"Thank you. I was over in France for about four or five weeks, I don’t remember how long. My particular, ah the day I was born just happens to be the high holy gypsy holiday. I know it sounds strange but it's true. Anyway, I went over there to see what they were doing on my birthday, seeing it was some kind of holiday. So, they all meet, all the gypsies from all over Europe. From France, England, Holland, and ah, Romania, all these different countries come and meet in the South of France. So I stayed over there with them for about a week, they partied for a week. I was fortunate enough to meet a young man who was the king of the gypsies. A young man who had 16 wives and 120 children and a whole lot of girlfriends. He held court every day, and he kind of took me under his wing, but sooner or later it got time to go, so I was heading off this way and he was going down that way. He said, "Well Bob, we have to go our separate ways, what would you like?" And I had done everything that week at least twice. Anyway I said, "Just One More Cup Of Coffee". He said, "All right, black?" And he put it in a bag for me and gave it to me, and I headed off down the road."
--From his 1978 World Tour
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Bob Dylan's Musical Experimentation
In One More Cup of Coffee, Bob Dylan combines classic 60’s folk—including a drum set, lead and bass guitar, and female harmonizing—with a “foreign” style, having a long instrumental introduction, increased vocal freedom, violin solos and a consistent tambourine beat. Dylan listened to the differences between the Western music with which he was most familiar and other musical traditions--gypsy, Arab and Turkish. In this song he could experiment with these styles. The simplicity, however, is what makes the song so appealing. The listener feels the steady, subdued melody, while words are displayed in their own starkness. Effortlessly can one place himself into the scene—as an outsider lying next to the gypsy king’s daughter, describing her and the lifestyle she lives. The chorus “One more cup of coffee for the road / one more cup of coffee ‘fore I go / to the valley below” draws the listener back to the realization that this dreamlike state must end at some point. The outsider must face reality via the “road…to the valley below”. The combination of both male and female voices in the chorus enable men and women alike to place themselves in the outsider’s position and become more intimate with the words, as the violin draws them further into the song. All the while, the other instruments blend together in the background, projecting only the two voices and violin.
This song might be referring to gypsies in southern France, but it has some distinct Arab music styles, allowing the song to transcend cultures and appeal to a wider world audience. The use of a long instrumental introduction is the first step toward drawing listeners in and placing them within the reverie, a classic Arab musical technique. Additionally, Bob Dylan should be commended for his attempt of melisma, an Arab vocal technique whereby the singer takes a note and plays with all of its surrounding grace-notes for a single syllable or extended moment in the song. This is opposed to the classic “Western” style of attributing a single note for each syllable of the song. Interestingly, melisma is not used in the chorus, as the outsider leaves for his homeland—only when singing to the “foreign” person with whom he is lying.
Bob Dylan works to underline the differences between this hybrid music style he’s created and the classic folk style with which hippies and hippie-wannabes were currently enthralled. Perhaps it is for this simple reason—Bob Dylan’s heartfelt attempt to incorporate Arab techniques to display to an audience unfamiliar with such a style—that Turkish pop star Sertab Erener chose to cover the song in 2003. Before continuing, I must note that Arab and Turkish music styles are by no means a substitute for one another. These cultures have distinct musical traditions but have also endured long-term political unrest with each other. Elements of each musical style have infiltrated the other, however, so it can be difficult for a “Western” ear to hear the differences between them. For example, the long instrumental introductions and vocal melisma are common both in Turkish and Arab music traditions. I choose to use the word “Arab” to describe these new techniques, only because it encompasses a broader region of the world, especially a large portion of the Mediterranean—the Levant and Mahgrib regions.
This song might be referring to gypsies in southern France, but it has some distinct Arab music styles, allowing the song to transcend cultures and appeal to a wider world audience. The use of a long instrumental introduction is the first step toward drawing listeners in and placing them within the reverie, a classic Arab musical technique. Additionally, Bob Dylan should be commended for his attempt of melisma, an Arab vocal technique whereby the singer takes a note and plays with all of its surrounding grace-notes for a single syllable or extended moment in the song. This is opposed to the classic “Western” style of attributing a single note for each syllable of the song. Interestingly, melisma is not used in the chorus, as the outsider leaves for his homeland—only when singing to the “foreign” person with whom he is lying.
Bob Dylan works to underline the differences between this hybrid music style he’s created and the classic folk style with which hippies and hippie-wannabes were currently enthralled. Perhaps it is for this simple reason—Bob Dylan’s heartfelt attempt to incorporate Arab techniques to display to an audience unfamiliar with such a style—that Turkish pop star Sertab Erener chose to cover the song in 2003. Before continuing, I must note that Arab and Turkish music styles are by no means a substitute for one another. These cultures have distinct musical traditions but have also endured long-term political unrest with each other. Elements of each musical style have infiltrated the other, however, so it can be difficult for a “Western” ear to hear the differences between them. For example, the long instrumental introductions and vocal melisma are common both in Turkish and Arab music traditions. I choose to use the word “Arab” to describe these new techniques, only because it encompasses a broader region of the world, especially a large portion of the Mediterranean—the Levant and Mahgrib regions.
A Small Bit About Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener is one of the most successful Turkish pop singers in Turkey; in Europe, she is known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with her hit “Every Way That I Can”. Born in Istanbul in 1964, she later studied music in a city university before beginning her musical career with Turkish diva Sezen Aksu. After winning the Eurovision competition, she released her first English-language album, “No boundaries” in 2004, which included “One More Cup of Coffee.” The song was later used in the soundtrack to Masked and Anonymous, a semi-biopic of Bob Dylan (Wikipedia, Sertab Erener, 2008). Sertab Erener’s prior exposure to “One More Cup of Coffee,” or Bob Dylan for that matter, is unclear. Perhaps she came across the song during her time at university and developed an attachment to it based on its Arab undertones. Still, she would have been too young to experience the song in its prime, as she would have been eight years old when the song debuted in 1972. Maybe the producers of her English-language CD wanted her to pay tribute to a timeless American songwriter, whose musical vision was rather worldly to begin with. In “One More Cup of Coffee,” Bob Dylan offers Sertab Erener the framework with which to work, and she is quickly able to make the song her own.
Her 2004 Cover
Her cover begins with a full string instrumental beginning, contrary to Dylan’s lone violin. When Erener does break into the lyrics, she immediately takes the melisma and makes it her own, saturating each syllable with a blend of notes, indicating the technique comes naturally—that she has been trained in this musical tradition from a young age. Her melisma is most significant at the end of the song, when she rises and falls to match the violin playing alongside her. In regard to the tune, the third verse only uses a drum, but every other part has some combination of a drum, stringed instruments and a synthesizer. The strings seem to bend—rising and falling dramatically between verses, more discreetly as she pours out her soul into the lyrics. They urgently beg for the listener to become lost within the fantasy.
While she accentuates the Arab stylistic elements within “One More Cup of Coffee,” she distinctly retains Bob Dylan’s simplistic use of a single guitar for the first four measures of the song. Still, her voice adds emotion that Dylan seems unable to portray—perhaps his awe or subdued state of mind prevented such emotion. Erener heightens the original song in ways she knows best, transforming the song from appealing dream to a riveting vision. Instead of taking a “Western” song and forcing Arab elements into it, Erener probably noticed the song already carried the packaging for a wider world audience. The framework was set up for her; all she needed to do was place emphasis on the Arab pieces and increase the vocal power.
Maximizing the vocals would have been important for Erener, as “One More Cup of Coffee” was one of her first songs covered in English and a track on her first album containing English lyrics. Perhaps she was attempting to appeal to a greater European—or even American—audience in hopes of increasing her fame and versatility as a singer. Winning Eurovision provided her an outlet to do that. She could use this song as a way to communicate with a non-native audience, while still retaining her Turkish roots and having the song appeal to her own community as well. At the same time, she could enrich her own native tradition by stressing those elements that Dylan played with in the original.
Music from the Mediterranean loosens national borders and makes them more fluid than could ever be imagined. Sertab Erener, a Turkish singer, won a European song contest with Arab vocal techniques, and her fame has reached beyond the edges of Turkey and the Levant, through the Mediterranean into Europe. Music normally doesn’t remain in only one region of the world; instead, it transcends political barriers, unites cultures through shared elements of music, and communicates tolerance and understanding for other people. Sertab Erener’s cover of “One More Cup of Coffee” is one of a plethora of trans-cultural musical expressions. She is part of the legacy that harvests universal understanding through song, and hopefully she will continue to do so. Her efforts have helped keep the Mediterranean’s borders a gateway for creativity and cultural vitality.
While she accentuates the Arab stylistic elements within “One More Cup of Coffee,” she distinctly retains Bob Dylan’s simplistic use of a single guitar for the first four measures of the song. Still, her voice adds emotion that Dylan seems unable to portray—perhaps his awe or subdued state of mind prevented such emotion. Erener heightens the original song in ways she knows best, transforming the song from appealing dream to a riveting vision. Instead of taking a “Western” song and forcing Arab elements into it, Erener probably noticed the song already carried the packaging for a wider world audience. The framework was set up for her; all she needed to do was place emphasis on the Arab pieces and increase the vocal power.
Maximizing the vocals would have been important for Erener, as “One More Cup of Coffee” was one of her first songs covered in English and a track on her first album containing English lyrics. Perhaps she was attempting to appeal to a greater European—or even American—audience in hopes of increasing her fame and versatility as a singer. Winning Eurovision provided her an outlet to do that. She could use this song as a way to communicate with a non-native audience, while still retaining her Turkish roots and having the song appeal to her own community as well. At the same time, she could enrich her own native tradition by stressing those elements that Dylan played with in the original.
Music from the Mediterranean loosens national borders and makes them more fluid than could ever be imagined. Sertab Erener, a Turkish singer, won a European song contest with Arab vocal techniques, and her fame has reached beyond the edges of Turkey and the Levant, through the Mediterranean into Europe. Music normally doesn’t remain in only one region of the world; instead, it transcends political barriers, unites cultures through shared elements of music, and communicates tolerance and understanding for other people. Sertab Erener’s cover of “One More Cup of Coffee” is one of a plethora of trans-cultural musical expressions. She is part of the legacy that harvests universal understanding through song, and hopefully she will continue to do so. Her efforts have helped keep the Mediterranean’s borders a gateway for creativity and cultural vitality.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
