In Response to " By the Banks of the Ohio"
Friday, October 9, 2009 at 5:46 PM Olivia Newton John’s version of “By the banks of the Ohio” is largely different compared to the other recordings for the most obvious reason that it is sung by a woman. Although the Kossoy Sisters’ version is also sung by women, the lyrics are still through a male perspective. This alone changes the feel of the song because the murder is being carried out by the woman instead of the man in the relationship. The conventional role of the man and woman in relationships are also therefore flipped around with this recording.
As discussed numerous times throughout the last lectures, “By the banks of the Ohio” has a tremendous gap in the sound of the melody and the meaning of the lyrics. Since this is a live rendition of the song, this difference is magnified much more. The audience stands up and claps along to a very cheerful and calm, nonchalant melody. On the other hand, if one listens to what Newton is singing about, it is about a chilling murder that takes place. The lack of correspondence between the dark lyrics and the cheery melody is what creates an even more disturbing feel to the song as a whole.
Reader Comments (14)
Hikari – Thanks for your discussion, your points about the differences between the Kossoy Sister and Olivia Newton John are great. I’d encourage you, if you choose to write an essay about this song (and I think you should), to examine what the fact that the Kossoy Sisters don’t change the lyrics and John does, means in the broader concepts of the course, namely regarding the notion of authenticity. Why wouldn’t the K. Sisters change the lyrics to denote their own gender? Why does John choose to do so? Is there a difference in the emotion/passion expressed in the singing of each song? I also think your point about the audience response is very interesting – does the audience’s cheerful response make it more authentic, or inauthentic? (it could also be because they don’t understand the words – the show is German, after all. But even if they don’t, does this expose a kind of disconnect between the original song and the purpose of the song, and its more modern rendition?) Don’t worry about getting “right” answers; we’re looking more for critical thinking, less for Olivia Newton John’s biography, and we don’t require outside research. Just tell us what you think!
I agree with what you said about the songs being different. I think that Olivia's version has a more emotional feel to it. At times you can kind of hear the heartache. I also agree with you about the performance. When I watched the performance, it almost looked happy to me. The people in the background clapping to the song made it disturbing (like you put it). Also I noticed a harmonica at 2:32 and to me it made the song sound happy.
I definitely agree with you on the strong disconnect between the lyrics and the mood of the performance. You can also see it around 1:50 when she makes a hand motion while she sings "where the water flows," which indicates that she is not just blindly singing the song, but is aware of the lyrics. At the same time however, she does seem to have more variations in the tone of her voice, especially around when she sings "I cried, my God, what have I done." Once again, her movements show that she is also trying to portray the lyrics in her actions; she looks up as if she is looking towards God. For this reason, I think that Olivia Newton John's version of the piece is not as authentic as the other three renditions. It seems that she wants to express the lyrics rather than keep them hidden behind the happy sounding instrumentation.
i dont think olivia's version is less authentic than the other performers just because she chooses to take a different spin on the song and make it a little happier. She doesn't perform it raw, without all the excess instrument like Cobain or Leadbelly, but its still her own recreation of the song, and there are remakes of classic songs even in the 21st century that are considered authentic. But i do agree with you on the disconnection between her performance and the lyrics. The lyrics make it seem like she should be sad but she actually has a smile on for most of her performance.
I definitely agree with you about how different this version of the song is based on the way it is performed and because of the role reversal. While think that each rendition of the song misses the mark on connecting the lyrics to the accompaniment, I think that it provides character to each version. I find it harder to listen to Olivia's and Bill Monroe's versions because they both seem to have upbeat vocals and accompaniment, whereas in Johnny Cash's version, he sounds bored and uninterested. Strange...
I was noticing the same things in this track and upon listening to the Johnny Cash cover for the umpteenth time, I sort of decided that perhaps the way his vocals are paired with the melody parallels the lyrics perfectly. The lyrics to the song are very morbid, and yet there is no build up or emphasis on the gorier parts of the story. Similarly, Johnny Cash's voice is deep, almost haunting, and yet like the person before me said, almost uninterested. The simple, yet somber guitar continues throughout the bleak tale, unchanging, like the tone of Johnny's voice. This makes me ask the question, just because a song is performed in a way where the lyrics and melody match, does that make it more authentic?
-alice.
Hikari,
I'm using your post as a springboard to lead further discussion, hope you don't mind! I'll be posting my response in a few hours as a comment to your post, so students may start commenting on your post more; I'll also post a copy here.
I agree with your opinion about the effect of the audience on the performance. "On the Banks of the Ohio" is a murder ballad, however, Olivia's performance does not bring forth a chilling, fearful, or cruel feeling, but a rather pitiful and beautiful impression. The audience and the live atmosphere has helped a lot in building such impression. Their applause, smile and chorus work together in making Olivia's "On the Banks of the Ohio" more expressive. Also, the biggest difference between Olivia's version and other artists' versions is, as Hikari has said, the perspective. Other artists all describe a chilling murder story, but Olivia tells a more lamentable and subtle love story. She depicts a heartbreaking girl as welll as a heartrending story. Compared to other artists' versions, Olivia's "On the Banks of the Ohio" is more lamentable and touching, for it is a story about a girl, and is told to us by a girl.
Hikari Iwasaki claims that in Newton John’s version of “On the Banks of the Ohio”, the conventional power roles of men and women are switched in her cover of the song because she modifies the lyrics of the song to reflect a female perspective, and the woman is taking control and murdering her lover. In a sense, then, this song can be viewed almost as empowering. What do you think of this? Do you agree? Do you think that’s why it’s shocking? Do you think this sense of semi-empowerment keeps the song from feeling "creepy", like some students observed about the Kossoy Sisters? You can read Hikari’s post here: (http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/hikariiwasaki ). Also, do you think Olivia Newton John is MORE authentic because she is modifying the song to reflect her own personal experience (hypothetically)? Can you think of any other examples of women modifying lyrics to reflect a female perspective in a similar way (Youtube video?!)
(If this doesn’t seem relevant to your post, please think about it and make comments anyway, because it is relevant to the class! Also, make sure you’re commenting on other students’ posts, not necessarily just replying to me, your TA.)
I also did a comparison between these two versions of the song, and I did not even think about the effect that the audience had on Olivia Newton John's rendition. I completely agree with you on the fact that the audience's reaction before, throughout, and after the performance differs immensely from the reaction one would normally have if they listened to the lyrics of the song.
In my comparison, I also noted how the lyrics and the melody of the song are so different- the melody doesn't seem to fit the sadness of the tragic murder that takes place. However, I do think that the Kossoy Sisters' version makes the song seem even happier than Oliva Newton John's. In my opinion, the instrumental variation in John's version at least followed the buildup of the song, while the Kossoy Sisters' didn't change in the leas bit.
This is a good analysis of this version of "On the Banks". I like how you mentioned the reversing of roles of the man and the woman, because it makes one think differently about the murder because of the fact that it's not the man as it originally was. Another thing I personally agree with in your post is that the has sort of a folk influence-- the contrast between the music and the lyrics. The melody is happy and people in the audience are happily clapping along, as it's a good thing the murder took place.
The role reversal that you mentioned and that many others metioned, I felt gave the song a weird feeling. Because it was a woman murdering her lover and not a man. I felt that it was shocking to picture a woman murdering someone because women are stereotypically innocent with a touch of sensuality.
I like how in you second paragraph, you pointed out the distinguishable gap between the song's lyrics and instrumentals. I have definitely noticed the contrast between the two, having such a light bounce-like melody paired with an eerie set of lyrics with a tale of murder behind them. Having a visual with Olivia Newton John's performance really shows how the audience of that time regarded the song itself. It seemed as if they payed more attention to the song's melody and instrumentals, displayed by their encouraging clapping. For if they were focused on the lyrics themselves, I doubt they would clap along to the story itself.
I did a similar comparison with Johnny Cash and Bill Monroe. I thought that they're renditions of the songs contrasted similarly to how Olivia Newton John's did with the K Sisters.
The idea of Oliva Newton John's version being empowering due to the changed lyrics is definitely an interesting, however I don't really see it that way. This is partly because when I picture Oliva Newton John I picture Sandy in Grease, which in my opinion is not a very empowered character (Although I'm this can be debated). For this reason I find it hard to believe that female empowerment was her motivation for changing the lyrics. Of course, I don't know Oliva Newton John and I could be completely off-base. Also, I suppose the song could be read as an empowering song regardless of the intentions behind its creation. After all, a part of the definition of popular music is that it takes on different meanings for people removed from the circumstances of its production.
On a different note, I found a good example of another group of female artists modifying lyrics to convey a completely new (and opposite) meaning. Here is a link to a live video of Cocorosie performing their version of Akon's "I wanna fuck you".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m36P8XUkDYY
Here are the lyrics: http://lyrics.wikia.com/CocoRosie:Summer_Breeze_(You_Wanna_Fuck_Me)
Here are Akon's lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/akon/i_wanna_fuck_you.html