last two images are less fun-loving and joyful than the formers. The two together are something of a memorial, a reminder after a few musings that there was a reason for the "fighting spirit" to exist in the first place. We wouldn't be who we are today without the strength people before us had already built up. The roses are for remembrance, but still carry the bright color and stylistic expression I associate with this piece of music. The last image is one of two that was not created digitally (the lipstick seemed more efficient to do on one's lips, as it so often is). It is ink on paper, where I simply spilled the ink and dragged it out with a brush to create the image. It's supposed to be messy. It's supposed to be subdued. It's supposed to make a person think, because in the end, if we hadn't hit rock-bottom, we'd have never had a reason to get back up stronger and better than before.
The amount of people I used in my drawing was intentional. This song, and many like it, is a story of the people before anything else, telling of how they respond to the trials thrown at them and what they invest their time and efforts into--in this case, rebuilding America to be stronger and proving that we as a people will not be knocked down for long. The story cannot be told without exhibiting the people who played a part in doing just that.
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