Nov 26 2007
How to Tell a Story with Nouns
All 2 1/2 careful readers of this here blog know by now my general distaste for the noun relative to the verb. And yet I have to admire the following two very different songs for their ability to construct a narrative from mainly nouns and noun phrases, with hardly a verb to be found (there are some, of course).
First, Jobim’s own English translation of Aguas de Marco (Waters of March), performed by Jane Monheit
The foot, the ground,
The flesh and the bone,
The beat of the road,
A slingshot’s stone
A fish, a flash,
A silvery glow,
A fight, a bet,
The range of a bow
The bed of the well,
The end of the line,
The dismay in the face,
It’s a loss, it’s a find
A spear, a spike,
A point, a nail,
A drip, a drop,
The end of the tale
Second, DMX’s “Who We Be,” which includes the following – in my mind, beautiful – story. For my money, this is one of the smartest hip hop songs ever made, since DMX seems to be responding to the problem of speaking the incapacitation of systematic racism not only semantically (anyone can do that), but also syntactically and rhythmically. How do you tell the story of contemporary racism? By accumulating nouns, these walls, these blockages of action. What is its history? The monotonous rhythm of oppression (da-dant, da-dant, da-dant, da-dant). It’s only gravy at that point that the song plays on the very lack (or refusal) of verb inflection (“who we be”) used most often by racists to mock African American Vernacular English (for a fascinating argument about the genealogy of the “habitual be” in AAVE, see this PDF file). Or that DMX then heightens that form at the end by speaking it “correctly” (they couldn’t possibly know who we are), a final twist of the knife that says “It’s not that I can’t speak your language…”
What we seeing is
The streets – the cops – the system – harassment
The options – get shot – go to jail – or get your ass kicked
The lawyers – the part – they are – of the puzzle
The release – the warning, “Try not, to get in trouble”
The snitches – the eyes – probation – parole
The new charge – the bail – the warrant – the hole
The cell – the bus – the ride – up North
The greens – the boots – the yard – you’re caught
The fightin – the stabbin – the pullin – the grabbin
The riot squad with the captain: nobody knows what happened
The two years in the box – revenge – the plots
The twenty-three hours that’s locked – the one hour that’s not
The silence – the dark – the mind – so fragile
The wish – that the streets – would have took you – when they had you
The days – the months – the years – despair
One night – on my knees – here it comes
The prayer
da-dant,da-dant,da-dant, da-dant da-dant…
theriots with the captain,nobodyknowwhathappened..
as youknow what a big fani amof DMX,youknowI’ll say,, great song, great reflection of the albumtitle,depression coming from–oppression–wish the streets would took you when they had you!!..i understand the point of the ‘see iknow–your– language,i justchose not to speak it” but thats not always the case,some people just can’t breaka bad habit,its not all about a statement–
i see the last part of my comment isn’t really clear…i understand that the separation from the ‘proper’ use of language is a form of protest,a signifyer of cultural differences, not just a bad habit as Imade it sound like…but i don’t believe every black person is using it in such a way..thats moreof whati was trying to say…nah-mean!
Of course, some folks just use it as their own language, no statement needed.