Three Sirens: Near, Far, Wherever You Are...
When I was growing up, N.W.A. was all the rage. I loved it. A friend and I managed to buy a cassette tape of their first release before Tipper Gore slapped all of her “This music is too naughty for children” labels on it in the 90’s. We used to listen to it every day. One of the musicians I played with in High School had come to Southern California from England and was curious why all the rap songs had that high-pitched, reoccurring siren in the background. We all laughed, but none of us white folk had an answer.
There are, in fact, three different types of sirens, according to Greek legend. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Proclus, the Greek Neoplatonist Philosopher cites that “there were three kinds of sirens: the celestial, the generative, and the purificatory / cathartic. The first were under the government of Zeus, the second under that of Poseidon, and the third of Hades. When the soul is in heaven the sirens seek, by harmonic motion, to unite it to the divine life of the celestial host; and when in Hades, to conform the soul to eternal infernal regimen; but when on earth their only job to "produce generation, of which the sea is emblematic". The common tale told about the mythological siren today is that they are dangerous creatures who lure nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to their death among the rocks of their island. The idea being that the sailors (men) are so captivated by the music that they either are distracted enough to forget they are sailing or enchanted enough to want to follow the music, at whatever the cost. So, as it stands, people have a long history of blaming music for their mistakes. (“It was the songs fault I crashed that ship.” ) N.W.A. used a different siren in their music, but was never, to my knowledge, blamed for any naval incidents. We placed a whole different kind of blame on them.
Either I’m feeling a bit cynical this morning or having a bit of trouble shifting the tone of this writing to a more neighborly place. What ever the case, it is interesting to think that music captivates us in ways that we can’t, (or won’t) always explain. I still, to this day, can’t help my toes from tapping when Elvis comes on with “Jailhouse Rock”. I blame that on the sirens call. I don’t even know all the words. I just remember something about Joey’s slide trombone. I can, incidentally, recite, word for word, Eazy-E’s entire album Eazy-Duz-It from 1988 like it was yesterday. I guess it must be the siren. Or perhaps, music about the hard life of a thug is different when it comes from Eric Wright than from Elvis Presley.
In any case, its easy to see what was so attractive about the famous Bizet piece, Carmen, knowing now that our troubles can so easily be explained away through the wiles of an attractive woman and her voice. Even the French were a bit skeptical at first. The premier of Carmen on March 3rd, 1875 did not go well, and it wasn’t until 1883 that it got a more favorable review. This was unfortunately, 7 years too late for Bizet, who died of heart failure during the 33rd performance. There is a complex story going on here, and for whom, I imagine is up to the listener. Much like N.W.A. or Elvis, its easy to just listen to the song and head for the rocks. For me, I think I might not have given up my life as a sailor for Carmen, but after listening to her voice, I surely would have given her a dance. Apparently for the siren, there are some that we learn to run towards, some that we run away from, and some that are meant to be enjoyed while drinking your morning coffee.
The listening example today is from Carmen - Habanera (Bizet; Anna Caterina Antonacci, The Royal Opera). Thanks for reading!