learn to fly.

          “Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly.” Those are two lines from the song “Blackbird” performed by The Beatles in 1968. The song was written by Paul McCartney but credited as Lennon/McCartney as were most of their songs. However, it was performed entirely by Paul McCartney alone. The song was recorded on June 11 1968 in Abby Road Studio in London. It was featured on The Beatles self titled album otherwise known as The White Album, their only original double album. This album was the first record released on The Beatles record label Apple after the death of their manager Brian Epstein. It was at this time that the band was beginning to fall apart. It has been said that this album was a combination of four individual talents who were often at odds with each other. 1970, just two years after the album’s release, would mark the end of The Beatles.

            The guitar accompaniment for “Blackbird” is an arrangement of Bach’s Bourree in E minor, a piece written for classical guitar.  Paul McCartney has said that when he and George Harrison were in their youth they would use that work as a show off piece as it has a prominent melody throughout. McCartney adapted a segment of it and used it in the introduction of the song and all throughout the piece.

The actual structure and flow of the song is inconsistent and uneven. It is played in the key of G on an acoustic guitar in a sort of finger picking manner. The timing varies from time meters 3/4, 4/4 and 2/4 with a chromatic bass line on the downbeat all throughout. A tapping can he heard all through the song. During recording of the song McCartney played along a miked metronome. In the mixing process the metronome was kept in the recording. The sound of birds chirping was also added to the song.

Paul McCartney has said that his inspiration for the song was the Civil Rights movement happening in America during the 1960’s. The word “bird” is British slang for woman. Thus we can assume that “Blackbird” refers to a black woman. In 2008 McCartney performed this song with an introduction stating how pleased he was with the progress in civil rights today. He also stated that he was glad that America now has a black president, showing just how many issues have been overcome in 40 years.

The lyrics are extremely symbolic, especially when paralleled with the civil rights movement of the time. Black people were suffering a great deal at this time. In this song McCartney writes “Take these broken wings and learn to fly,” which could easily represent the hurt and persecution the black people were going through. They were absolutely broken. McCartney also writes “you were only waiting for this moment to be free.” The civil rights movement was entirely about gaining freedom. These people were righting for their rights and couldn’t wait to “learn to fly.” This song has a very deep and political meaning.

party in 202 today.

For our last class of Humanities 202 we were assigned to perform or present a parody of sorts. Megan, courtney, Mysha and I decided to do a little remix of Miley Cyrus' "Party in The U.S.A." Here are our lyrics. Unless you are one of the 30 some girls in this class, you might not understand exactly what this song is about. But just trust me, it is funny if you know what we're talking about.

I walked up the stairs to Soper’s class

With my culture and values in hand

Just read about some Rococo OH

That Boucher was the man

Fredierch

And the wanderer above the sea fog

Gericault and the Raft of Medusa

This is all Romantic

Everybody seems sublime

Hamlet’s suicidal, Ophelia’s love sick

So much murder and I’m nervous

That’s when the orchestra picks up their instruments

and the Mozart song was on

and the Mozart song was on

and the Mozart song was on

           

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I hope I’m gonna get an A

Taking my notes like yeah,

In my pj’s like yeah.

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I know I’m gonna laugh today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today.

Get to the year 1908

Everybody’s into modern now

We got J. Pollock and A. Warhol

That guy’s painting crazy cows.

So hard with no words in this movie

Charlie Chaplain’s mustache is groovy

I think I failed that quiz.

I guess I never got the email.

Hard Times man I’m lovin all these realists

Too much satire makes me nervous

Like when J. Swift wrote that creepy piece.

And the Beatles song was on

and the Beatles song was on

and the Beatles song was on

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I hope I’m gonna get an A

Taking my notes like yeah,

In my pj’s like yeah.

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I know I’m gonna laugh today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today.

Think this Whalebone is too tight (is too tight)

I need my pink blanket tonight (tonight)

My shrink swears at me all time (all the time)

I hope these Crytal shorts will look alright

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I hope I’m gonna get an A

Taking my notes like yeah,

In my pj’s like yeah.

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I know I’m gonna laugh today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today.

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I hope I’m gonna get an A

Taking my notes like yeah,

In my pj’s like yeah.

So I raise my hand up,

Soper’s teaching the class

I know I’m gonna laugh today

Yeah it’s a party in 202 today

MEOWWWWWWWW it’s a party in 202 today.

 peace.love.parody.

hill farm and herefordshire.

A few weeks ago we took a two-day trip to Wales and Herefordshire. Our second morning on the trip we once again picked up Peter Fagg to show us around the important church history sites in the area. We headed out to Hill Farm, also referred to as Benbow Farm. During the time of the second apostolic mission a family called Benbow lived in this farm. They had recently become affiliated with the United Brethren Church when Willford Woodruff visited them and began to teach them about the gospel. They were soon baptized in a pond in their farm. Wilford baptized many more members of the church in this pond. At one time he had stones thrown at his as he was baptizing in the pond. Today a lady who is not a member of the church owns the farm. However, the church has purchased the piece of land with the pond on it and it is available to visit.

         After the Benbow’s were baptized many people were also baptized. In the span of five days 32 people were baptized and all but one of the 600 members of the United Brethren Church were eventually baptized.  Just ten months after Wilford first arrived at Hill Farm over 1300 people in the area had been baptized. The Benbows later helped publish the fist Book of Mormons in England. They also donated a great sum of money to the Perpetual Emigration Fund to help saints come to America.

         After the Benbow’s Farm, we ventured out to a small town nearby where we visited a church. In this church a few very important LDS men were christened. William Carter who became the first plowman in Utah, The future owner of ZCMI and the first postman in Utah were all christened in this church. It was very interesting to be there where these men began.

         Next we took a very steep hike to the top of Beacon Hill. This is the place Wilford Woodruff often came to think. It is easy to see why he found it so peaceful and it is so high above the rest of the land. You have a perfect 360 degree view from right there on the hill. It was a great experience to sit there and listen to Peter read some of the poetry Wilford had written. This is also the place where Wilford told Brigham Young he needed to serve a mission up north. This place was definitely an inspired point.

         Lastly we went to Gadfield Elm Church. This church is the oldest LDS Chapel existing on earth today. It began as a meetinghouse for the United Bretheren. However, after Wilford converted almost all of the church it became a place for the Mormon’s to meet. The chapel was later sold to help in the immigration efforts. After that time it was used for an array of purposes. However, in 1994 a group of Latter-Day Saints bought the land and restored the building and gave it back to the church. Today it stands open to visitors. There are missionaries assigned to the building. However they are not able to be there all the time so for people to gain access to this building there is a code set up. On the door is a sheet of paper and a handle with an electronic code. On the paper are clues and questions about the LDS Church. You must answer each one correctly to be able to open the door. I thought this is really awesome and interesting. The questions were pretty simple and most members of the church would be able to answer them. However, they would be quite difficult for a nonmember. Thus the church is kept in good care.

london church history.

One Friday in November we took a little tour of an area just right out of the city. We began at Burnhill. As we were there we were standing on the bones of all those who died in The Plague. They deposited all the bodies in this area because it was out of the city walls. Because it was unconsecrated ground, it soon became the graveyard for the nonconformists. Most of the nonconformist leaders were buried in the graveyard. These numbers included Isaac Watts, a hymn writer for the LDS church, said to be the greatest English hymn writer; Oliver Cromwell, a “republican’’ who started a new form of government and abolished the monarchy for a time; William Blake, a poet who wrote a very famous song about England, John Milton, John Bunion, Daniel Defoe and many others. All of these people suffered a great deal from persecution before they were buried at Burnhill. As we walked through the graveyard we saw the hundreds of headstones and were able to imagine the harsh times that existed back then.

         Next we carried on to the Wesleyan Chapel down the street. In 1738 John Wesley had a religion experience. He felt he had been “warmed” and all his sins forgiven of him. He began to form a church that he felt was an extension of the Church of England. He never left the Church of England however, they did not think very highly of him. He felt that the world was his parish and even went to the United States at one time to preach. As a result of his ministry you either went to a chapel or a church. Which basically means that if you were Baptist or Methodist you were a chapel. If you were Anglican you were a Church. We also learned that Methodists were to act for themselves and not wait for a minister to do it for them.

         After the chapel we went down to Tabernacle Square. Here lies the third most famous religious site in the UK. Around 1839, Joseph Smith had inspiration to send missionaries to London. As they got there and searched for a place to preach they didn’t have much luck and due to lack of preaching license they were sent out of the city. With the help of Henry Connor they decided to preach in Tabernacle Square. They were able to get away with this without a preaching license because it was outside the city walls. Four hundred people took in the square and listened to the men preach. After about 20 minutes a preacher from another church took over the stage and would not let the missionaries schedule another meeting. Despite his efforts the missionaries made an appointment for later that day and hundreds of people came to witness the event. Henry Connor was baptized three days later and he invited the missionaries to his home on Iron Monger Row. This house soon became the center of the church in London for a few months.

         Iron Monger Road is important for more than just being the center of the church in London; it is also the site of another satanic intervention. In the middle of October that same year Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were visited by spirit from the underworld. The prince of darkness had come to kill them. So Wilford said a prayer and the spirit of Christ overcame the devil. Three white spirits entered the room and prayed with the men and the evil power was broken. This is yet another example of the devil trying with all this might to prevent the succession of the church in England.