Music is hugely important in Martinique. For many of my students, it is the one idea that dominates their lives. They listen to music, they dance and sing and a few play music. This causes me to think often about the role music plays in my own life and in the American experience as a whole. So much of American culture seems defined by music as there seems to be music for every occasion and every moment within an American’s life. Think about it, now that winter has arrived American airwaves are dominated by Christmas music and other songs of the season, in the summer we hear songs about sunshine, the beach and riding around with the windows down and the music blasting. Further, it seems abundantly apparent that music has the ability to define each individual and each sub-culture within the American culture. Country music is often associated with a rural lifestyle or conservative thinking while rap and hip-hop represent life in the urban metropolises. Further, rock ‘n’ roll is the music of rebellious teenagers in the suburbs. That’s just a look at the surface level of America culture. As one probes deeper and deeper into the cultural nuances of an individual or a sub-culture the influence of music becomes more and more apparent. Music has the ability to define generational gaps at the same time providing a common forum for bridging those same gaps. Music can give voice to the religious and meaning to the rebellious. It can allow for freedom of expression or it can create a monolithic set of ideals across a wide sample of the populous. Wherever I look in America, I see music as providing a sort of definition of the people and their experience or at the very least they’re perceived experience.
I think the same is true as I look around Martinique, maybe even more so at times. Talking with my students and experiencing life on the island has opened my eyes to the importance of music. It seems that music plays a vital role in life here. Every single student I have enjoys music, most often dancehall, reggae, rap and the local music zouk as well as other Caribbean styles. Every student seems to spend a lot of time singing, listening, dancing to music. Almost every car that drives seems to have music blasting from inside especially with the youth. The weekends are defined by going out and dancing. Dance is huge here. Further, I had the privilege to go to a couple of birthday parties for the friends of my friend Jean-Michel. Most everyone has twice my age, but nearly everyone was up on their feet and dancing to live bands at both parties. At one point during the second of the two parties before the live music had started, a group of mostly middle-aged woman had gathered around a picnic table on the beach and burst into chorus to the rhythm of their hands clapping. At both parties the evening ended with the singing to Christmas songs. Christmas songs in Martinique are much different than in the States. Though, the lyrics and the messages are not entirely different, their presentation is. The tempo is fast while everyone’s hips swing and sway with the rhythm. It’s always sung in Creole and the music incorporates a lot of repletion is sound and lyrics. Further, there is a relative amount of call and response too. This creates for a festive atmosphere as the rum flows throughout the crowd. It’s a much different scene for Christmas songs than what most Americans may be used to. Another example of the importance of music is a scene in the library of one of my schools where I was being shown the library by a couple of teachers and the librarian. Someone happened to pick up a book containing the words and music to traditional songs in Martinique and the three women all joined in chorus together without hesitation. It was during this moment that I realized the power of music to give voice to a common experience or to a common culture.
As I thought about music more and more, I came to realize the commonality of the Caribbean experience. I had studied Caribbean culture quite a bit did college and was familiar with much of the history and the specific cultures of a select few islands as it pertained to the diasporic experience of African peoples. Already being intimately familiar with reggae and somewhat with dancehall, I had a sense of the common culture throughout the islands. Hearing the artists that my students listen to and hearing the songs I hear going out and about in Martinique, it becomes apparent that there is a strong cross cultural dialogue going on between the islands culture of the Caribbean. Though each island faces its own challenges and has its own cultural traditions, music manages to transcend and unite the experiences in the Caribbean. At the same time, each island has its own music that lends to the individuality of its culture. It seems that music has the power of give and take maybe explaining the importance of call and response. Music reveals much of a culture and shares that with others while at the same time helping to define culture.
