One of the most iconic or important albums in recent music history catches the listener's attention with the small droning sound of a percussive chordophone, better known as the piano. This is the setup for an album where I think the mythos represents a paradise or a heaven for misfits, and the conception of said album lays the groundwork for future philosophies of personal freedom in rock and punk rock. In this presentation, I will be discussing Patti Smith's 1975 debut album. Horses, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of modern times. We'll begin by doing a small dive into Patti Smith.
Patti Smith was raised as a Jehovah's Witness with a mother who had a background in jazz singing. As we've learned from class, we know that jazz has a more freeform structure in the realm of music and it is more about self-determination and personal choice leading the sound rather than having a rigid musical structure. Having this sound as a basis for her musical upbringing creates an interesting contrast to the structure of a devoted faith like Jehovah's Witnesses.
Here's an example of a traditional Jehovah's Witness hymn. The person I see, may you help me see clearer. My life I have promised in service to you.
So this tune has a homophonic texture and it talks about rejecting one's free will and having a God determine who the person should be. I think it helps set a good example for everything that this album isn't. Hattie Smith has been many things throughout her career, but before anything else, she is a poet.
The most poignant lyric in the whole album, and the best introduction to the ideas that will be presented in Horses goes as follows, Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine. This line, paired with the droning, crescendoing piano mentioned in the beginning, sets the tone of rebellion and self-determination that is present throughout the album. Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.
so this line one of the most iconic or important albums in recent music history catches the listener's attention with the small, droning sound of a percussive chordophone better known as the piano. This is the setup for an album where I think the mythos represents a paradise or heaven for misfits, and the conception of said album lays the groundwork for future philosophies of personal freedom in rock and punk rock. In this presentation, I will be discussing Patti Smith's 1975 debut album, Horses, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of modern times.
We'll begin by doing a small dive into Patti Smith. Patti Smith was raised as a Jehovah's Witness with a mother who had a background in jazz singing. As we've learned from class, we know that jazz has a more free-form structure in the realm of music and it is more about self-determination and personal choice leading the sound, rather than having a rigid musical structure. Having this sound as a basis for her musical upbringing creates an interesting contrast to the structure of a devoted faith like Jehovah's Witnesses.
Here's an example of a traditional Jehovah's Witness hymn. Thank you Jehovah for the life as I live. With your word in my heart I will live.
The person I see, may you help me see clearer. My life I have promised in service to you. So this tune has a homophonic texture and it talks about rejecting one's free will and having a God determine who the person should be. I think it helps set a good example for everything that this album isn't.
Patti Smith has been many things throughout her career, but before everything else, she is a poet. The most poignant lyric in the whole album and the best introduction to the ideas that will be presented in Horses goes as follows, Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine. This line, paired with the droning, crescendoing piano mentioned in the beginning sets the tone of rebellion and self-determination that is present throughout the whole album.
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine. Mildred, pot of thieves, wild cord on my sleeve. Thick, heart of stone, my sins my own, they belong to me, me. In an interview, Smith explained the line saying, People constantly came up to me and said, you're an atheist. You don't believe in Jesus.
And I said, obviously I believe in him. I'm saying that, you know, the concept of Jesus I believe in, I just wanted the freedom. I wanted to be free of him. I was 20 years old when I wrote that. And it was sort of my youthful manifesto.
In other words, I didn't want to be good, you know, but I didn't want him to have to worry about me or I didn't want him taking responsibility for my wrongdoings. or my youthful explorations. I want it to be free. So it's really a statement about freedom. The name for this first track is Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
The name, which is Latin for glory to God in the highest, references the Christian hymn by the same name. It uses a simple and repetitive three-chord progression and a blues rock influence that plays a key role in the album as it pays homage to rock artists that came before her. Each song in the album uses a 4-4 duple meter that makes Patti's vocals the main star of the show.
Though each song uses the same meter, the rhythm changes drastically for each one. Gloria uses that 4-4 meter and it progressively picks up its pace throughout the song, while the next song, Redondo Beach, has a reggae-inspired rhythm with syncopated beats that remain the same tempo throughout. The sadder, more thought-provoking songs on the album like Kimberly and Elegy use this meter at a much slower tempo.
This consistent meter helps to get across the prevailing theme with the album, which is death. Patti and John Cale, the producer, want you to remember that you will die. The lyrics within the album provide a multitude of reflections on the universe and religion.
Patti beckons the listener with her poetry to reflect on their mortality in almost every song in this album, with Cale's production aiding her words to touch the human soul. using the sounds of rock music. Even in the more uplifting sounds of a song like Redondo Beach, Patti tells the story of a woman who looks for her lover after a fight that results in the lover's suicide.
Despite this somber story, the uplifting tune of the song and the description of Redondo Beach itself is a paradise-like place of freedom. When Patti introduces Redondo Beach's shows, she often includes an intro that goes along the lines of this one. For an album that was released in 1975, saying words like this out loud was quite radical, but it demonstrates how the world created in horses is a paradise for outcasts. Like the first line of Gloria, Patti is demonstrating a new age doctrine for the youth that isn't bound by tradition or authority. In this paradise, one is free to act as they want, but in order to do this, they must be aware of their mortality.
The album's paradise embraces a variety of taboos that were prevalent in the New York scene Patti frequented. The album makes its heavenly paradise out of what a traditional Christian view would label as sinners. and this space makes their existence normal and accepted, but to choose this paradise, the inhabitants must quit adhering themselves to a set rule structure and choose to be set free.
The consistent tam of the album is one that mainly focuses on Patti's vocals, which are raspy and intense. It often sounds like she's condemning that higher power, and additionally the society that binds itself so strongly to its rules. In Gloria, You can hear Patti's voice later accompanied by singing that is reminiscent of the sound of church choirs.
Additionally, there's the use of chordophones like electric and bass guitars, the percussive chordophone that is the piano, the use of membranophones that is expressed through a drum set, and the aerophone that makes small but key appearances in the album is the organ. The use of the organ is very important to note for the recurring theme of death in the album and in its connection to the traditional Christian sound. The song Elegy is one of the songs in the album where the use of the organ is most prevalent, fittingly so since an elegy is a lament for the dead. In Patti Smith's elegy, Patti mourns the loss of rock icons in the bygone era of rock and roll that left with them.
The song has no chorus, only three verses, where the background melody is the only repeating factor. In the third and final verse of the song, which demonstrates that idea of trinity that is repeatedly seen in Christianity, Patti makes mention of trumpets and violins. Trumpets, violins. I hear them in the distance And my skin emits a ray But I This mention of instruments that we usually relate to heavenly imagery within western culture elevates the spiritual experience of the song. Though these instruments have no particular place in the album, it's the complete absence of these instruments that accentuates the wailing of the guitar, the pointed forceful notes on the piano, Patti's voice crying out the verses, the droning repetition of the bass rift and the occasional ascending notes of the organ.
Elegy is a final goodbye to the rock gods of the past, these original pillars and the ideas of breaking down traditional structures and an ascension into the indefinite cold afterlife. To conclude the synopsis of my paper, I wanted to make mention of this one final idea presented in Horses of looking forward to the future, which we hear portrayed in the acceleration of some of the songs, especially in the song Land, Horses, slash Land of a Thousand Dances, slash Limerd. The song reminds us to acknowledge the rock icons of the past, the ancestors of modern day music and the greats of American literature, because these are the gods that made the building blocks.
for the world of sound and the expression of freedom that Patti Smith conveys. Thank you.