Critical Musicology Journal

A Virtual Journal on the Internet Beyond The Transatlantic Model: A Look at Popular Music as if S all Societies Mattered Meic Lle!ellyn

1: Histories 2: Within y Fro Gymraeg 3: 'Folk' Influences and y Gwerin 4: Words nd !usic ": !usics nd rticulation #: $esistance !usics $eferences

": #istories
%arly attem&ts to understand &o&ular music concentrated almost e'clusi(ely on the merican scene) For *heodor dorno and Walter +en,amin- %uro&ean./orn !ar'ists whose engagement with this su/,ect /egan in the 1041s- the hits of *in 2an lley demanded analysis as &art of the cultural hegemony achie(ed /y the ruling classes- through the mani&ulation of meaning in all the ra&idly de(elo&ing forms of mass communication 3 dorno- 1041- 1044- 105#6 +en,amin- 10557) *he &rimacy of merican forms on radio and record at this time was &ronounced- /ut it seems unfortunate ne(ertheless that dorno- in &articular- concentrated his ga8e e'clusi(ely on the most commercial forms of mainstream &o&- and made little effort to consider counter.cultural de(elo&ments e(en within the 9: - such as /lues- ,a88 and gos&el) lthough he was writing into the si'ties- the e'&losion of rock ;n< roll and the &roliferation of forms that it ga(e rise to seem not to ha(e affected him- nor did he &ay any attention to the ra&id de(elo&ment of radically different &o&ular musics outside the 9: - such as =aly&so- for e'am&le- in *rinidad- or the influential dance musics of >atin merica) *he rigorous cutting edge of Western !ar'ist analysis- the austerity and clarity of its (ision- and the new framework it offered in understanding the control and mani&ulation of meaning in ad(anced ca&italist societies still has much to offer/ut the tendency to regard &o&ular music as an e'clusi(ely merican form- and as monolithic and undifferentiated- was already /eing esta/lished) ?es&ite dorno<s descri&tion of so.called high and low culture as ;torn hal(es of an integral freedom- to which howe(er they no longer add u&< 3+loch et al- 1055&)1237- his (irtual deification of +eetho(en and his &erce&tion of inaccessi/le a(ant. garde artists such as :choen/erg as the only modern musicians a/le to frame o&&ositional statements 3 dorno- 1053- &)247 re(eal the elitist terms of cultural

reference he /rought to his analysis) Ironically- there are times when his swee&ing re,ection of mass culture /rings him close to the merico&ho/ic stance of elitistcanonist- %uro&ean writers like >ea(is and Hol/rook 31041- &)311.32"7) Walter +en,amin- more o&en to the creati(e &otential of the new technologies- drew attention to the &otential of mass communications to dri(e forms and set agendas- and to alter our &erce&tions and cultural e'&ectations 3+en,amin- 103"7) He descri/ed the alienation and o&enness to mani&ulation- /oth of &erformers and mass audiences in ad(anced ur/an economies- /ut his em&hasis on the raw &ower of commercial and technological forces within the centres of consumer ca&italism tended to o/scure the o&&ortunities that e'isted elsewhere for autonomy- negotiation and dissent- and to marginalise different e@uations elsewhere) For Greil !arcus 3105"7 and 2eter Guralnik 31051 A 10027- whose criticism grew out of their own lo(e of and close in(ol(ement in the e'&loding rhythm ;n< /lues and rock ;n< roll scenes of %ast.=oast 9: in the early si'ties- their own scene was ;where it was at<- and it must ha(e seemed natural to concentrate their analysis on the e'citement and tur/ulence around them- /ut the result was once again to marginalise contem&orary de(elo&ments in %uro&e- for e'am&le- or the =ari//ean) *he ;retri/alisation< of !arshall !c>uhan<s glo/al (illage 3!c>uhan- 10407- with its immediacy of contact and e'change and its shared su/,ecti(ities- im&lies a homogeneous culture and common language6 &resuma/ly- the contraction of the glo/e through electronic communications will ha(e shrunk distinct smaller societies into o/li(ion) *his im&licit assum&tion is understated- /ut then as $ussell Ferguson notes;in our society dominant discourse ne(er tries to s&eak its own name) Its authority is /ased on the a/sence of the (arious grou&s defined as BotherC))) and routinely denied &ower< 3Ferguson- 1001- &)117) ll too often- though- e(en current a&&roaches to &o&ular music take little or no account of its roles in cultures other than the nglo. merican- and assume that statements a/out what is increasingly 3and in my (iew dangerously7 defined as the glo/al can /e a&&lied to the local- in the lack of ;any o(ert acknowledgement of the s&ecificity of the dominant culture- which is sim&ly assumed to /e the all.encom&assing norm) *his is the /asis of its &ower< 3i/id)7) :imon Frith- in criti@uing what he sees as a misleadingly $omantic tendency in Guralnik- asserts that rock music is not ;a folk or community music of teenagers and youths- /ut a &o&ular leisure acti(ity &ro(ided for them<) He also maintains that suggestions of commonality /etween &erformers and audiences are an illusion- as successful rock musicians ;en,oy highly artificial life styles and &roduction situations< and are ;detached from the class /ackgrounds of their fans<) Further- he maintains that rock functions essentially as an entertainment industry- with standard ca&italist forms of la/our- in(estment and returns 3Frith- 1042- &&)4 A 437) *his a&&roach has /een su&&orted /y Darl Eegus- who has argued from research in the 9: that smaller and nominally ;inde&endent< record la/els are increasingly and ine'trica/ly linked into the organisational &atterns and the o/,ecti(es of the ma,ors 3Eegus- 1002- &&)1#.147 and /y !iege and Garnham who insist on an analysis of ;cultural &roducts< as ;high risk commodities<- which their &roducers seek to e'&loit as ra&idly and ruthlessly as &ossi/le- reducing risks of any kind- e(en when this means the re,ection of &otentially (alua/le and no(el talent and material 3Garnham- 1001- &)1#17) %(en within the conte't of ;transatlantic rock<- some of these statements seem dangerously swee&ing- creating /inary o&&ositions out of continua) In my own e'&erience of concerts of &o&ular anarchist and tra(eller /ands such as *he Eew !odel rmy and *he >e(ellers in +ritain- the areas of commonality were e'tensi(eand e(idenced in the writing of Fools and Fustin as in the assum&tions and feelings of

their audiences) &&lied to the situation in Welsh.s&eaking Wales- a society whose &o&ular music I &ro&ose to use here as an e'am&le of small societies in general whose musical forms and &ractices may /e different to those identified in ;*he *ransatlantic !odel<- these assertions are not only incorrect- they are ina&&ro&riate) I use the &hrases ;Welsh.s&eaking Wales< or ;y Fro Gymraeg< to denote those elements of Welsh society 3a&&ro'imately half a million of a total &o&ulation of three million- and mainlythough not e'clusi(ely- li(ing in the less industrialised West and Eorth of the country7 whose mode of e(eryday communication is largely through the Welsh language- and whose cultural transactions take &lace &rimarily through forms and institutions s&ecific to that language) *he +ritish cultural sociologists of the eighties- among them He/dige and Halldrew attention to the acti(e use of media te'ts /y young audiences- and the &otential for the creation of su/.cultural and counter.cultural identities 3He/dige- 10506 Hall and Fefferson- 105#7) *hey &ercei(ed the roles music and its associated forms could &lay in the cementing of social ties- the /olstering of self.esteem- and the securing of mutual warmth and /elonging among audiences) lthough much influenced /y study of the &unk mo(ement in +ritain- their foregrounding of the im&ortance of style- and conce&ts of self.ascri/ed de(iance- are clearly hel&ful when looking at other distinct youth grou&s such as tra(ellers- goths and ra(ers) It is im&ortant to /ear in mindthough- that like &unk- these are all su/cultures of late ca&italist ur/an society- a way of life in which social fragmentation and in &articular youth alienation is wides&readand that such o/ser(ations cannot /e a&&lied with e@ual (alidity to all cultures- as reference to our case study will demonstrate) *he Welsh language as a (ehicle of e(eryday communication- with the mass of cultural and historical references such intercourse in(ol(es- is largely a language nowadays of the countryside and the smaller towns6 des&ite recent gains- reflected in the 1041 and 1001 censuses- the cities and conur/ations of the south and the north.east are still largely nglo&hone) G Fro =ymraeg is certainly not without modern social &ro/lems- large.scale in.migration not the least of them 3=loke- Goodwin A !il/ourne 1005- &&)1".317- /ut it is ne(ertheless a com&arati(ely cohesi(e society6 that this is recognised and a&&lauded /y many young &eo&le inside it is demonstrated in work /y %dwards 31040- &&)21.347 and +ellin 31040- &&)55.047) *his sense of cohesion and unity is largely reflected in the music6 its dominant ideology for thirty years has /een one of affirmation) Within that framework- there is sco&e for di(ersity and criticism/ut the &olitical radicalism of much of the music e'ists alongside a cultural and social conser(atism6 rather than securing cultures of de(iance- the tendency is towards the strengthening of &rescri/ed (alues and relationshi&s against e'ternal influences &ercei(ed as materialist and intrusi(e) ; lternati(e< /ands such as Hen Wlad fy !amau- nrhefn and ?at/lygu are as militant in su&&ort of a &ercei(ed Welsh way of life as ?afydd Iwan or !eic :te(ens)

$: %ithin y &ro Cy raeg

In y Fro =ymraeg . the Welsh.language community . the most effecti(e and wides&read agency for &romoting li(e music is y =ymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg 3*he Welsh >anguage :ociety7- a non.&rofit.making organisation of highly moti(ated acti(ists) *he largest and /usiest of se(eral inde&endent recording studios is $ecordiau :ain- originally largely financed /y ?afydd Iwan- the first musician within the Welsh rock scene to achie(e real &rominence- out of the &rofits of his al/ums and tours- and housed in the reno(ated /uildings of an o/solete military cam&) dmittedly- creati(e

artists of all ty&es are often less con(entional than the rest of us in one way or another/ut as ?afydd Iwan himself &ut it- ;*here are no stars in Wales<6 the audience is too small- the society too cohesi(e- the financial rewards too minimal- to allow the &henomenon to take root 3inter(iew with the author- 100"7) Hnly one of all the currently 310047 &o&ular Welsh.language /ands can afford to /e full.time- /ecause in their case they di(ide their time and talents /etween Wales and the e@ually li(ely music scene in +rittany) >inks /etween Welsh.language la/els and the ma,ors are (ery few- as their chosen role is to address a Welsh.s&eaking audience- while the ma,ors ha(e little interest in foreign or ;minority< language singers) Welsh &erformers wishing to strut the world or e(en the +ritish stage almost ine(ita/ly- like *he :u&er Furry nimals or =atatonia- ha(e to change their &rimary medium of &erformance and sign to an international la/el) In the increasingly hi.tech and com&etiti(e en(ironment of recording and distri/ution- la/els like :ain and =rai ha(e made efforts to retain an interest in the work of &erformers who ha(e ;gone glo/al<- as for e'am&le in the mutual loyalty shown /y :ain and the o&era.singer +ryn *erfel- and to de(elo& franchising relationshi&s o(erseas- /ut their structures and intentions are co.o&erati(e and e(angelising more than they are commercial) !uch has /een made- in the &eriod since the de(olution referendum- of the ;*wo Wales< scenario 3the rural areas of the north and west and the (alleys com/ined in su&&ort of de(olution- while the east and south.east were generally o&&osed7 /ut the situation on the ground is more com&le' than such sim&le ma&.making suggests) !y own town of !achynlleth recorded one of the highest ;yes< (otes in Wales- and yet is re&resented /y the media as &art of a 2owys o&&osed to the :enedd 3national assem/ly7) *here were more ;yes< (otes in !onmouthshire than in =armarthenalthough =armarthen &eo&le are rightly &roud of their role in casting the die for the &ro,ect<s a&&ro(al6 Gnys !In 3 nglesey7 is widely &ercei(ed as &art of the Eorth Wales heartland of ;Welshness<- /ut the &ercentage ma,ority there was e(en smaller than the e(entual national one) reas of ra&id e'&ansion of Welsh language use- as shown in the 1041 and 1001 censuses- include areas of the /ig cities 3including =ardiff- the ca&ital- whose ;no< ma,ority &ro(oked headlines- and considera/le residual anger in some other &arts of Wales7 and largely middle.class residential districts where educational @ualifications in the language are seen as increasingly im&ortant to young &eo&le<s career &ros&ects) working.class /acklash against the influence of the ;*affia< which was documented in the se(enties seems to ha(e s&ent itself- and a recent Western Mail sur(ey of attitudes to the language in what once was industrial :outh Wales recorded wides&read and growing su&&ort e(en from non.s&eakers) t &resent- though- a&art from a small num/er of (enues such as =lw/ Ifor +ach in =ardiff and =lw/ y +ont in 2onty&ridd- o&&ortunities for the s&read of Welsh.language rock and &o& into the conur/ations are still limited)

': (&olk( Influences And y )!erin

2o&ular music is- of course- a wide and im&erfectly defined area- and attem&ts to define the distinctions /etween ;&o&<- ;rock< and ;folk< ha(e often &ro(ed &ro/lematic) *he difficulties are- of course- intensified if and when theorists seek to a&&ly definitions found hel&ful in one set of circumstances to all others- or similarly to eliminate conce&ts from current usage) :imon Frith and $ichard !iddleton- among others- e'&ress great difficulty in acce&ting the e'istence of ;folk< traditions 3Frith1043- &&)44."26 !iddleton- 1001- &&)125.14#7) *hey argue that the conce&t of folk is a

/ourgeois nationalist construct- ser(ing to ;&rotect the ruling class from the threat and suffering of the &roletariats /y first e'oticising them and then a/sor/ing their cultures into their own< 3!iddleton- 1001- &)1307) Frith has suggested that- in identifying certain musics as folk- ;we are reading as sociological facts what are in fact ideological e'&eriences< 3Frith- 1041- &)1#27- and he argues that ;folk discourse))) seems to rest on an essential self.dece&tion<- since ;that which is commodified is &resented as communal< 3Frith- 100#- &)417) Hf course- to define folk as e'clusi(ely oral- rather than written- or as the e'clusi(e &ossession of a certain class- or as only &layed on certain instruments or in certain situations- or in terms of its s&ontaneity or e'clusi(e discourse- will /e misleading6 music like all arts is in a constant state of flu') +ut difficulties of definition do not im&ly that the &henomenon does not e'ist) mnon :hiloah- for e'am&le- writing a/out Fewish and !uslim musicians of the !editerranean- comments that ;in the realm of &erforming &ractice- the folk &oet. musician has a uni@uely im&ortant &osition: /oth narrator and s&okesman- he articulates the moods- (alues and as&irations of his fellow men< 3:hiloah- 1005- &)57) *here are some ways in which the cultural situation of the Gwerin in Wales has /een- and continues to /e- im&ortantly different from the general working.class e'&erience in other &arts of +ritain) In %ngland- for e'am&le- folk culture has tended to /e defined in contrast to that of the elite6 oral rather than written- sim&le rather than com&le'- using restricted rather than e'tended code- dealing with locality and work rather than leisure and a/straction) rguments a/out ;authenticity< /ede(illed much research into %nglish folk music from the days of =ecil :har& onwards- and of course the &ower of definition rested with middle.class collectors and theorists rather than the &artici&ants themsel(es) *he historical e'&erience of the Gwerin in Wales has /een different) +etween the se(enteenth and early twentieth centuries- the Welsh language was largely a/andoned /y the gentry- and res&onsi/ility for and control o(er an enormously rich- ancient and so&histicated legacy of cultural forms- in literature and music es&ecially- &assed to the ordinary &eo&le) :tandards of formal education and literacy are not necessarily guides to the richness of a culture- /ut e(en !atthew rnold on his infamous tour through Wales in 14"2 was forced to admit that not only did the Welsh &oor ha(e a /etter gras& of their own language than the %nglish &oor did- /ut that they clearly lo(ed it 3 rnold- 14"47) Gwyn ) Williams has estimated that at least half the &o&ulation of Wales in the mid.nineteenth century was literate 3G) ) Williams- 1001- &&)214.07- and %rasmus :aunders at the time commented that ;there are many- e(en of the common &eo&le- who gladly take the &ains &ri(ately of reading and discoursing to instruct one another in their houses) nd it is not uncommon to see ser(ants and she&herds- as they ha(e an o&&ortunity- stri(e to do these offices to each other< 3@uoted in 2arry Fones- 1052- &)1117) *o make these distinctions /etween the Welsh and %nglish e'&erience is not to seek to set one culture a/o(e another . after all- as $aymond Williams &oints out- the Welsh &eo&le ha(e /een o&&ressed for fi(e hundred years /y the %nglish state- /ut so ha(e the %nglish &eo&le 3Williams- 1043- &) 437) $ather- it is to &oint out the danger of e'&orting conce&ts and e'clusions /eyond their nati(e territory- and to demonstrate the untrans&arency of language) *he reser(oir of traditional forms- /oth musical and literary- /oth sim&le and so&histicated- that are most easily- if not e'actly- defined in %nglish as ;folk<- are omni&resent in Welsh &o&ular music- and to attem&t to understand Welsh rock without references to those traditions- and the niches they o&en to similar strands from +rittany- Ireland- the =ari//ean and the &&alachians- is to im&o(erish the analysis)

Eew musics of the nineties- such as dance and ra(e- are said /y Will :traw to ha(e not only crossed /ut e(en eradicated &re(ious cultural- conce&tual and national /oundaries- re&lacing them with shifting &atterns of taste and ;alliance< 3:traw- 1001&&)11.147) *hese alliances and ra&idly e(ol(ing ;scenes<- he argues- are re&lacing loyalties of &lace and class among the young- as well as of culture and nationality) His &erce&tions may /e true of some of the &eo&le- in some &laces- for some of the time/ut there is much contem&orary e(idence of (ery firm social affiliations- of one kind and another- /eing cemented /y music- /oth in %nglish.language rock cultures and outside them) s rock has e'&anded and fragmented- not only ha(e audiences in non. tlantic societies &ro(ed fertile in drawing une'&ected meanings and uses from mainstream te'ts- /ut they ha(e also in many cases su&&orted and stimulated indigenous artists drawing on transcultural forms) >ila /u.>ughod- writing a/out the li(es of young +edouin in the eighties- could see conflicting media influences at work in that society6 girls and women- attracted /y the consumer goods and affluent lifestyles re&resented in the &rogrammes and commercials on :udanese and %gy&tian tele(ision- had increasingly /een re,ecting the nomadic life and seeking to marry- or mo(e- outside the tri/es . often- of course- into shantytowns where e'treme &o(erty and social de&ri(ation were the norms) Hn the other hand- she noted that cultural confidence and solidarity- most nota/ly among young men /ut increasingly s&anning age and gender distinctions- were /eing greatly enhanced /y the ? * recording and distri/ution of audiota&es of +edouin song- in /oth traditional forms and hy/ridised with Western and frican forms 3 /u.>ughod- 1040- &&)5.117) *he influence of the griots 3the hereditary caste of songwriters- satirists and commentators in !ali7 has also /een e'tended /y recording technology- as has that of $ai in lgeria) +i' and Fo,e in >ithuania- folk.rock /ands also drawing on /oth indigenous and transcultural influences- &artici&ated during the eighties in the growth of national self.confidence and se&aratist feeling there- and now maintain a &osition of /oth notoriety and res&ect as critics- sages and satirists of the new :tate) In Wales too- as Eed *homas has em&hasised- the rise of Welsh.language &o&ular music was linked to the growth of an increasingly confident and asserti(e attitude from the nineteen.si'ties onwards to the use of the language itselfs&earheaded /y ;r =ymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg 3*homas- 1001- &&)01.1127) *his change was at least &artly generational6 many older &eo&le su&&orted the mo(ement and its cam&aigns of non.(iolent direct action- whether o(ertly or co(ertly- /ut it was from generations coming to maturity from that &eriod onwards that the =ymdeithas drew most of its acti(e mem/ershi& and leaders) *he /eginnings of this Welsh struggle were contem&orary- of course- with the =i(il $ights mo(ements in the 9: and the north of Ireland- and its course has run &arallel with demands for emanci&ation and self.determination elsewhere in %uro&e as well as in the emerging world) It is hardly sur&rising that the first musicians of the mo(ement accessed the &rotest.rock of %nglish.language artists such as +o/ ?ylan- 2ete :eeger and Foan +ae8 as well as indigenous forms- and the rich traditions of satire- raillery and in(ecti(e in the Welsh &oetic tradition) Wales in recent centuries has /een an intensely &oliticised society . the $ed Flag flew o(er !erthyr *own Hall for decades in the middle of the century- as do the $ed ?ragon and the Irish tricolour o(er many nationalist &u/s today- es&ecially in the West and Eorth) s *homas &uts it- Welsh &o& ;at its /est is satirical and &o&ular song))) com&ara/le with the $ussian satire of Galich or Jysotsky rather than anything one finds in %ngland< 31001- &)047) t the same time- he argues- Welsh rock has /rought a new lightness of touch and gaiety to a national struggle that in earlier

generations was characterised more /y de&ri(ation and austere commitment 31001&)1117)

*: %ords And Music

In rock music- of course- the dominant discourse for decades reflected its origins among /lacks and ;&oor whites< in the 9: - and until this &eriod it was de rigeur for %nglish or other &erformers not only to sing with merican accents /ut to address and refer to genre situations rooted in merican e'&erience) t the same time that *he +eatles and other grou&s from >i(er&ool- >ondon and elsewhere were asserting their a/ility to find their own (oices- address new &referred audiences and identify and confront issues close to hand- modern musicians in Welsh.s&eaking Wales like their contem&oraries throughout the world were /eginning to wrest as&ects of the form to their own needs) >anguage- whether in song or analysis- is ne(er a neutral medium6 (oca/ulary and synta'- sounds and structures- idioms and intonations- all carry cultural and ideological connotations with them) %nglish and merican.%nglish today make u& a huge language- loose and su&&le in form- rich in elision- fluid in tone- with long (owels and soft- often uno/trusi(e consonants) It is easy to see its a&&ro&riateness for the rolling refrains of the /allad and the often almost con(ersational intimacy of the rock solo6 and it is unsur&rising- as the music grew u& in the language) Welsh- in contrast- is smaller- harder and more reflecti(e- more &recise in its (owel sounds and e'&losi(e in its consonants . ;like a crystal- not a snake< according to ?afydd Iwan 3inter(iew with the author- 100"7) Intricate metrical forms such as cynghanedd reflect these @ualities of the language- with its echoing &atterns of assonance and alliterationand rhymes and half.rhymes ;like s&arks esca&ing from a fire<- for *wm !orys 3inter(iew with the author- 100"7) It was the trium&h of the first generation of Welsh.language rock singers- such as ?afydd Iwan himself- !eic :te(ens- %dward H) ?a(is and Geraint Farman- that forms were de(elo&ed res&onsi(e to the &arameters of the language- ca&a/le of drawing on musical traditions from within Welsh and other =eltic cultures and addressing issues rele(ant to a Welsh audience in a Welsh (oice- yet o&en to influences from merica- %uro&e and elsewhere) *he shared ideology and commitment of these musicians demanded a music that would reinforce the (alues of inde&endencesolidarity- &ride and lo(e of country that were (ital to a regenerating national consciousness) /rief analysis of the content of one or two &ieces of music- and reference to the res&onses of a contem&orary audience- may ser(e to e(aluate the measure of their success) ?afydd Iwan<s anthemic ;Gma o Hyd< 3;:till Here<7 is- like much of his workto&ical in its origin- cele/rating in this case the reco(ery in the use of the Welsh language first re(ealed in the 1041 census returns) It is a rousing- swelling song- as might /e e'&ected from one whose musical roots are in Inde&endent cha&els and the great hymns) It has the determined o&timism of ;We :hall H(ercome< and ;We :hall Eot /e !o(ed<- /ut also a sense of &lace and of the immanence of history that might /e descri/ed as (ery Welsh6 not only the mountains- woods and streams /ut heroes of the &ast such as !acsen Wledig- rthur and >lywelyn !awr are summoned u& to ,oin in the cele/rations- and &ledge themsel(es again to the continuing struggle) *he elements of immediacy- satire and raillery that ?afydd Iwan and singers of his generation carried into the tradition from &oetry- &olitical literature and sermons ha(e remained central to the modern music of Wales- as is demonstrated in a few lines

from a song /y the new folk.rock /and Gwerinos- whose first al/um- Cyhoeddiadau Sain- was released in 1005) ;=Kn yr rglwydd< 3;*he >ord<s :ong<7- is an e'u/erantly in(ecti(e attack on ?afydd %lis *homas- once the left.wing 2laid =ymru !2 for !eirionydd Eant =onwy /ut now- ha(ing recently acce&ted a &eerage- the well.&aid chair of se(eral @uangos including the Welsh >anguage +oard . seen in Welsh. :&eaking Wales as not only toothless and ineffecti(e /ut in many ways sustaining a status @uo that condemns the language to client status) +C,n yr Argl!yddHwrL a HaleliwiaM !ae<r rglwydd ar y !ae gallu wislo trwy ei drwyn a siarad trwy ei !ae<i law yn dofi<r moroedd6 mae<i lais yn agor Hnd cael :trNt cred i Fwrdd yr Iaith . rwan dyna fydda gwyrthM sNn din &yrth6

HwrL a HaleliwiaM !ae<r rglwydd ar y ,o/ +ydd Gwalia fach yn ddedwydd tra /ydd ganddi<r ffasiwn no/ !ae<n siarad mewn damhegion yn gywrain ac yn graff . Hs nad y fo di<r addfwyn oen- mae<n ddarn ohono<n saff)

+The Lord-s SongHurrah and Hallelu,ahM *he >ord is on He can whistle through his noseand talk out His hand doth rule the waters: his (oice can +ut to /ring street cred to the >anguage +oard . now that<s too much to askM Hurrah and Hallelu,ahM *he >ord is >ittle Wales is /lessed indeed to ha(e such His s&eech is all in &ara/lesso skilful +ut if you<re not his little lam/- you<re only half secure) the of his o&en sceneM arse) doors-

on the a s&lendid and so

,o/M no/) sure-

!uch of the song<s e'@uisite /i/lical language- often lifted word.for word from William !organ<s still widely influential 1"44 first Welsh translation- and thrown into shar& contrast /y the /and<s gleefully coarse &easant in(ecti(e- is lost in translation) *he music too- a /an,o.led tongue.in.cheek &astiche of hymn tune and country /alladis missing here) *he &in&oint irony- howe(er- in its e(ocation of %lis *homas<s delight in his own &ower and influence- his self.assured /ut e(asi(e use of language- and the hint in the final line that he may /e a dangerous man to cross- are surely e(ident- as are the suggestions in the second of these (erses of an una/ashed and acti(e li/ido) *he sound of rudely &unctured dignity . a Welsh tradition from the days of +eca and the =effyl 2rLn . must /e audi/le to all around) If %lis *homas is one of the latest in a long line of radical Welshmen to ha(e reached Westminster and found its corridors of &ower congenial- a line that stretches from the =ecils &erha&s- through >loyd George and neurin +e(an- to the late and . in Wales at least . little lamented George *homasthis comment from his own heartland 3Gwerinos are a !eirionydd /and7 will ha(e come as unwelcome shock) *wm !orys of +o/ ?elyn a<r %/illion- in contrast- a(oids the directly to&icalfeeling that such references ra&idly /ecome anachronistic- although he insists that all the /and<s work has &olitical and social dimensions) +oth his lyrics and tunes are largely /ased in traditional Welsh forms- often refer to literature and history- and yet are contem&orary in tone and resonances) +ringing together &erformers and material from Wales and +rittany- some influences from Ireland- together with /lues- ,a88 and

classical elements- they are ca&a/le of /oth a high seriousness and a shar& sense of the ridiculous and /i8arre) For e'am&le- in ;:eans Watcyn Wynn< 3;Watcyn Wynn<s :Oance<7- with front.line instruments of har&- sa'o&hone- mouth.organ and guitar- they mo(e from cantata to folk.tune to /lues to /ig./and ,a88 riffs in a single song 3on Gedwn- 10027) *he often surrealist lyrics . e'u/erantly com&le' and /ased in centuries of tradition in their &atterns of rhyme- alliteration- assonance and metrication . satirise the sno//ery and self.satisfaction of a wealthy =10th nglo.Welsh landownerindustrialist and strike./reaker- and his family- while cele/rating the e(entual trium&h of the tasteless and untidy &easants he sought to re&ress) :o dense is this work- /oth in language and musical structure- as well as in the range and (ariety of its allusions and references- that an a&&roach to it in the s&ace a(aila/le here is /ound to /e no more than a scratching of the surface6 /ut howe(er incom&lete the analysis- I &rint the lyrics and a translation in full /elow- to ena/le some of its richness and flow to /e a&&reciated) %(en to non.Welsh s&eakers- the linguistic and metrical com&le'ity and e'actness of the third (erse- for e'am&le- must /e striking6 there are three feminine rhymes- followed /y fi(e masculine 3the letter ;y< in Welsh- when at the end of a word- makes a sound (ery close to ;u< . /oth could /e rendered into %nglish as ;ee<7) *he wandering- /ell.like &atterns of dou/le and tri&le internal alliteration- assonance and half.assonance- known in Welsh literature as cynghanedd- are in *wm<s own words ;immensely difficult to learn- /ut once you<(e mastered them- they gi(e you such freedom)))< 3inter(iew with the author on (ideota&e ;$ockin< a :mall +oat<- undistri/uted- 100#7) +Seans %atcyn %ynnG fi ;di Watcyn $wy<n /yw efo ;ngwraig mewn !ae &aw/ yn gwasgu +o/ tro dan ni<n mynd o<r mart !ae<n ffrindiau ;+od ni<n ddau Fel siandelirs !o.o.o.o.o.o8art) ?an ni<n Gn drwm %in hannwyl <r holl c ar %drychwn yn I ni gael sut yfory fydd))))) ffraeth o a Williams ty mawr dwylo<n Wynn gwyn dynn

yn dweud o hyd /ethau hardda<r /yd hetiau drud

/leidiol o

iawn i<n gwlad /ryder am /arhad heniaith a<n treftad drysorau sydd y soffa glyd y gwydyr hud gwy/od hynt y /yd

H lle mae<ch snyff a<ch &owder &yff a lle mae<ch wigs a<ch ffyn Gdi<n rhaid mynd ar y fasiwn s/id mae fy ;sgidiau fi<n rhy dynn ?ach chi i fod i foesyngrymu<n ddwys cach i i fod i /wyntio<ch troed Hnd dach chi<n hyll a heglog ;fath a haid o anifeiliad yn y coed H sut y daeth i hynP !ae<n gwilydd ;?i !rs) Watcyn Williams W@ynn ddim yn :ut i daeth i hynP !ae<n gwilydd ar !ea !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn yn siwr o droi ei ffer ar ein menig gwyn leicio dawnsio /ler ein menig gwyn

lle mae<r dyrfa canu fel y mae<r /ysyedd ?ach chi ;fath a !ewian cnewian yn y sach I sisial lle

fawr fu<n nant yn hardd a &hedwar

hel yn swn y delyn fwyn y &antiau rhwng y /rwyn hir fu<n cosi<r ffidil fach ffwl/art tew yn hewian

H /e< di hynP !ae<n gwilydd ar ;?i !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn ddim H mae<n nhrwsus i<n rhy dynnmae<n gwilydd !ae !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn yn siwr o ffeintio toc

ein menig gwyn isio clywed roc ar ein menig gwyn

lle mae<r /eirdd oedd wrth eu /odd yn adrodd awdlau Fyddai<r rheini ddim yn gwisgo crys anweddus a di.chwaeth lle mae<r rhai fu<n rhoi a glawr ogoniant mawr eu /ro Fyddai<r rheini ddim yn meddwi<n chwil a chwydu medd chodi mil /o/ tro H asu gwynM Gdy<r henwlad wedi !ae !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn a fi ;di Hnd /e< di hynP !ae hi<n tynnu ;i wig !ae !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn yn dechrau leicio<ch lolM dod i hynP cael llond /ol a<i menig gwyn

+%atcyn %ynn-s SeanceI<m Watcyn I li(e with my wife %(eryone wants to %ach time we go to the mart) Witty friends We<re two of the >ike chandeliers nd !o.o.o.o.o.o8art) Williams in a s@uee8e /ig my Wynn white house hand

ha(e finest and

always things in e'&ensi(e

said the hats world

We<re (ery faithful to the >and Weighed down with wear and tear 3For7 our dear old language and heritage nd the treasures that we lo(e))) nd on the sofa glued I<(e looked in the magic mirror :o we<ll know the way of the world nd what tomorrow /rings)))) Hh where<s your snuff and your &owder &uff- and where<s your wigs and sticksP We must go with the latest fashion 3although7 my shoes are too tight It<s for you to curtsey lowit<s for you to &oint your feet +ut for you it<s with the ugly swarm of animals in the wood Hh what is this aheadP shame is &oured on our white glo(es !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn doesn<t like wild dancing Hh what is this aheadP shame is &oured on our white glo(es !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn is sure to twist her ankle *here<s a &lace for the great crowds gathered to the sound of the har& Whis&ering songs like the stream in the hollows /etween the reeds nd a &lace for the /eautiful long fingerstickling the little fiddle +ut for youfour fat ferrets howling nd mewing and crying in the sack

Hh what is thisP *here<s ignominy on !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn doesn<t want !y trousers are too tightthere<s ignominy on !rs Watcyn Williams Wynn is sure to faint soon)

our to our

white hear white

glo(es rock glo(es

*here<s a &lace for /ardsintent reciting not those wearing disgusting tasteless &lace for somewilling to share the s&lendour of Eot those /lind drunk and swilling nd earning thousands e(ery day +ut Hh +lessed FesusM Is the old land !rs) Watcyn Williams Wynn and I are +ut what is thisP :he<s &ulling off her wig and !rs- Watcyn Williams Wynne is /eginning to like your nonsense)

awdlaushirts their land mead

come to thisP well fed u& her white glo(es .

*he com&le' inter&lay of (oices within the te't contri/utes to its (igour6 the first three (erses esta/lish Watcyn Williams Wynn- his images of self- family and world- and the im&ending seance in his drawing room) *hen- as the metrical &attern changes 3and incidentally the tem&o of the music accelerates from a stately dance to an almost uncomforta/le gallo&- with a manic drum/eat seemingly fore(er on the &oint of racing ahead of the music<s other elements7 we find oursel(es o(erhearing a dialogue6 as no clues are gi(en /y changes of singer or e(en of the singer<s tone- we ha(e to &iece together which lines are s&oken /y the increasingly rattled magnate and which /y the (oice of the folk- or the future) !rs) Wynn is silent throughout- des&ite her constant &resence in the lyrics- although her im&lied con(ersion to rock freedoms in the song<s finale can /e seen as meta&horically cuckolding the old man) !uch of the imagery is traditional- whether elegiac as ;the sound of the har& Q Whis&ering songs like the stream in the hollows /etween the reeds Q and))) the /eautiful long fingers- tickling the little fiddle< or direct- coarse and /rutal- as in ;for you- four fat ferrets howling Q nd mewing and crying in the sack<) nd yet modernity is always there in the song too6 the ;lol< or nonsense in the final line- for e'am&le- will ine(ita/ly refer a Welsh s&eaker to the title of a scurrilous and widely &o&ular contem&orary maga8ine- associated throughout its long career with the most radical- iconoclastic elements of the language mo(ement)

.: Musics And Articulation

*wm !orys has &ointed out that small societies- /y their (ery nature- often find themsel(es recei(ing- ada&ting and refining forms originating from the larger and more di(erse societies around them 3100"- inter(iew with the author7) In the case of Walesoccu&ying &art of a larger island which is itself on the fringes of a continent- this situation is e'treme) Hn the other hand- the small si8e of this culture is a factor in its e'traordinary social and cultural cohesi(eness- which in turn stimulates the most ra&id and fluent inter/reeding of forms) >istening to $adio =eredigion- the local commercial station- for no more than an hour last :unday- I heard a children<s choir singing with a well.known rock musician6 a >eonard =ohen song in Welsh deli(ered /y a female folk singer6 hymns in :am/a and madrigal arrangements- and traditional songs rendered with enormous relish /y a yodeller and whistler) 9&on what theoretical foundations- then- can we /uild a framework hel&ful for understanding &o&ular music in small countries like Wales as well as in large onesthat can take account also of the interchanges- a&&ro&riations and resistances /etween the local and the glo/al- the hegemonic and the fiercely inde&endentP solid footing would seem to /e that offered /y !iddleton- /ased itself firmly on the ideas of

lthusser and Gramsci- in insisting that &o&ular cultures must /e seen as fields of conflict- negotiation and articulation- in which styles- themes- meanings and inter&retations . /oth /y audiences and artists . are in a com&le' and continual &rocess of flu' and e(olution 3!iddleton- 1001- &&)11.337) Hf course the ruling elites are in controlling &ositions- a/le to a&&ro&riate some ideas and &erformers and deny access to others- and relationshi&s /etween the centre and the margins are characterised /y the same &atterns of e'&loitation and mani&ulation that define ca&italism anywhere- /ut com&etitions /oth economic and ideological within the dominant structures- and the market<s (olatility- ensure that ga&s and niches e'ist in which dissent can flourish) Garofalo<s work among frican. merican musicians in the 9: 31003- &&)31.447and =ohen<s in >i(er&ool 310017 ha(e /oth demonstrated the difficulties facing musicians determined to retain their cultural andQor geogra&hical inde&endence- /ut Gramsci and others ha(e suggested that . es&ecially in &eriods of ra&id cultural change or crisis . su/(ersion and a&&ro&riation of &re(ious dominant forms and ideologies fre@uently take &lace 3Gramsci- 1051- &&)15".4"7- and the e'am&les a/o(e from our case study ha(e demonstrated this &rocess in action) :o e'tensi(ely ha(e &o&ular musicians sam&led other musical forms- so widely disseminated ha(e &o&ular idioms in turn /ecome in march- oratorio and hymn- and so many new musics ha(e contri/uted to the mi' . such as Famaican reggae- German technik and 2olish dance . that &o&ular musicians and their audiences now inha/it a world in which e(ery riff and grace.note- e(ery /ass.line and drum signature- e(ery nuance of (ocal deli(ery and instrumental mi' carries a wealth of &otential connotations and articulations) n e'amination of the &atterns of musical articulation within rock and folk music in contem&orary West Wales will re(eal- first of all- that neat and tidy com&artmentalisation of influences is im&ossi/le- and that- as !ark :lo/in &uts it- ;there are contra&untal (oices in this cultural fugue that affect and sha&e the themes< 3:lo/in- 1003- &)257) n area of cultural &roduction as effer(escent and di(erse as the Welsh rock scene will re(eal a range of the ;multiform- resistant- tricky and stu//orn &rocedures that elude disci&line< 3de =erteau- 1044- &)0#7) :ome threads of &urely musical influence and attraction- di(erse as they may seem- can /e identifiedhowe(er- as &laying a continuing role in the de(elo&ment of a shared cultural (oca/ulary) Hf the other national musics most drawn on- those of our =eltic neigh/ours are the most wides&read) *he Irish influence in West Wales has /een &owerful for millennia- and modern folk musicians- in &articular- seeking to /ring traditional Welsh music into the informal &u/lic s&aces of &u/ and clu/ from its strongholds in the home and the %isteddfod- ha(e drawn hea(ily on Irish forms and instrumentation) Figs and reels ha(e ,oined the horn&i&e in the dance re&ertoire of most /ands- and the slow air is /ecoming as familiar on this side of the water as in Ireland) *he &enny whistle and /odhrRn are now so firmly &art of most folk ensem/les that some traditional &layerssuch as the har&ist $o/in Fames Fones- who himself used to &lay with the Irish folk /and *he =hieftains- are seeking to entrench a ;&urer< Welsh style of &laying free of their increasingly &er(asi(e influence) :uch interaction- though- has /een a factor of Welsh.Irish musical relations since medie(al times if not long /efore: some of =arolan<s tunes are said to /e /ased on Welsh &atterns- and the names of a num/er of Welsh har& tunes recorded in the !iddle ges show Irish linguistic influences) more recent- /ut currently (ery &owerful- thread of influence can /e traced through +o/ ?elyn a<r %/illion to +reton traditions and instrumentation6 the /om/ard in &articular has contri/uted a stridency and (igour to Welsh rock discourse that can also /e found in the call.and.res&onse

&atterns of many +reton songs first &o&ularised in the si'ties /y lan :ti(ell) Eolwenn Dor/el- the female (oice in +o/ ?elyn- has colla/orated with *wm !orys in integrating +reton and Welsh songs . the two languages are mutually com&rehensi/le . within the /and<s re&ertoire- and a new generation of /ands such as Gwerinos and Gs/ryd =houchen 3*he :&irit of !ead7- who com/ine Welsh and +reton themessongs- instrumentation and e(en grou& mem/ers- are currently gaining a wide audience) =eltic influences as seemingly dis&arate as He/ridean mouth.music and Galician &i&ing are rooted in a long.standing and widely.recognised cultural commonality- and can /e easily integrated into a musical (oca/ulary that includes many shared forms- and in which a num/er of instruments such as the har&- the &i&es and the fiddle are &re.eminent) *hey are iconic of generations of mutual struggle for cultural sur(i(al and recognition- and in &articular a stu//orn sense of identity and self.worth in the face of &olitical and social re&ression /y larger and more &owerful neigh/ours) =ountry and Western music is nearly as &o&ular in Wales as it is in Ireland6 the /est.selling recording artists in Welsh.s&eaking Wales today are Fohn ac lun- two middle.aged men making u& a (oice and guitar duo- singing original com&ositions in a gentle =ountry genre) lthough it might- su&erficially- seem an alien form- this tradition too carries associations tracea/le to the distinctly =eltic- minor.key musics of :cots and Irish emigrants to the Eew World) !ore contem&orary constructions are im&ortant- too6 /oth Welsh.s&eaking and Irish audiences seem to in(est in the rural and redneck connotations of =ountry music- and in its determined e(ocations of a sense of &lace threatened /y the &ressures of modernity and dislocation) >ooking /eyond the =eltic world and its dias&ora- a num/er of forms ha(e /een drawn from the musics of other &eo&les seeking &olitical and cultural freedom6 the musical con(entions /oth assert and conte'tualise the lyrical agenda) =ari//ean forms such as caly&so and- a/o(e all- reggae ha(e /een hugely influential in Welsh.language music for o(er twenty years- their echoing &atterns of du/ and (ocal re&etition- and their traditions of commentary and seriousness of &ur&ose engaging &owerfully in the &olitically o(ert work of musicians such as Geraint Farman and %dward H) ?afis) *he /an,o also &lays a widely influential role in a num/er of Welsh /ands- its ,aunty asserti(eness an a&&ro&riate foil for satire and in(ecti(e) !ore recent influences ha(e /een *ownshi& musics from southern frica and >atin forms from =entral and :outh merica) *he guitar strung and tuned to frican &atterns not only e(okes the guerrilla rock of Sim/a/we<s *he Four +rothers and the struggles against a&artheid &ersonified /y *he >adysmith +lack !am/a8o +and- /ut contri/utes an irre(erence and o&timism to contem&orary Welsh resistance music) +lues- too- &articularly acoustic harmonica. led ;:outhern< /lues forms- ha(e /een (ery dee&ly integrated into the Welsh musical (oca/ulary)

/: 0esistance Musics
!artin :tokes has commented that ;scholarly /inarisms< can as often o/scure our &erce&tions as inform them 3:tokes- 1004- &)007- and !ark :lo/in regretted that all too often- new musicological studies seem to offer only ;an idiosyncratic set of analytical terms and tools< 3:lo/in- 1004- &)#7) In identifying these threads of musical influence in contem&orary Welsh.language music I am not seeking to se&arate de(elo&ments here from those elsewhere) !any of the currents noted are e(ident in %nglish.language music- too- /oth across Hffa<s ?yke and in the 9: ) ?afydd Iwan has cited 2ete :eeger and Foan +ae8 among his most formati(e influences- and Fohn

2eel has acted as a highly successful ad(ocate and &o&ulariser of radical Welsh /ands for years) Hegemonic forces do- howe(er- seem to ha(e succeeded in asserting commercial im&erati(es o(er rock music in the %nglish language to a greater e'tent than in some other cultures- &erha&s &articularly those like y Fro Gymraeg- too small to offer great &rofits- and yet strong and confident enough to throw u& effecti(e musical and industrial leadershi&s) Glo/al. tlantic rock has itself often /een &ercei(ed as an essentially o&&ositional music- growing as it did out of fro. merican forms stee&ed in the e'&erience of o&&ression- and a&&ealing initially to the young with their innate tendency- remarked u&on /y 2lato- to re/el against the ideas and con(entions of the older generations) $ecently- nn Da&lan has sought to disco(er su/(ersion in ;the &ace of !*J< and its &ri(ileging of hedonism o(er am/ition 3Da&lan- 1045- &&)123.47) *he o&&ositional- though- like the inde&endent- is a difficult conce&t to &in down6 o&&osition to what- from whatP +ut although mainstream rock forms ha(e continued- at times- to &ro(ide sco&e for dissent- the ease with which they ha(e in general /een a&&ro&riated /y commercial and conser(ati(e interests . ;*he Wild Hne< shading im&erce&ti/ly into cult figure and fashion statement . should not /e sur&rising) s Grodin and >indlof &oint out- the ideology of self.determination and the @uest for indi(idual freedom has ;always /een a dominant theme in merican culture<and concerns a/out self ;integral< to it 3Grodin A >indlof- 100#- &&)".#7) In !iddleton<s words ;*he struggle for control of the counter.cultural style was always a struggle /etween different as&ects of the same dominant &rinci&le< 3!iddleton- 1001&)327) nd yet hegemonies are leaky- ;com&le'- often contradictory and &erha&s &arado'ical< 3:lo/in- 1004- &)257- and o&&ositional currents constantly re.emerge within mainstream nglo&hone music- drawing on resistance moods and con(entions from elsewhere- and at the same time stimulating and enriching the reser(oir of counter.cultural forms and meanings a(aila/le to other musicians and audiences) We li(e in a time when e(en the French language- itself with im&erial and glo/al &retensions and intentions- has /een thrown on the defensi(e /y the &enetration of nglo. merican- as the actions of the cademie Francaise ha(e recently demonstrated) :maller societies- faced more immediately with threats of e'termination and incor&oration- ha(e /een forced increasingly to define themsel(es against the dominant (alues of nglo. merican consumer ca&italism6 to /ecome in their (arious ways what 2aolo Freire calls ;resistance cultures< 3104"- &)157) ccording to J):) Eai&aul- ;*he first thing a missionary must teach is self.contem&t<- and whether through &u/lic education or commercial ad(ertising this &olicy has /een followed /y im&erialists since the :tatute of Dilkenny in 134# and the ct of 9nion in 1"3#- the latter of which demanded the ;e'tir&ation of the sinister usages and customs< associated with the Welsh language) :imilar &atterns can /e seen in the education of !aori children throughout most of this century- to take one e'am&le- or in the &enetration of +ra8ilian media forms /y merican commercial im&erati(es- descri/ed /y !ario Hsa(o 31001- &&)22.257) $es&onses to these &ressures ha(e (aried widelyfrom the Ghost ?ance of the Hglala :iou' to the destruction of satellite dishes and cassette ta&es /y ;fundamentalists< in fghanistan and :audi ra/ia6 /ut a common thread among resistance cultures is the affirmation- in the face of glo/al hegemony and the taste.and.agenda setting &ower of the glo/al media e(en at home- of what are &ercei(ed to /e their own core (alues) 2o&ular music in different resistance cultures may /e framing and em&owering widely different core &rinci&les) Fames :nead has suggested- for e'am&le- that the em&hasis on ;the cut6 an a/ru&t- seemingly unmoti(ated /reak- with a series already in

&rogress and a willed return to a &rior series< in many frican musical forms- ser(es to em&hasise a sense of social continuity- ;to confront accident and ru&ture not /y co(ering them o(er- /ut /y making room for them inside the system itself< 3:nead1001- &)2217) ?ick He/dige has related ;the cut ;n< mi' aesthetic< of much modern =ari//ean music to the societies< long.term e'&eriences of fragmentation- dislocatione'&loitation and recreation 3He/dige- 1045- &&)2#.417) dmitting that there may /e ;no such thing as a &oint of origin- least of all in something as sli&&ery as music< he em&hasises that ;that doesn<t mean there isn<t history< 3i/id)- &&)11.127) $esistance musics are largely e'&ressed in terms of commonality and shared e'&erience rather than indi(idualism- and defined against the dominant commercial.indi(idual ethics and aesthetics of that rock music which too many critics insist on regarding as the whole) *he work of $oger Wallis and Drister !alm- /ased in :weden- e'amining first of all the music industries of si'teen small countries- including Wales- and more recently focusing in greater detail on four- has left them uncertain whether the ne't century will see the ;homogenisation< of the world<s musics or the de(elo&ment of the &rocess they descri/e as ;transculturation< 3Wallis A !alm- 1044 A 10017) *hey identify three current models of interaction /etween the glo/al centres and the margins . e'change- domination and im&erialism- which they feel e'ist- in different &ro&ortions- in all current transactions) *hey suggest the &ossi/le emergence of a fourth- ;transculture<6 a reser(oir of shared musical forms- largely rooted in fro. merican &atterns /ut constantly refreshed- and drawn on- /y the needs and contri/utions of musicians and audiences in a multi&licity of cultures) Forms may thus di(ersify as much as con(erge- and musical cultures de(elo& in ra&id and une'&ected ways 3Wallis A !alm- 1001- &&)153.1417) criti@ue of &o&ular musics /ased on these foundations may not only /e useful in looking within small cultures- /ut as a (alua/le tool in engaging with the com&le' and (aried interactions that take &lace /etween nglo. merican glo/al forms and musicians and audiences within so.called ;minority< cultures world.wide) s He/dige &ut it- it is immersion in the &articular which hel&s guard against too into'icating an in(ol(ement in theory 3He/dige- 1044- &)127- and an awareness of the &articularities of small societies may well em&ower understanding of the com&le'ity and (i/rancy of transcultural e'changes) !any of the resistances and o&&ositions that e'ist within the seeming monolith of the dominant discourse look to forms emerging from the resistance cultures- as the growing interest in ;World !usics< demonstrates- and in the ensuing colla/orations the struggles for autonomy- authenticity and a&&ro&riation are /orn again) It is im&ortant to remem/er- though- that although music and other cultural elements constitute a field of conflict within which ideologies- e'&ectations and &leasures com&ete- the arts and entertainments themsel(es are &art of greater clashes) *o many musicians and many listeners- music is a wea&on . among others . in a more crucial /attle) ;If there<s one thing I can<t stand-< says *wm !orys- ;it<s &eo&le who think that ,ust /ecause nowadays we see a few /ilingual signs- and there<s a Welsh *J channel- the /attle for the language is o(er) It isn<t6 in some ways the situation is e(en more dangerous) It needs all our imagination- and all our energy- to win this /attle- and that<s why I do what I do< 3inter(iew with the author on (ideota&e ;$ockin< a :mall +oat<undistri/uted100#7)

0eferences
/u.>ughod- >ila 310407 ;+edouins- =assettes and *echnologies of 2u/lic =ulture<- Middle East Report- 1"0 347- 5.11)

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