Peopling State of Mind
“New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.” The song ‘Empire State of Mind’ features rapper Jay-Z and singer Alicia Keys. ‘Empire State of Mind’ resonates with many New Yorkers because the melody and beats are beguiling and fresh and the lyrics are a true description of the busy city life and the people within it. The song names particular streets and locations and the demographics of the people within them. It gives congratulations to survivors of hard circumstances, whilst acknowledging individuals who have had sacrificed a lot to make it in this big city. However, ‘Empire State of Mind’ is not only a description of New York, but is also an ode. While some people might call it a simple reference to the big apple, New Yorkers call it an anthem.
A large portion of our video takes place on the roof of the Science Building at Queens College. We chose this location because as shown in the video, the top of the science building has a beautiful view of the outline of New York. The boundary of the entire island is clearly scene, even certain buildings. From this viewpoint it is easy to imagine the people who live in the city and their daily going-ons, very easy to envision the different lives of the people of New York.
The rest of the video includes clips from films we have watched for class. Scenes from Brother From Another Planet, Goodfellas, West Side Story, and Do the Right Thing are all shown in the video to represent the different people and places of our big city. These films show individuals of different backgrounds, races, and social circumstances. But they all have one thing in common: their home.
Take a look: http://youtu.be/OHnxVA1wYrY
Lyrics, without them a song is meaningless.The Peopling of New York – Empire State of Mind Spoof
For our seminar project, we set out to make a cover of “Empire State of Mind” and to weave in the key themes we’ve discussed this semester. Take a look for yourself:
Boom
[Verse 1: Ebby-A]
Yea we reppin NY, studying the people
began with Jazz Singer, then we went to Hester Street
Conflicts of identity, who am I really?
Questions for my immigrants, remain who you really are?
do you assimilate? Wanna be like Jackie?
Let’s get scientific, talk about The Brother
couldn’t really talk but he blended in,
Catch me crossing boundaries – status, race, and culture
Lets make a pit stop, holla at West Side
Just like the Sharks, gotta prove that I belong here
‘Nough bout the marginal migrant experience
Fade to black and white we gonna stop at Nazermans
Say sup to them ghettos, from past and present
Brings bout the subject of Whiteness – Preach Dyer
These films show that NY, has many neighborhoods
All these films come together on one thing, they’re all set in…
[Chorus: Kathleen Fels]
New York, place that shows what the world is made of
There’s nothin’ that’s missing
Because its New York
Little Italy, and Soho
Just name places to go
The people of New York, New York, New York
[Verse 2: Ebby-A]
Catch me rolling at Bed-Stuy with my homie Mookie
Full of racial tensions, did he do the right thing?
Was he trying to help Sal, or was it Black Power?
Either way Love Daddy had it right chill the beep out
Can’t talk about New York, without gentrification
Elgar was The Landlord, wanted to gentrify
He tried man, but he failed, instead he, blended in
It’s gonna get dark in here, film noir, Christ in Concrete
Capitalism, man it can change you
Lied to get a wife, when he changed it was too late
Me, I got a gang, hoping one day I get made
Said he got shot, now the scenes gonna fade
Radio Days, it’s like magic
Selling cigarettes, now (I’m) on the radio
American Dream, what a wonderful phrase
Long live the films yo, we can study the people of
[Chorus: Kathleen Fels]
New York, place that shows what the world is made of
There’s nothin’ that’s missing
Because its New York
Little Italy, and Soho
Just to name places to go
The people of New York, New York, New York
[Bridge: Kathleen Fels]
I didn’t know that spot was ever there
Can’t compare NY to just anywhere
Place for the millionaires, Home to the working class
Central park where I’m at
Everybody say “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah”
[Chorus: Kathleen Fels]
New York, place that shows what the world is made of
There’s nothin’ that’s missing
Because its New York
Little Italy, and Soho
Just to name the places with
The people of New York, New York, New York
My favorite part of this seminar is how it is structured. Every week we view a different film, show, etc. and discuss a new notion involving immigrants. The lyrics reflect this. As you go through the two verses you see how our class developed. “Began with Jazz Singer, then we went to Hester Street.” Those two films wrestled with the concept of identity, and shined a light on the conflicts of identity many immigrants face when they come to New York hence, “Question for my immigrants, remain who you really are?”
Then, we find ourselves in the science fiction world of The Brother and how despite his ability to communicate with the New Yorkers he blended in with us, “Catch me crossing boundaries – status, race, and culture.” “Fade to black and white we gonna stop at Nazermans.” In the world of the Pawnbroker through Nazerman’s eyes we were able to connect with the ghettos of both past and present. It is also where we first formally grappled with the notion of Whiteness, “Preach Dyer.”
Next, we hit the lyrics of the chorus. The chorus contrast the bridge since the chorus talks about New York in general as opposed to the films and themes of the class. It’s all about some of the general characteristics of New York “…place that shows what the world is made of.”
The second verse begins with the big question we spent hours discussing in class, “did he do the right thing?” The lyrics also reflect the two major motives we discussed: Mookie throwing the can to help Sal versus Mookie throwing it as a symbol of Black Power. Then two big weeks: gentrification with The Landlord and film noir with Christ in Concrete. Was Elgar a man of gentrification or did he become part of the neighborhood? Christ in Concrete showed us the power of capitalism and its hold on some immigrants. How it transforms us. Finally, we end with Radio Days and the American Dream, a theme we saw in several films this semester. It is often the driving force that brings immigrants here; it is the most appealing aspect of New York as Alicia says, “…Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”
As for the video itself, we tried to incorporate a few of the techniques we discussed in class. In the beginning of the video, we have a three-shot accompanied by a jump cut. The jump cut is associated in our analysis of the film “The Pawnbroker” when Nazerman penetrates his hand with a receipt holder. In addition to the three-shot, we used decelerated motion as seen at 0:14. Why? Simply because we wanted to show the backdrop of the video. By slowing down this part, the viewer can take a look at the composition of the shot and faintly make out the background of the city. Once the scene fades, the viewer is then presented with a transition from a stabilizing fixture to a hand-held shot which captures a slightly better view of the city. From this point on, a majority of the video includes vital scenes of the films we watched. Each of these scenes has their unique mise-en-scene to them, but I chose to specifically focus on the scene in “Do The Right Thing.” The scene of Mookie throwing the garbage can raised many viewpoints and I wanted to give homage to that, which is why I chose to loop it. Throughout the second half of the video, there is a back and forth between the clips of the movie and the footage of our group on top the science building overlooking the rest of Queens College. This reason for this (aside from being able to see parts of the city) is that we wanted to show everyone what our New York is. In every film, there is a certain depiction of New York, either the immigrant life or the middle class life or the Jewish life. For example, the New York depicted in “Goodfellas” is the mob life and what we as a group wanted to do was to show what our New York is and the people of it. We therefore showed the campus of Queens College to indicate that this is our New York. This is what makes New York so versatile – the fact that there are groups of people who can relate to one another by means of a common place.
