Atticus' Final

In my creative project, I set out to show that the troubadours of today were not all that different than the troubadours of the Occitan. While the troubadours of the Occitan varied greatly in their styles, rhetoric, and topics I found that, for the most part, they adhere to three main guidelines. The troubadours discuss relevant social, political, and cultural issues in a lyrical form; the songs are usually focused on the ‘desire’ for an unattainable or unnamed woman; and the validity of the troubadour himself is based on the amount of truth (fin’amor) that they are able to portray or unveil. Today, troubadours are still united by these same principles. Troubadours today discuss cultural, political and social issues; a large proportion of the most popular songs today are still directed at an unnamed or unattainable woman. While truth plays a similar role, the genuineness of the modern troubadour is now paramount. This genuineness combined with marketability or a supportive following creates a successful troubadour today. Without funding from a King or a Court, the modern troubadours can outsource their patronage to the common people, and thus ‘success’ is defined by being ‘popular’. Hot Chip, a modern alternative dance/rock band from London, formed in 2000. They have released 5 studio albums, they received one Grammy nomination in 2009 for Best Dance Recording, and they also received two nomination from the Virgin Media Awards for Best Album and Best Video in 2010. While not constantly at the top of the charts, this is a very popular and relevant band in the 21st century. The Best Video nomination was for the music video of their song I Feel Better, which is the topic of my analysis. The lyrics of this song follows troubadour style, but is much simpler and repetitive than the original troubadours; a simplification of poetry for popularity and catchiness’ sake. However, they still discuss a lady and a modern socio-cultural outlook on the world. The first line reads, “She said, ‘How’d we get so lost?”, setting up a relationship between a man and a woman. All the male singer wants is one night in her arms, but it is unattainable. “Maybe if we’d never come this way/Then we would live and prosper/But I doubt it/We are a violent race” is the second verse, showing that were it not for the society and culture that they are a part of, they would be able to be together. Just like a modern Marcabru, using the metaphor of an unknown lady to show the faults of modern society. As the video begins, there is a false version of Hot Chip presented singing Hot Chips music. These false troubadours dance and sing and profess their genuineness. Then a shining white floating man, the (ugly) truth, the truest of troubadours, and the bodily representation of fin’amor or bel’saber appears. He shocks the crowd and floats to the stage. As each one of the false trobars tries to prove themselves, they are vaporized with a laser-beam of truth. Finally, as they are all destroyed there is peace. Then, there is a unity of all the troubadours, both true and false, now dancing together under the lead of the shining man in white. Just as any troubadour, such as Piere Cardenal or Marcabru, the modern troubadour must discount the modern state of song, lyric, and trobar, and while deflating it must pronounce themselves the greatest of all troubadours. Through this video, Hot Chip is able to do just that. However, they are also aware that no matter how true a troubadour can be, there is always a higher order of judgment waiting to skew their work. There is another floating head that appears at the back of the audience. No longer a troubadour, it is just a floating head, mouthing the lyrics of the song. After shooting, not blue lasers of truth, but red lasers of judgment, everything and everyone in the concert space is destroyed, save the floating head. I believe that this shows that no matter how true a troubadour professes to be, they must be aware that someone is going to misrepresent them, or at the very least skew the original intent of the music. For instance, an album review, not winning the award for the video, someone playing the song out of their low-quality laptop speakers instead of seeing it live; the list goes on of major and minor corruptions to the quality and soul of the music. I believe that by having this same basic thematic structure, and also by being aware of all of the different things troubadours must do in order to be true to themselves and the art form (all while maintaining a following) is the linking factor of all troubadours for the past 1000 years. While the mediums and messages and languages have changed, the basic DNA of the troubadour has not, and I believe that trobar is alive and well in modern music and society. By D. Atticus Anderson