Memphis, Tennessee is known for its music. It brought great artists such as Elvis
Presley, Isaac Hayes, and Otis Redman. However, one of that artist that does not get the attention that he deserves is Rufus Thomas. Many people say that he gave Memphis the
“Memphis Sound.” In 1953 Rufus Thomas wrote Sun Record’s first hit “Bear Cat,” a song that attracted attention because of its similarities to the prior version “Hound Dog” and its sexual content. Many people try to argue that the song has a deeper meaning than what it literally says. However, the song is clearly about a female. ‘Big’ Mama
Thornton’s “Hound Dog” lyrics, Thomas’s lyrics, and the way Thomas portrayed himself to the public help to support this statement.
‘Big’ Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” talks about a hound dog that will not leave her alone. It reads, “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, quit snooping round my door.”
She is talking about a man that does not do anything for her, but always wants her to take care of him. ‘Big” Mama also implies that he has come back more than once before acting the same way. The song also talks about how the hound dog still comes around wagging his tail, but she is not letting him in. “ You can wag your tail, but I ain’t gonna love you know more,” are the exact words used. This means that this man can come back to her as much as he wants but she is not letting him back into her life. When Thomas heard this song he thought it would be a good idea to write a response to the song.
Rufus Thomas’s “Bear Cat” starts off stating, “ You know what you said about me, don’t you woman?” and continues on to talk about a cat that keeps scratching at his door. The song reads, “Well, you ain’t nothing but a bear cat, been scratchin’ at my door.” Thomas is clearly responding to the original song “Hound Dog.” Thomas basically says the same thing ‘Big’ Mama said about her ex-lover. However, “Bear Cat” has more sexual references. The song says, “ Whoa, rub you! Whoa, get with it now, Git it, git it, git it, git it! Listen to that old cat Meooowwww… scat!” This kind of language was very uncut for the censorship levels in music, in the 50’s.
This song became the perfect background for PSA's. Maybe, after all, there was more to this band than sexuality and drugs. This album has a bit of each of the necessary elements to become a hit. In fact, it has. much more than that.
tries to make her disinterested in him so that again, he may concentrate on the
The analysis of this song lead me to actually dislike the song because I found that my first impression of the song was much different than after analyzing it for weeks. I love the bands music but I just don't like this one particular song. I guess there are many ways to interpret this song but I feel as if the song is way to deep in thought for a singer such as Dave Matthews. As Dave stated at one of his concerts, "Some people drink, and some don't; some people like to smoke a bowl, and some don't. Some people do and some people don't but its ok `cause it was ment to be that way." Dave Matthews is no Wordsworth, but its ok because it was meant to be that way!
Since young adults are liberal and progressive, they are more likely to agree with this song which is challenging conservative religious conventions. According to the “Amen, Amen, Amen” parts, we know this song is more likely to be a prey. Of course, the audience could be all the people that listen to the song, but a prey does not persuading anybody in anyway. A prey is an anthem for the people who are saying it, which is not an argument designed to persuade people who do not believe in love, or religions individuals who sees sex as sin. Prayer is associated with sexual love that should be celebrated, that isn’t sick even though the church might tell him or her that it
In others he stated he didn 't like having sex with her and didn 't really love her. I think if Big Daddy would 've been up front and honest when he started feeling that way, then he wouldn 't even had to deal with Big Mama and pretended to be something that he really wasn 't. She was crushed to find out as well that Big Daddy had kept his diagnose from her.
same time imposes his will on her. He hinders her from having her own thoughts.
He discusses how his mom got him christmas presents and how he was shocked due to being from a very poor family due to not having the advantage of being white. He continues to say how his emotions are pouring out of him as in he is letting all of the stuff that he has gone through that was hard out and he is ready to let it all out for the best of his health. He mainly discusses the pain he has gone through and how it is hard growing up as a young black male. After this main song, he continues to open up on how he coped with this heartache that he has gone through.
“Most things I write, I do for the sheer love of the music in them. Somehow or other, however, I find my poetry of itself treating of the Negro, of hi...
Why she is not as committed to him is left very much up to the reader,
We should look at his unique play style, using his thumb instead of using a pick. Sounding absurd at that time, he defied the odds and turn his method of playing the guitar into his signature playstyle that the whole world would recognize. With his signature play style, he would be recognized as one of the influential bebop artists this world has ever seen. Second, we should look at his 20-year dominance of long sustain success from playing on tour with Lionel Hampton to dropping his own albums. His hard work finally paid off when he won a Grammy for “Best Influential Jazz Performance”. Third, we should look at his legacy and accomplishments that still lives on to this day. His commercial success is the highest than any other jazz artist of his time. Also, he had newfound success with pop music which was discouraged by fans but still had a lot of success with his pop-jazz combo music. With those three key factors, we should recognize him as one of the greatest Guitarist. If you think of Wes Montgomery, think of him as one of the pioneers of Jazz. Think of him as being one of the first people to develop his own style. Think of him in any way you want, but don't forget the iconic trail he left in the history of
Before Big Mama went into her coma the family was dysfunctional but she was always there to maintain the chaos in the family. One example of her maintaining chaos was at the wedding of Ryla and Lem. Lem’s ex-girlfriend showed up to the wedding dancing inappropriately on Lem and Ryla was not notified until Ahmad had told her. When Ryla found out she was upset and ready to fight. When she went to confront her new husband, there was Big Mama dancing
The relevance of the song was portraying that using drugs and alcohol will help you escape life situations. Regardless of how hard or tough it is. All you need to do is to get drunk or get high, than your problems will flush away. But the video don’t explain the reality of the outcome of how drugs and alcohol will or could affect your lifestyle and how it could lead you to lose your job, family and life. All it shows is the fun side of being intoxicated. Which, it raises a big flag on kids or teens that do have access to the media like the
both, he is reluctant to do so, and she says that she might change her
plan and tells him to leave it to her. She's cunning as she uses words
In the opening verse of the song, the speaker discusses the need to see her childhood home at least once more before moving on with her life. She shares with the current homeowner some of her experiences while growing up in the house. For instance, she says, “I know they say you can’t go home again, but I just had to come back one last time.” This shows that the speaker realizes that returning “home” is going to be a different experience than it was when she lived there, but she cannot resist the temptation of a final visit to the “house”. The speaker says that “Up those stairs in that little back bedroom, is where I did my homework and learned to play guitar. And I bet you didn’t know, under that live oak, my favorite dog is buried in the yard.” This indicates some of the significant memories the speaker has of her time in the house, such as honing her...