Why It’s So Hard to Sound “American”
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 3 July 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A culture war from our past: Before he could define America’s sound for the next century, Aaron Copland had to overcome conflict over what “America” meant.
There’s one line of questioning our listeners ask more than any other: “What is America, and who gets to define it?” Kai can tell you these questions aren’t new. So he goes back in time to look at one story from the New Deal era and a culture war over what made patriotic music…patriotic. Turns out, it’s the same old song and dance.
Sara Fishko, creator of “Fishko Files,” tells Kai the story.
Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai. Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or going to Instagram and clicking on the link in our bio.
“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. Tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So what I wanted you to tell me is whether you recognize it, if you can identify it, and |
| 0:07.0 | then what's it make you think? |
| 0:13.6 | I've heard it. |
| 0:14.6 | It sounds like either Star Wars or like the beginning of a movie. |
| 0:19.4 | I'm not sure if like Jurassic Park or Star Wars one or two. |
| 0:23.8 | I don't know. |
| 0:24.8 | The last time I heard it was from a movie he got game on Denzo Washington. |
| 0:28.6 | It just sounds very intense. |
| 0:29.7 | It's not like something big is about to happen. |
| 0:32.0 | It sounds very regal. |
| 0:33.0 | Just the drums just came in. |
| 0:36.7 | Here we go. |
| 0:39.0 | This is from Iron Copland. |
| 0:41.1 | Hey, Kiddity. |
| 0:42.7 | You said that um, bap bap. |
| 0:47.0 | I remember. |
| 0:54.7 | It's notes from America. |
| 0:55.7 | I'm Kai Wright. |
| 0:56.7 | Welcome to the show. |
| 0:58.0 | happy Fourth of July. |
| 1:00.2 | Aaron Copeland's fanfare for the common man. |
| 1:03.4 | When you heard that music just now, |
... |
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