http://flyingharmony.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
flyingharmony.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hh_clubs2011-07-31 07:02 pm
flyingharmony.livejournal.com) wrote in hh_clubs2011-07-31 07:02 pm
Entry tags:
History of Magic: History's Soundtrack (Term XX, Activity #07)
Activity: History's Soundtrack
Points: Participation Only: 10 points
Deadline: Submit your songs by Monday, August 15th @ 23:59 UTC (timezone converter).
Details: Post a link (or embend a youtube player) to a song of your choice that remidns you of a certain Historical (can be Magical or Muggle) event, then write a short essay of at least 100 words about why you think the song fits the event.
You can't understand today without a look at the past. Join History of Magic today!
RAVENCLAWS
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Your Song: It's the End of the World as We Know It, by R.E.M. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY)
Event: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event? This Cold War event was arguably the closest the world ever came to a true nuclear attack. By placing missiles within firing range of the US, the Soviet Union - and our response to its actions - brought us to the absolute brink of war. Both sides understood that we had mutually assured destruction. Once one side fired, the other would retaliate, and that could quite literally have been the end of the world as we know it. The fast-paced nature of the song, as the lyrics just spit out people and events one after the other, puts me in mind of how the minds of the nations' leaders must have been constantly churning and moving from one thought to the next, wondering what was going to happen. Finally, the fact that the song claims the singer "feels fine" about the end of the world reminds me of the Sixties in general, and the whole hippie counter-culture. How many "regular" people understood at the time how close we came to destroying ourselves?
Word Count: 181 words
Shannon//Ravenclaw
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Your Song: I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (http://youtu.be/wYZM__VdEjk) (the actual song starts about a minute into the video)
Event: The Charge of the Light Brigade
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event?
Okay, before people come after me for associating a comedic song with a tragedy… hear me out. The song is all about how the “modern major-general” is chosen for his class and background, rather than for his military expertise. He comments that he is still waiting for the day when he has a “smattering of elemental strategy” and that his military knowledge is limited. The Charge of the Light Brigade was near-suicidal military charge which was partially caused by bad communication… and partially by officers like the one described in this song. The Earl of Cardigan, for instance, was very high aristocracy but very limited military talents (and coincidentally he was a Major General at the time of this battle!). I’m not blaming him for the fiasco, since the details are still fuzzy, but he was definitely not a military genius. And in addition to bad blood between the officers and bad communication in general, bad strategy was a factor in the deadly charge. No doubt the officers were well-educated, but that didn’t make them good military leaders – like the Major-General in this song.
Word Count: 184
Ellen//Ravenclaw
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Event: Final Battle against Voldemort
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event? I really enjoy this song because it's so warm and really embodies the power that particular relationships can have in our lives. I think it fits the last battle and the events surrounding it because it's a song about friends holding on to one another and getting through the darkest of days because they have each other to support and rely on. Considering that one of Voldemort's greatest challenges and weaknesses was his inability to have something worth fighting over and not having any love in his life, I think this song demonstrates the power of friendship and love in the face of adversity, and how so long as you have people who care about and who care about you, you'll be able to get through the darkest of days. It's extremely cheesy, but I think it fits.
Word Count: 138
Sam//Ravenclaw
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Event: 9/11
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chxlz8Pw6Dw
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event?
This song I think could work well for many things. I wanted to do match it up to the Wizarding world after Dumbledore died and how the ministry fell, and the way that the wizards would feel. The Wizards who were were fighting to do what was right. Yet every time I hear this song I think of 9/11. Its getting closer to the tenth anniversary, and I feel that this song captures the sensations of that event in spine tingling ways. The world though it continued to move felt as though it had halted, everyone was holding on to something, raising up and joining arms. We were scared, wondering where the next plane would crash, shocked that anyone could even do that. It rattled our little American pride down to the core. Yes there is battles, but for us back at home, we don't think of it. We don't think anyone can touch us, and 9/11 proved us wrong. I think the line that is sung about the leader stuttering and mumbling, and how people laughed at him (Bush) and the way he spoke. Was the attitude of most Americans. Then the line is repeated, after the event. Now we are not laughing, now we are scared and angry, wanting to know for a surety just exactly what he did say.
That line always gets me. Because that is exactly how it felt. Everyone's attitude changed even if it was a brief change. We were all scared and angry, shaken. Its a point in history that Every American who was old enough to remember it will not forget it. What we were doing that day and that moment. They way we clung to religion, friends, family, and people we didn't even know.
“When the rich wage war, its the poor who die.” - Linkin Park
Word Count: 307
Becca//Ravenclaw
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Your Song: Karate Kid, By: Dan Black (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b29OiRwlV3k).
Event: The few months after the Fall of Voldemort
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event?
Karate Kid first off has a deeply bittersweet quality to it. For those who have survived it is just wonderful that a normal life can now start but that begs the question: Exactly what is a normal life without Voldemort? People have to start rebuilding both their lives and the wizarding world itself. In the few months after the fall of Voldemort, all of the survivors are plagued by nightmares of the battle and of the ones they have lost. The song talks of the relationships you'll need in order to let go of some of those demons. Most importantly the refrain of the song repeats that no matter how hard or impossible to may seem, life will go on. The song ends on a hopeful note, that although things haven't gotten better yet but they "will soon start living."
Word Count: 140
Jessica//Ravenclaw
Re: RAVENCLAWS
Event: Harry and Neville's birth
Essay: Why does the song remind you of this event? This song remembers me of Harry first of all because in many instances Harry felt annoyed that everyone admired him or hated him for something that he didn't remember doing. When in Order of the Phoenix he found out about Trelawney prophecy, he also found out that his life could have gone differently. But it wasn't because of anything he did, and he made the best of it.
Likewise, I'm sure Neville often felt miserable because of what happened to his parents, and because in his first years at Hogwarts many people mocked him for being almost a squib, but then he became awesome. True Story.
Word Count: 105
Ren//Ravenclaw//can't do srs when hogsmeade is on