Those things about Life and Music

DISCLAIMER: (The following is a fictional interview between a made-up foreign interviewer and the vocalist of the Venezuelan band Desorden Público (Translates to Public Disorder) Horacio Blanco (the h is silent btw, just saying). Anything written in here has got absolutely nothing to do with the artist’s actual thoughts and is done only for the sake of my education. Apologies for the possibly high inaccuracy of the content.)

Desorden Público

          

     

I'm walking on the streets of Caracas, capital of Venezuela. I can’t stop looking over my shoulder and the sound of the motorcycles flashing through the streets is definitely much more terrifying in real life. I am yet to see anything bad, but all the stories and statistics are hard to shake of one’s consciousness. I arrive at my designated café, take one more look over my shoulder and push the door open. The smell of Portuguese pastry is a refreshing feeling and it feels like I can finally calm down. Sitting on a table far back at the right, sitting next to a window from which you can see the Ávila Mountain I find my man, dressed in a simple red T-shirt and jeans, if it weren’t for his trademark spiky hair he would just be any other common guy. I get close and he gets up to greet me and while he shakes my hand says “Hello, it’s a pleasure!” in an accent that was better than I expected. I take a seat, we order a couple of croissants filled with ricotta and some orange juice. Once he’s asked me about my experience and I spoke trying to not speak too badly of this city I feared, we began our interview.

I: So Horacio, you have been the vocalist of Desorden Público since 1985. What was the drive to creating the band in the beginning?

Horacio Blanco (HB): We wanted to be as original as we could, which turned out into a ska band, a genre that’s pretty hard to come by nowadays. Within our music there is always a desire to “move” people. We have energetic music that makes people move their bodies, but also thoughtful lyrics that will make people move those neurons as well. We want to make people reflect about life so that they can live better lives and realize what are the problems that we all face, but we always try to give them something positive to think of as well; we don’t want people to get depressed (light laughs).

I: Yeah, many of your songs really do cheer people up, but not only because they’re cheery, but they are also quite inspirational. Are there a few that come to mind?

HB:  Well there’s the song El tren de la vida (The train of life) which is a very nice song to dance to. It talks about the “train” that we’re all in that takes us through life, you know, going through all the ups and downs and every bump we have to deal with. But as the chorus goes “El tren de la vida es una maravilla, el tren de la vida camina por los rieles de la alegría.” (the train of life is a marvel, the train of life walks on the rails of happiness) and music is always on the train. It just shows that life was made to be enjoyed more than anything, the circumstances are part of the track, so we just have to deal with it. 

I: Yes, that’s a very nice song. What about any songs that refer to social issues? I know you have a few…

HB: Yes, well in that same album there’s another song, Hipnosis (Hypnosis) that illustrates the human race as a bunch of “toys of the mind of the master.” The song makes reference to many social issues, but mainly that of giving your life just to get a bunch of things that you don’t need. In the song there is also a reference to Plato and Descartes, as we explain that “foreign ideas will not give you the key,” you know, you can’t rely on anyone to free you from your own demise. It is meant to make people reflect on their condition so that they can make their lives better. Another good one is the song Los Contrarios (the contraries) which deals with the issue of discrimination of ideas in a rather sarcastic way, since the song is sung from the perspective of a man who seems to be the most intolerant person in the world. It is meant to make people think about how other people’s ideas must be accepted and not just thrown away, you know? Well, I could say some others, but you have like a word limit you have to stick to right? (Laughs)

I: Hahaha, yes you’re right. Ok then let’s wrap it up with this last one. I know it’s a delicate one, but can you tell us a bit about your songs with political issues in them? If it’s not much of a problem…

HB: No, it’s absolutely fine, there’s no need to apologize. It is the reality after all. In our first album the song Políticos paralíticos (Paralytic Politicians) is a song that talks about all the things that the government does to us. All about how they steal from us and only care for us when the elections come around. It has strong language in it, you know, a couple of swear words, to just show how serious the issue is. We also put in a sort of speech in the song that is an exaggeration of how ridiculous politicians often sound when they speak, even with the bad grammar that some of them actually have sometimes. Even though the song was released in 1985 when we debuted, it is still an issue that, sadly, plagues various countries around the world. This one along with other songs like Política criminal (Criminal Politics) and Llora por un dólar (Cry for a dollar) all help put out that message that everyone must realize about the way the world works.

I: Indeed… Well, I think we’re almost out of words (laughs). Any last messages you want to leave?

HB: Well just a shout-out to all our fans and all our supporters out there. Always remember to enjoy life and don’t forget to dance and sing and have fun. 


Links to the songs:

• El Tren de la Vida (the train of life): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AubryTCsSPc
• Tierra de Gigantes (Land of Giants): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgJPLDlYUdc
• Hipnosis (Hypnosis): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5LnPuExJc
• Los Contrarios: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhEH0jtkQg
• Políticos Paralíticos (Paralytic Polititians): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSOYeu3j8Ys
• Política Criminal (Criminal Politics): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cloV9I6tBQI
• Llora por un dólar (Cry for a dolar): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBG-UEA5hPg

There's more to it than just grammar

So last time in English Language and Literature class we did a debate which was based on a text by an Asian-American author called Amy Tan. The whole thing spoke about her mother's "broken" English and all of the repercussions that that brought along. There was one thing though, that really rang in my mind, because it actually happened to me when I took the PSAT in the last two years. She spoke about how she would get worse results in the grammar section of the SAT because of questions like Sunset is to nightfall as ______ is to _______ and then the options were things like red is to stoplight or yawn is to boring. What would happen was that the example would throw out incredible images of a burst of colors in the darkening sky with a rising moon and stars and everything, while the answers threw around disconcerting and boring images that seemed to have nothing to do. I know I get the same feeling, because even after she said later in the paragraph that the answer was as chills is to fever I still did not understand it you know. So, nightfall comes after sunset, yes it's true, but why on Earth would having chills mean you got a fever??? I mean it! I probably would have not been able to answer this one if it had come up to me, and if I did it would probably take me like a minute or so to get out of the picture of the beautiful sunset from my old apartment in Caracas and the stars beginning to pop-up in the other side of the sky. 

We often look at language as a logic process that has to follow specific rules in order to communicate; especially in English, which is used in many technical and academic situations where you must make it well organized. It's not that I'm criticizing the way English is very logical just because it's annoying for me, because when the language follows a logical pattern it's easier to just pass on ideas without the person reading it misunderstanding and that shows in the academic achievements of the English-speaking world, I mean, when you you look at the top 10 universities in the world they are all going to be English-speaking. Trust me, I did the research in Spanish and French and got the same result. 

However, the issue here is that language is actually much more than that. Through language we can evoke ideas that stimulate the human mind and create powerful images in our heads. These images don't even have to be of colors, but they can be images of smell or sound created in our heads. Through words we have the power to evoke very strong feelings, and we often do so unconsciously, and I believe that all this makes language become more human and also makes emotions go around more (which adds to the humanness).

Now, the point I'm trying to make with all this, is that often we tend to discriminate people because their language does not follow the same grammatical structure as ours and in our minds, even if subconsciously, we tend to judge them as people who are less intelligent. However, the truth is that language is all about making connections to real life things. Language is a logical, imperfect medium, with which we try to express some extremely abstract concepts that are around us. Language will never be able to clearly express things such as how warm the sun is, or what tone of brown my desk is, or how does love really feel or anything at all, for that matter. It is the job of the receiver, the listener to interpret those words and make connections to real life. So in this sense, using a proper grammatical structure isn't at all a requisite for language to work. I could say "chicken sandwich cold" and you could probably still see the image of a sandwich in your head, and maybe even taste the unappetizing cold chicken with lettuce and tomato in your mouth. It wouldn't really make a difference if I said that "the chicken sandwich is cold" instead, because either way you got the images I wanted you to get in your head, which means that my communication was good enough. In day to day life,we don't really need grammar unless it is to elaborate on a certain thing that's too complex, such as a story or when you're trying to explain a Math problem to someone. English words pastiche and work still English! Because even if that sentence could mean something else, when you place it into context you won't confuse the meaning (unless you want to be annoying and use the other meaning)

Person speak like Tarzan not stupid. Person grammar bad no intelligence level define. It's a good thing to keep in mind :)

Introduction: Language and Life

Wow, this is actually the first time I've ever seen this screen... which is funny, because both my parents have blogs, so one might guess that I'm familiar with this "world of blogging" but I honestly don't read any blogs and I've never had any interest in all that stuff. But now school has forced me to write one... You know, I actually seriously doubt that I'll regret learning how to write a blog though. With the way the world is going this is likely to be a very useful skill sometime in the near future. And I know when I said I was "forced" to write a blog it might sound like this will be for me like some sort of tedious piece of homework, but I actually enjoy reflecting quite a lot (although not really writing it down :\ ) and it's so much less stressful to write in a casual language, so I doubt that the stuff I'll write will ever sound like essays. Although I'll forewarn you that my writings tend to be long... but I'll try my best to keep in concise! However, I will make a vow to not erase any ideas that I've already written down, so yes, there might be some stupid stuff that I should've erased, but I won't.

Anyways, let's get started with this thing. How? Welllllllllll... you'd probably want to know who I am?

   Name: Carlos Alejandro Páez González
   Age: 17
  ...........

Ok, I can't do this... I'm just gonna carry on in prose if you don't mind.

So, asides from what I've already said, I was born and raised in the South-American country known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. I was born in the capital city (Caracas), which is quite infamous nowadays, by the way... When I was twelve I moved to Margarita Island, which is still Venezuela. Then shortly after turning 15 I moved here to the United Arab Emirates. One thing you should know about me is that I am a theater freak. Ever since I discovered theater when I was 13 I haven't been able to help but loving it, and I've even done a few plays with a local professional theater company called Resuscitation Theater. Asides from that obsession I guess you could say I like playing videogames (even though I don't really get to play much nowadays T^T ) and watching animé. I've also got a thing for Maths and Physics, but I doubt I'll talk too much about that on a Language blog.

I would talk about my dreams for the future as the guiding questions our teacher gave us say, but I just don't really feel like sharing that with the internet right now... maybe I'll do it later on, but for now let's just say I'm stuck between studying engineering and theatrical arts. I mean, it certainly is a difficult choice: do I follow my passion or should I just take the safe road? Well, regardless of the way my studies go I'm 100% sure of one thing: I want to be happy! Because what's the point of life if you aren't, right?

So now let's talk about what the blog is actually about... (dun, dun, dun) Language!!!

So I guess that Language and I go a long way back... I certainly have no idea when it was that we first met, but I'm about 99% sure that the first word I ever said was in Spanish. Ever since then me and Language have come a long way... heck, I'm writing a blog on it! So, asides from Spanish, English has also been in my life for as long as I can remember. The system in my first school was completely upside-down, so instead of teaching us how to speak Spanish they would teach us English and just let us learn Spanish at home. And I must say that it all worked. Although I wouldn't really be able to speak English as well if it wasn't for the magnificent power of the TV and videogames. And on that note, I'm also nearly fluent in French nowadays and I owe a lot of that to videogames as well, so now you know what to do next time you want to learn a language! Asides from that, I've learned some Arabic at school and because of my interactions with many Arabs throughout my life in this country I sometimes use Arabic expressions when I'm talking, but not that often though... I also know some Japanese, but (you guessed it!) that's all from watching animé, so it's not like I even understand it or anything, but it's fun to brag about it (regardless of how pathetic it might've sounded... ok, maybe it isn't that fun...)

So now, to start us off with this let's talk a bit about what language is anyways. In essence, language is any form of human communication. Simple right? well, it isn't, really. This would mean that language is practically every single action you carry out because they all communicate something, even if you have to think hard to figure it out. Like for example, the simple action of walking could be considered as language because you are communicating that you are trying to get to a different place to the one you were before. Not just that, but the pace at which you are walking can communicate other things as well, so it is actually more detailed than it seems. So in this sense, wouldn't everything created by humans be considered language? I mean, this latpop I'm typing on right now communicates the human desire for trying to create a portable object that would grant the same commodities of a computer, and it also communicates all the effort that was put into improving the original idea of a laptop, and it can also communicate certain facts about the cooperation between the companies Toshiba and Skull Candy, since the speakers on it are made by Skull Candy. But ok, I think this might be getting a bit out of hand. I can't really reach the intended conclusion for this post if we keep saying that stuff like the pillow under my head is language. (At least for now) Let's take a step back and say that language is a sort of logical system which allows us to communicate complex ideas in a practical way and, at least for now, let's say that language is a voluntary process in which the person communicating is completely aware of what he/she is saying. For now just forget all that nonsense I said about language before and let's just say that language is what we speak/write.

So, now that we've (sort of) defined language, let's talk a bit about what it's related to: culture. We can all definitely say that language has a crucial role in defining what the culture of certain populations is like (by the way, I'm just going to go with whatever definition of culture is in your heads right now and leave the other paragraph-long discussion about its definition for some other time). I mean, when you think about Chinese culture then something that might come to mind are those symbols which they write with which you probably don't understand if you don't speak Chinese. When you think about Russians, you probably picture them speaking Russian and this probably applies to any country you can think of. Language definitely is a crucial part of anyone's culture, to the point that you would think of it as soon as you start thinking about a specific culture, and I've discovered that, specially when you're out of your home country, humans are very often trying to cling to a specific identity; which would be their culture. So in this sense we can say that language isn't necessarily a thing we use only to communicate, but it is also a part of ourselves and of human nature itself. After all, humans are social animals, and that means (basically) that we interact in more complex ways than most animals between themselves, and whenever a society exists there will always be a culture linked to it; even if that culture is that of behaving like emotionless machines. So this means that culture is a natural part of any human society, and thus so is language. There's no escaping it until the day when we evolve into beings that don't need to communicate to survive and achieve our goals... which I doubt will happen as during any of our lifetimes.

Alright! I think that has been enough ranting for a night. That must have been enough to convince whoever's reading this that language is a very deep topic that can be really interesting to analyze. And I think it's getting too long anyways... so goodbye for now!

Oh, and I was asked to leave a picture that represented me. Well, this might be a bit specific to the stuff I'm into, but if you're interested in understanding this image then google "slowpoke" and "Sho Minamimoto" and after a bit of reading you might understand the meaning. Just bear in mind that I'm not as annoying as you might come to think from that little research...