Music around the world; Love songs

Why the following program was originally released in 1967. Whether or not love really does make the world go round. It certainly does provide the basis for much of the world's music to falling to the time that you did it. Yeah no kidding. Oh no no no. Michigan State University Radio invites you now to a program of music around the world produced and hosted by Martin Mickos.

Love is a popular theme in the musics of many cultures. Of course by love I'm referring mainly to romantic love but love of family love of God love of nature and love of country are also often part of romantic love songs. For instance the words of the theme song of this program depict the Hindu god Krishna playfully teasing his beloved the milkmaid Radha their love as a favorite theme in all the arts all over India and in Bengal where the song came from. There are many songs describing that love affair in terms of a very human passion and emotion. But it is a common assumption that the love between Radha and Krishna is supposed to be symbolic of the love between man and God. Each society has its own set of standards concerning love. What's expected and what's acceptable. Music sometimes serves to illustrate and reinforce these standards and sometimes it serves to get around the standards or at least express wishes outside the realm of possibilities within the standards sort of.

I can dream can die attitude. Many people associate flute music with love. Some believe that the sound of the food has magical powers which can charm a girl in the fall and some of the American Indian tribes used exclusively for love music and a man played a flute to serenade the woman he was courting. We're listening to an Indian of the Flathead reservation in Montana playing a flute which he

made from a piece of nickel to boot. Now let's hear a vocal love song from the same tribe. The words are mostly a repetition of nonsense syllables. This is the pattern of many American Indian songs but the melody is the private property of the singer and this is what this singer said about his melody. There are two little marriage birds. You see them way down in the meadows in the hay fields and in the grain fields. That's where they hang around in the summer. They're nice little birds and they sound lonesome when the sun is going down so they sing this little song. I learned this song from the marriage birds. Oh

oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh the guitar frequently accompanies love songs. Here the tree almost adds a wooden part of why an Indian heart to back up memories of love. The lament of a Latin lover who's betrayed and deserted by his mate but still carries a torch for a love he cannot forget. Week there'd

be nothing to see anybody home for to get the baby home. I'm being ignored but I see you are a bit of doubt that it just may not be hands on it. I gave up on it my heart must be taking one for the bar off the hook.

A high proportion of Latin American songs are about love but almost none are about happy love. The singer is always being ignored or neglected or deserted by his or her lover. Meanwhile across the ocean also accompanied by guitar a singer of a district in Mozambique tells of his desertion but with a more optimistic look to the future.

By the way note the vocal technique. It really is only one man singing. I had a girl but she deserved my heart. So now I have to ask another girl to come and help in Japan again expresses longing for love or an

interpretation of an old Japanese folk song. Accompanying the singer is a shammy son some a son. It's a three string instrument that's played with a plectrum and it has a rectangular skin covered song in a long thin neck. It plays a very important role in Kabuki theater orchestras and also accompanies the famous Japanese puppet theater being rocked. Expresses happiness at being left behind by her boyfriend who's gone to

some town far away from land to seek work and he doesn't write to her. So what can she think he loves. He loves her not she's accompanying herself on a musical well which is probably the most common instrument it's played by both men and women but more often by women it's held vertically with the sound resonator touching often on the chest. The resonance and it struck with a light piece of heavy grass. A different style of music.

He describes her features her hairdo and her love the long sustained ornamented notes and the nasal vocal quality. The general

rhythm patterns and the general construction of the music are all obviously derived from the traditional Arabic styles of music particularly of the classical music. The classical style of Arabic music has many followers. One of the leading female exponents called Zoom draws audiences of thousands wherever she goes. The classical songs are often based on the theme of love and a single song sometimes goes on and on for five hours embroidered with themes of religion and nature and pure musical artistry. Traditional standards of Arabic society prevented free interaction between males and females. And so there developed such roundabout procedures as using masculine instead of feminine forms of words in love

songs which were really addressed to women so that the singer could not be definitively accused of addressing or approaching anyone's wife or sister or daughter. And the many love songs were always of unfulfilled love unresolved passions and dramatic sadness. This sort of treatment of of the love theme is still very popular but with changing times there's often a new twist. This is a modern Egyptian love song. I apologize for any missed pronunciations of any languages but especially Arabic I think it's called Sonia of Ascendiant meaning every second

and it's sung by shot via whose name means a pretty voice and send you a low hope to own a mug and my heart is with you every second. Even if you go to the ends of the earth you made my heart happy when we first met and it is waiting impatiently to see you again. On the whole I wished I was a heptagon Butterball. Oh mother I go when I wished him well and it seems likely that she will meet him again. Oh and oh. Then I was like well I

like that don't you. In contrast even though this instrumentation for instance the electric guitar is definitely modern. This song treats the love theme more traditionally. So the song it's called.

Which means passed by and say hello to who passed by my love she says and say hello to the heart which you've neglected. Talk to it about the nice time we had together passed by my heart my forgetful neglectful love passed by Will you would would would you. Yeah.

Many Greek songs are also of unrequited and unconsummated love. But luckily love does sometimes work out. Here's a musical conversation between a Greek girl and her father and it's called on to on the day they move again for the Greek. But it means if you love him my girl the father says listen to me my child because you are my whole life. They told me you love someone and go out often with him. Don't be led astray my child life is tricky and you haven't seen it yet. Listen to my advice. But the daughter says he's a handsome man and fine young man. My first love he loves me father and he'll place a ring on my finger and be my husband one day.

The father says if you love him my girl go to him with all my blessings. It suffices that you find happiness till the end of your life. May the first snow fall and he means both winter and gray hair. May the first snow fall find you both United and in love. This is my blessing. If you love him my girl his daughter answers we are both so much in love our hearts are as one. This is my first love. Assume you get up at the moon. Please show me more bunk up going up I ask is economics you biased. I mean but I was super pissed with the movies solely by you this poor welcome I've been to see this SOB's should be super human.

Thought it was a little bit of a big part of this post but the move of the name is just one more semi sad love song. This one is of the mid nunc about people of Sumatra in Indonesia and it's called got body Angels by the. It's done in a modern style with a Western instrument orchestra backing it up and was used to accompany a Malaysia style dance. The singer tells his absolute love how much

he misses her. Lastly we have a pair of love songs from Laos.

The first one song by a man and then there's a response by a woman. They're both improvisations in a common Laotian folk style but I have no idea what the words mean. And now from Laos the two songs they're both accompanied by the can. The can consists of a set of bamboo cane pipes each of which contains a metal Reed. The pipes are bound together and there's a wooden mouth piece about a third of the way up from the bottom which controls all the reeds. There are numerous finger holes and it can be played while both exhaling and inhaling a kind of mouth organ. I am not there for

me to have you here. Now I hope you'll be with us next week.

Was

was was was was was was. We've presented music around the world with Martin Nicolas producer and commentator. And we invite you to be with us again next week at this time for music around the world with Martin Nicolas. But I do got a lot of good to have done. I know

that you do. I do good but this program was produced for Michigan State University Radio originally released in 1967. The program you've just heard is from the program library of National Public Radio.