Listening Blog 1

Barbary Allen by Jean Ritchie (1960)

Listened to and Analyzed by Zachary Northcutt

     After listening to this ballad three times, I think it tells a very similar story as Romeo and Juliet. A common love story that has been told and told again in different forms. For example, the movie "10 things I hate About You" starring Heath Ledger and Julia styles, was a modern remake of the love story. In this song, the artists' voice sounds very sympathetic and almost yearning for the man on his death bed. She sings with remorse for the fact that she broke his heart and he has died without being able to have her [Barbary Allen]. As mentioned by Mr. Bradshaw, her country accent plays a nice part in making the ballad feel genuine and heart felt. Some of the words pronounced with her accent shows a little more pain in my opinion. This reminds me of when I would listen to Folk songs and Irish songs at the renaissance fair. Jean Ritchie makes the ballad sound like a folk song in my opinion. The constant rise and fall in pitch of her voice makes the song have a more steady pattern and is easily followed with the ears. The European American stream that came to influence this song is definitely noticed. As mentioned prior, the song has an early renaissance and folk sound that I believe is due to the European influence. Overall I did enjoy listening to the Ballad of Barbary Allen performed by Jean Ritchie. I feel like I enjoyed this piece more than the others for the fact that it brought me back to a time when I was younger and was enjoying a fun weekend at the renaissance fair. 




Comments

  1. EmilySeptember 8, 2019 at 5:39 PM

    I love both Romeo and Juliet and 10 things I hate about you :) Creative insight on this song, but I totally agree. I wouldn't have thought of Romeo and Juliet if I didn't read this post.

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  2. Tyler Millett-Music in AmericaSeptember 8, 2019 at 11:04 PM

    I thought you made really great connections, which helped explain/describe the piece from a different perspective(Romeo and Juliet). And I totally agree that Jean Ritchie's country-style voice puts a lot of emotion into the song.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 11, 2019 at 7:51 PM

    Your personal connection was a nice touch. The European Renaissance connection makes sense. I agree that the accent makes it have a more genuine and heart felt feel, but I also think the instrumental assists.

    ReplyDelete

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