When I Shine

• When I Shine, The Herbaliser ft. Bahamadia, 1997
• Instrumentation: Vocals (Bahamadia and backup), bass, percussion, guitar, flute (?), and electronics.
• Form: This song is loosely strophic in that it repeats "Stereophonic or mono my lingo tingle topics revolve... I see my influence still shinin'" but it is not strophic in terms of a beat. This song is not accessible because it is very hard to sing along to, slightly difficult to understand the lyrics, and hard to keep up with the pace at which the lyrics are sung.
• Origin: This song draws from various different genres including jazz and hip hop.
• Melody: There is no clear melody to this song, and after listening to it, there is no riff that sticks in my head.
• Lyrics: The lyrics remind me of a poem that someone (maybe someone reminiscent of a stereotypical beatnik) would read at a poetry slam. Unlike a rap song, they do not form a complete story, but rather make (at times coded) statements about contemporary society: "Presentin' dark sounds, cause we in some crucial time now, and I'm tryin' to leave a mark before they place me in the ground." I found the lyrics to have less of an impact because I found it hard to hear exactly what Bahamadia was saying.
• Texture: The texture was not something that my attention was drawn to. Once again, I would describe this song's texture as neither thick nor thin. There are certainly no silences and the accompaniment (instruments) sound well balanced, but they do not resonate with me as past songs such as Variations on a Theme...
• Range: practically no range is explored here. This is perhaps so as not to detract from the instrumentation and the message being sent from the lyrics (which may be clearer to other listeners).
• Tempo: A very steady tempo is maintained throughout. It is moderately slow.
• Meter: A duple beat. The rhythmic beat is very clear and sets a strong pulse for the song. I think that this uniform beat is also meant not to distract from the lyrics.
• Volume: The volume does not vary much throughout the piece at all. The piece as a whole is of a medium volume.
• Personal: I found this piece to be very interesting. It is the first of its kind that I have ever heard, so it is too soon to say whether or not I would listen to it on my own time,. The vocals reminded me of a TLC song, while the lyrics produced an image of a stereotypical beatnik (wearing a beret and black turtleneck) performing at a cafe during a poetry slam. I did appreciate the successful blend of hip hop and jazz, as I had never really heard this before, and found it to be quite creative.