Dec 1, 2009
sexismandthecity: In the original stage version of the musical, Anita (the girlfriend of the leader of the Sharks, and the musical’s most important female character besides Maria) literally sings the praises of the United States of America, while a fellow Puerto Rican, Rosalia, sings in favor of Puerto Rico. This version of the song arguably provides an unfavorable caricature of the island, while only highlighting positive qualities of the United States (“I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan,” “if there’s a road you can drive on”). In the 1961 film version of the musical, Anita still sings in favor of the United States, while Bernardo responds to her praises with corresponding criticisms satirizing latent racism in American society, especially towards Puerto Ricans (“Life is all right in America,” “If you’re all white in America”). Most of the song’s original disparaging elements towards Puerto Rico have been removed. From a technical standpoint, the alternating of 3/4 (three quarter notes) with 6/8 (two groups of three eighth-notes), while the value of the eight-note remains constant, is a distinctive characteristic of the song. This rhythm has been called both a hemiola and a habanera, although it is not really either. The “two” and “three” bars alternate, but they are not superposed, as in a hemiola. The alternating two and three is similar to the aria “Habanera” from Carmen, but “America” lacks the distinctive characteristic underlying rhythm of the habanera form. The composer’s tempo instruction is “Tempo di Huapango”. In 1967, The Nice, featuring future Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist, Keith Emerson, covered this song for their second single. This version featured the main theme playing against a straight 4/4 beat, also including pieces of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, then changing in the middle to 6/8 for improvised guitar and organ solos. In a protest against the American involvement in Vietnam, Emerson burned an American flag onstage during his performance. Heavy metal band Metallica plays the 6/8 3/4 eight bar phrase in the introduction to their song “Don’t Tread on Me” (released on their 1991 album Metallica). In 1994, the BBC used an instrumental version of the song as the theme to its coverage of the World Cup that was held in the United States. “America (West Side Story song).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Sep 2009, 18:10 UTC. 1 Dec 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=America_(West_Side_Story_song)&oldid=316532574>.

sexismandthecity:

In the original stage version of the musical, Anita (the girlfriend of the leader of the Sharks, and the musical’s most important female character besides Maria) literally sings the praises of the United States of America, while a fellow Puerto Rican, Rosalia, sings in favor of Puerto Rico. This version of the song arguably provides an unfavorable caricature of the island, while only highlighting positive qualities of the United States (“I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan,” “if there’s a road you can drive on”).

In the 1961 film version of the musical, Anita still sings in favor of the United States, while Bernardo responds to her praises with corresponding criticisms satirizing latent racism in American society, especially towards Puerto Ricans (“Life is all right in America,” “If you’re all white in America”). Most of the song’s original disparaging elements towards Puerto Rico have been removed.

From a technical standpoint, the alternating of 3/4 (three quarter notes) with 6/8 (two groups of three eighth-notes), while the value of the eight-note remains constant, is a distinctive characteristic of the song. This rhythm has been called both a hemiola and a habanera, although it is not really either. The “two” and “three” bars alternate, but they are not superposed, as in a hemiola. The alternating two and three is similar to the aria “Habanera” from Carmen, but “America” lacks the distinctive characteristic underlying rhythm of the habanera form. The composer’s tempo instruction is “Tempo di Huapango”.

In 1967, The Nice, featuring future Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist, Keith Emerson, covered this song for their second single. This version featured the main theme playing against a straight 4/4 beat, also including pieces of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, then changing in the middle to 6/8 for improvised guitar and organ solos. In a protest against the American involvement in Vietnam, Emerson burned an American flag onstage during his performance.

Heavy metal band Metallica plays the 6/8 3/4 eight bar phrase in the introduction to their song “Don’t Tread on Me” (released on their 1991 album Metallica).

In 1994, the BBC used an instrumental version of the song as the theme to its coverage of the World Cup that was held in the United States.

“America (West Side Story song).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Sep 2009, 18:10 UTC. 1 Dec 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=America_(West_Side_Story_song)&oldid=316532574>.

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