(A2 Music Technology: 2011 – 12)
Creating a piece of music that uses and reflects the words of the poem ‘Rainforest’. This task can be created as a pop song or a contemporary piece of music. Read the following analysis by Miss Barker:
Rainforest
The forest drips and glows with green.
The tree-frog croaks his far-off song.
His voice is stillness, moss and rain
drunk from the forest ages long.
We cannot understand that call
unless we move into his dream,
where all is one and one is all
And frog and python are the same.
We with our quick dividing eyes
measure, distinguish and are gone
The forest burns, the tree frog dies,
yet one is all and all are one
Judith Wright
‘The forest drips and glows with green’ implies that rain is falling. The rain makes the rainforest glow with vibrant colour. In the distance, a tree-frog is croaking, but with the raindrops falling it sounds like a song. His voice represents the stillness in the forest, and the elements earth and water (moss and rain). ‘Drunk from the forest ages long’ suggests that the rain has been sucked out of the earth. The forest is slowly deteriorating.
‘We cannot understand that call unless we move into his dream’. We cannot understand the tree-frog unless we become one with him, walk in his shoes. The tree-frog is obviously using his song as some kind of signal for distress, and because we are ignorant to his ways and his language, we cannot understand the damage that is being done. In the frog’s mind, ‘all is one and one is all’. Everything and everyone is equal. ‘Frog and python are the same’ – no matter what species (race) you are, we are one, particularly in times of hardship.
‘We with our quick dividing eyes measure, distinguish and are gone’. We are quick to judge and switch between one thing and another, we make rash decisions that are not always for the best. Then we leave and do not witness the consequences. ‘The forest burns, the tree frog dies, yet one is all and all are one’ – even though everything has been destroyed, they were destroyed together as an entity. Even in times like that, they still managed to stick together.
Human Nature vs. Mother Nature!
Humans are naïve ignorant creatures. If they do not become more in touch with nature and the natural things that surround them, they will end up destroying something that is beautiful and essential for life.
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