Week 7 – Context and Aesthetics

In class this week we listened to several artists in the experimental and industrial scene including Throbbing Gristle, muslimgauze, Einsturzende Neubauten and Cedric Fermont. We discussed how context and their aesthetics affected the listening and engagement with us.

For example, we looked at muslimgauze and how he steps the line between displaying a political message and cultural appropriation in his production style and his heavy use of Middle Eastern soundscapes and instrumentation as an English Musician and Producer.

“Muslimgauze’s music can be described as usually monotonous “ethnic” percussion, interspersed with Middle Eastern sounds and atmospherics, with some excursions into ambient or slightly more dance-floor oriented material. “ (Fringeli, 2023)

I will be looking into the song “The Unknown Soldier” by The Doors. This song was written at the height of the Vietnam war and is a song of anti-war.

after the band played the International Ballroom at the Hilton Hotel, in Arlington, Virginia, in November 1967, Morrison visited the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier in the nearby Arlington Cemetery. The visit inspired him to pen the lyrics for the song of the same name, which The Doors worked up on the road before recording it as the follow-up single to their Top 30 hit Love Me Two Times. (York, 2023)

The song tells the story of the death of an unknown soldier and how children were watching the war on their televisions at home while their fathers were being killed. (Whitaker, 2013)

The song was deemed controversial and many radio stations refused to play it (Alpha History, 2018) due to its violent themes.

The eerie vocals speak directly of the atrocities of war. As the song progresses, samples of gunfire, military drums, chants and church bells can be heard until Morrison begins to chant that ‘war is over’ towards the end of the song.

This can be seen as a depiction of the futility of war but it remains to be seen if all this was meant to confirm an optimistic belief in pacifism.  (Nones, 2016)

Along with the song came an equally politically charged music video which depicted Jim Morrison tied to a strut of a pier and shot down. The video then cuts to footage of the Vietnam War. This video was often played behind the band as they performed this song.

Fringeli, C. (2023) Anti-semitism from beyond the grave – muslimgauze’s jihad, Datacide. Available at: https://datacide-magazine.com/anti-semitism-from-beyond-the-grave-muslimgauzes-jihad-2/ (Accessed: 24 November 2023). 

History, A. (2018) The doors: ‘The unknown soldier’ (1968), Vietnam War. Available at: https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/the-doors-the-unknown-soldier-1968/#:~:text=Many%20radio%20stations%20refused%20to,with%20soldiers%20serving%20in%20Vietnam. (Accessed: 24 November 2023). 

Nones, A. (2016) Behind the doors: Perceptions of reality, Music and Politics. Available at: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mp/9460447.0010.104/–behind-the-doors-perceptions-of-reality?rgn=main%3Bview (Accessed: 24 November 2023). 

Whitaker, S. (2013) The doors, ‘unknown soldier’ – songs about soldiers, Ultimate Classic Rock. Available at: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/the-doors-songs-about-soldiers/ (Accessed: 24 November 2023). 

York, A. (2023) ‘The unknown soldier’: The story behind the doors’ potent anti-war song, Dig! Available at: https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/the-unknown-soldier-the-doors-song-story/ (Accessed: 24 November 2023).