Lovecraft Country S01E05 "Strange Case" OAD 09/13/2020

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Well, that kind of music didn't exist in that era. They're trying to capture the inner feelings of Black Americans. 50s music avoided that like the plague.

 

Huh? Sure it did. It existed back in the times of slavery, it existed through Jim Crow, and it existed in the 1950s. There was plenty of R&B singers singing about their plight. Takes a little digging to find them probably, but I'm sure they were pretty well known among the black community of those times. It just strikes me as lazy. Just looking at this list:

15 Essential Songs you Must Listen to for African-American Music Appreciation Month | Blog | American Masters | PBS

Strange Fruit and Mannish Boy would fit the sentiment of this show, both are from that or before the era of the show. There are probably hundreds of classic jazz or R&B songs from the 1930s on up to that would fit.

 

The only song I specifically remember from this episode is the Pat Boone version of "Tutti Frutti," which the white Marshall Field's salesladies were dancing to -- that one was both appropriate for the era and appropriate for the message being conveyed by that scene.

 

That one was DEAD ON accurate, although I had to explain the significance of playing the Pat Boone version to my wife. She'd never heard it and thought it was weird that they didn't play Little Richard.

White singers paid the fees, but black singers didn't get the money

 

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Exactly. This is the kind of thing that fits in perfectly with the show's message. White people exploiting black people. Luckily we evolved to the point that we don't need white artists to redo songs by black artists because the black version is a race record and won't appeal to white America (well we have country music for that now!). But that was very common in the early days of rock and roll.

 

'Lovecraft Country' Music Supervisor Shares Her Exclusive Playlist

The show's music supervisor talks about... the show's music. Turns out she's a huge fan of spoken-word, plus she never misses an opportunity to drive @Steveknj nuts.

 

Really it's exactly what I figured. She liked some modern stuff so she threw it in, never mind it really doesn't belong. It's funny that she says this"

She admits to there being plenty of 1950s music that would fit. And there is plenty. So why take us out of the mood with modern stuff. It really makes such little sense considering the material is there. But I guess this is similar to what Sci Fi nerds see when something in a Sci Fi show shouldn't work "that way". I guess if you aren't a music nerd, or a history nerd and they play Cardi B or the Jeffersons theme, it wouldn't bother you.

 

Except it DOES belong. I think everything she's used has been PERFECT for the moment.

Then again, I don't expect Lovecraft Country to be a documentary about 50s music...

 

2020 music BELONGS in a show that takes place in the 1950s? Maybe in an alternate reality show. I haven't heard that this is an alternate reality show. Maybe we should have light sabres in a show about the Civil War. Atomic Bombs dropping on Ancient Rome?

 

2020 music belongs in a show made in 2020. When it's perfect for the scene. Which, in this case, it always is.

But I understand that this is not a factual argument, but rather a religious one, and you will never convert to the One True Faith, so there's no point in continuing...

 

That is only a recent phenomenon, unless the show is a farce or some sort of comedy / musical (Oklahoma? Hamilton?) I don't buy the argument that 2020 music (in the style of 2020, not current music written in the style of the era in which it's taking place).

But yeah, point beaten to a bloody pulp by now....carry on

 

Because she's picking the best song that fits the mood and theme of the scene whether it be a modern song or one from the era. I can't think of a better choice for the scene that 'Whitey on the Moon' was used for, for example. It was absolutely perfect.

 

You can't tell me that there isn't an equivalent song pre-1960 that would work just as well. You think it's perfect because that's what she used, but what is she used a different song? Maybe that would have been perfect too.

 

An equivalent song from pre-1960 that talks about race in such an explicit manner? I'm pretty sure I can tell you that there isn't an equivalent song.

 

And I'm sure there is one. Not in mainstream white music but on what was called "race" records.

For example:

Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday)

 

To my mind, Whitey on the Moon is much more explicit about race than Strange Fruit. Strange Fruit goes out of its way to NOT be explicit, for the most part couching itself in metaphors.

One’s observational and metaphorical without ever mentioning white people at all; the other not only puts white people right in the title but also encourages rebellion and by some interpretations reparations.

i get where you’re coming from; I really do. I’m of the school of thought that the artist should make the artistic choices that seem right to him or her rather than impose restrictions on their choices. An anachronistic song can provoke some real thought and introspection about why they made the choice they did.

 

I think it's as clear as day what Strange Fruit is about, especially in a 1950s (the period this takes place in) kind of way. "Black bodies swinging in trees" is pretty darn clear. Whitey on the Moon, sounds and feels like a song from the era it took place, late 1960s, early 1970s. It doesn't fit the era.

 

You're wishing for a particular aesthetic choice, and she's making a different aesthetic choice. But they are both just that: aesthetic choices. They are not right and wrong choices; they are different choices. It is abundantly clear that she's very deliberately not trying to "fit the era." We hear that's what you want, but that's purposely not what she's driving at.

 

You could take a film about gladiators and have them battle to modern rock music and it would be just fine.

Music is intended for 2020 viewers, not 1950 viewers.

 

To each there own I guess. I disagree. Especially in an era of such rich music that fits the tone she's trying to reach. The 1950s was in essence the dawn of the civil rights era. There's no real reason to deviate from that. It's absolutely the show runners choice on what she wants to use. For me, it doesn't work as well as a period piece of music. But this isn't my show. It's the one thing I most dislike about the show, but that's my opinion.