"Rise Above"

I find it ironic that once I got Internet access, the first song I looked up on YouTube was “Rise Above” by Dirty Projectors. I just needed some English-speaking music in my life again and immediately went for the Dirty Projectors. I love this band so why is this choice so ironic?

The song I chose, “Rise Above,” is a cover of the song by Black Flag, the seminal punk rock band from California. Punk, actually, is huge here in Ecuador especially amongst the youth. My internship is located right next to a public high school and I see the kids walking around in black jeans and Nirvana or Ramones shirts with their hair cut and died with a mess of gel. There aren’t many but I can’t help but hold a figurative “rock on” sign in my mind when I pass by them. Back in the 70s and 80s, Black Flag were the first true punk rockers anywhere. Their music is a symbol of rebellion against systemic and oppressive modes of thought. Here are some choice lyrics from “Rise Above”:

Society's arms of control
(Rise above
We're gonna rise above)
Think they're smart
Can't think for themselves
(Rise above
We're gonna rise above)
Laugh at us
Behind our backs
I find satisfaction
In what they lack

For those outside the states, the Dirty Projectors version is characterized as ‘indie’ and not much else. Mostly because ‘indie’ has served as a catchall term for any independent music, no matter the differences in sound and genre. But also because the music of Dirty Projectors pulls from so many different influences (African beats, pop, R&B, etc.) that their music becomes so hard to classify. It’s sort of what ‘punk’ has meant for such a long time. Punk music spans many different sounds, mostly loud and angry, but unclassifiable amongst its listeners as well its denouncers. It’s got a history and ideology much like indie music today, which (if done right) prides itself on innovative sounds and independent production. The States: Indie. Latin America/Ecuador: Punk.

Punk, though, is what holds strong here in Quito. Just the tag ‘punk’ means so much as graffiti in the streets on the walls. All the radio programs that I’ve taken note of haven’t played really mellow indie music that I tend to listen to but I’ve already met musicians with a strong tradition of trova (folk music) in Latin America. I wonder if anyone listens to Black Flag or Dirty Projectors or at the every least Bright Eyes? I think Jonathan Franzen may have hit it right when he mentioned Conor Oberst in Freedom, he really is sort of the closest thing we Americans have to a Bob Dylan of our generation.

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/15601/