by Alexandre Foy
I chose "Cyclops" as my chapter for this project, as I attempted to make a new-age Irish folk ballad, combining elements of traditional Irish folk music with punk and rock overtones. "Cyclops" is the twelfth chapter of Ulysses, arguably James Joyce's most famous work, in which one of the most important characters -- Leopold Bloom -- argues with a staunch Irish nationalist at Kiernan's pub in Dublin. Though the chapter's narration drifts freely through several characters in the episode, it's focus remains on Bloom and the nationalist -- referred to as "the citizen" -- revealing the clashing views of both men, and serving as a microcosm for the larger political debate within Ireland at the time the book was written. Throughout Ulysses, Leopold Bloom serves as an example of the scapegoat, constantly berated by others and put down because of his perceived Jewish piety, and only ever defended by a select few friends. In the chapter, Bloom fits nicely into the mold of the citizen's fears and hates: the muddling of the Irish nation with English intruders, the entrance of foreigners/non-Catholic into Ireland, the loss of Irish culture in the face of foreign occupation. I began the project by looking through the chapter, picking out phrases or sentences that I felt represented the overarching discourse/argument between the citizen and Bloom. Bloom is the more peaceful of the two men, often interrupted by the rest of the group and rarely listened to, yet usually advocating for some kind of compromise or reparatory gesture ("Love, says Bloom. I mean, the opposite of hatred" [p.273]). Time and time again, the citizen and his cronies antagonize Bloom, ridiculing him for his publicly troubled marriage, his (again-)perceived stinginess, his religious beliefs, as well as his heritage. As the conversation goes on, there are parallels drawn between Bloom and the citizen's image of the "curse of Ireland", Bloom becoming the target for all of the man's pent-up resentment about not only his own country and government, but towards outsiders as well:
- "That's your glorious British navy, says the citizen, that bosses the earth." (p.269)
- "we'll put force against force" (p.270) - "would soon be as few Irish in Ireland as redskins in America" (p.270) - "[French] were never worth a roasted fart to Ireland" (p.271)
- "Where is [Bloom]? says Lenehan. Defrauding widows and orphans." (p.276)
- "the sight nearly left my eyes when I saw him land out a quid." (p.244)
Theme of Alcoholism: "Ireland is sober, or Ireland is free" (p.255)
- Bloom paints alcohol as the plague of Ireland, the curse the Irish subject themselves • "Drink, the curse of Ireland" (p.255)
- Citizen's description: "waiting for what the sky would drop in way of drink", "what a small fortune to keep him in his drinks" (p.259)
- Bloom pays for the men's drinks, yet they believe he is actually leeching off of them
Infidelity:
- Bloom is mocked and chided (behind his back) for being a known cuckold -- Molly Bloom is sleeping with Blazes Boylan - "adulteress and paramour" (p.259) - "dishonoured wife" (p.259)
- Helen of Troy/Cleopatra --> idea of the woman being to blame, "brought Saxon robbers" (p.259)
I wanted to create a song that encapsulated the two men's opposing views, as well as some of elements of the conversations going on around them in the pub. Irish folk music seemed the best option to represent the theme of the conversation with -- as it almost always focuses on famous Irish history, heroes, romances -- and in order to recreate, in some sense, the music that plays in the background of the bar. Using my Launchpad (a beat machine/MIDI controller) and an Ableton program (a music producing software), I attempted to sample an old Irish folk song, and use it as the base of the melody of my song, while also integrating in elements of modern rock, and hip hop. I tried to seamlessly blend my own guitar playing into the track with the folk sample, and then layering on audio effects and self-made drum tracks to create a harsh, rock tone on another portion of the song -- and in so doing, tried to underline the dueling styles of music, which in turn represented the citizen's and Bloom's clashing ideals.
In order to craft the lyrics, I took the notes I had compiled, and drew from those different phrases or sentences that I liked the most. I wanted to make a discourse/discussion, by beginning with Bloom's point of views, and then interrupting them with the citizen's (in the musical form: rock intrusion in the Irish ballad). The first attempts at writing the lyrics, I found myself trying to fill in the gaps between excerpts in order to create rhyme schemes, but realized that this only halted the rhythm of the vocals, and drew less from the actual text. I was trying to write lyrics inspired by the content of "Cyclops", in order to make it a little easier to match the tempo of the music, and also make the verses more coherent. As time went on, however, I realized that this made it much harder to relate my lyrics back to the text -- I then decided to try and use as much found text as possible, while incorporating my own words at times in order to make transitions between the excerpts.
I returned to my notes, trying to hone in on a few notable themes in the chapter: Alienation, Infidelity/Pride, Irish identity, Alcoholism. I then started organizing the lyrics into 3 major segments: An introduction (objective, commentator), Bloom's argument, and then finally the citizen's. I eventually ended up following this rubric a little less closely, in order to include more juxtapositions and interruptions within the tracks (rock segment reappears towards latter half of the song), and also when creating the final segment. After writing out the lyrics, I circled/boxed/underlined the words and phrases that I pulled from the text, in order to better visualize the mosaic of excerpts, and see the ways I juxtaposed certain key themes.
Making of the music
I started the process of creating the song by trying to find lyrics, and building a melody around those. However, as the project developed, I realized that Bloom and the citizen express their views throughout the chapter, and that it might be easier instead to fit excerpts from passages into a melody -- rather than shaping a melody around the found text.
Influences on this song: The Dubliners, The Pogues
I wanted to create a song that both followed the rubric of a traditional Irish ballad, with several loud, crashing rock interruptions. This was meant to mimic the clash between the citizen's and Bloom's dueling views, as well as the intensity and rhythm of the argument in Kiernan's Pub. I started by choosing an old Irish folk song to take a sample from, and spent some time finding one I felt fit the bill. I eventually settled on "On Raglan Road", sung by Luke Kelly (a member of The Dubliners) on an Irish talk show. In the clip I viewed, he prefaces the song by remembering that the first time he played it was upon meeting a renowned Irish poet and novelist -- Patrick Kavanagh -- in the Bailey Pub in Dublin. Kavanagh suggested that Kelly sing the song, after hearing his unique singing voice. I felt that the song fit well with the style I was trying to achieve, and its context gave it a slight similarity to the scenes in "Cyclops", in the sense that it's perfomance involved a discussion in a pub.
"On Raglan Road", Luke Kelly:
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=gYJO5fJgNSQ&t=105s&frags=pl%2Cwn
I chose an excerpt from the clip that I found fairly beautiful -- in which Luke Kelly sings of "her own dark hair/like clouds in fields of May" -- and used that as the introduction to the track. I then faded the sample out, and sampled a different section in which Kelly's fingerpicking can faintly be heard. I made a transition between the old and new sample, and then looped the second selection to play through almost the entire song.
I then started picking a fairly simple, uplifting melody on an acoustic guitar, and recording that (chord progression -- D/G/D/A). This progression matches a few of the chords in "On Raglan Road", which I borrowed in order to create a good transition into my track, following the sample. The melody is fingerpicked slowly at first, and eventually turns into strumming. I then used a beatmaker (photographed in the first section) to produce a snare drum and a kick over the acoustic guitar track. This gave the track a tempo to follow, and made the melody feel a little faster and more uplifting -- I hoped to create this effect, so as to recreate the atmosphere of the pub, and create the kind of song you would sing along to in a bar. The drums give the acoustic guitar energy, and yet keep order, maintain tempo. The song changes drastically, however, following this riff, turning into a cacophony of drums, cymbals, and rock guitar (I applied an audio effect to the acoustic guitar track to create static/rough rock sound). I wanted this crashing effect to be the citizen's interruption, a wave of noise and other voices overwhelming Bloom's peaceful message. Kelly's voice and the song's gentle beginning, in my eyes, represent Bloom's somewhat subservient, unconfrontational
I then took all of these different layers, and compiled them into a single audio file in order to continue adding to the track (the program I use only allows up to 8 individual layers on a track). I took the first part that I'd made, put it on a new file, and then re-looped the folk song so as to extend the length of the song, and keep that melody subtly running throughout.
Following this, I used my group partner's (Will) electric guitar and audio interface to create two riffs to follow the melody I had up until then. I kept the basic melody of the verse and chorus, in order to preserve a unifying thread throughout the track, but also in order to make the vocals and intensity change noticeably from segment to segment. I then added a simple drum beat, again in order to restore balance for a moment with the tempo.
Finally, I wrote the lyrics once the music was almost done, and recorded over the tracks I'd made (see section above for information on lyrics). I tried, at the end, to create harmonies and echoes in the vocal recordings, so as to both create dissonance and harmony between the layers. I conceptualized this as the ending of "Cyclops", a final crescendo wherein both sides come crashing together, ending violently yet not providing a real resolution to the melody.
Final Lyrics: In the evening down in Dublin
A pub on Little Britain's Way
A dark horse wins a race he'll Throwaway
But an old Irish red setter
Growling, grousing, violently
Dreams of a greater Ireland beyond the sea
You call that a man? A hero?
Your glorious British navy? They syphilized the civilized of us
Swindle peasants, poor, you paramour, of strangers we will have no more The road is rough alone, Sinn Fein Amhain
He laid and died With a song upon his lips
A dishonoured wife, says the good citizen
Seven dry Thursdays for the wife's advisers
Drink, the curse of Ireland, John be the wiser
Force against force, spark the burning Irish fire
Full many a flower blooms a rank outsider
Patty Shakespeare, Cuchulain, Robert Emmet
Patty Shakespeare, Cuchulain, Robert Emmet
And Ireland sober is Ireland free
An eye for an eye is as blind as can be
I'll buy drinks til' it's over and cry on your broadshoulders
We must give up force, hatred, and history
Force, hatred and history
Force, hatred and history
Force, hatred and history
Force, hatred and history
The opposite of love is hatred, really
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