Clarissamo

Sing Along

Posted by Clare , Thursday, April 29, 2010 8:33 AM

I'm Waiting for My Man
I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, 125
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
I'm waiting for my man
Hey, white boy, what you doin' uptown?
Hey, white boy, you chasin' our women around?
Oh pardon me sir, it's the furthest from my mind
I'm just lookin' for a dear, dear friend of mine
I'm waiting for my man
Here he comes, he's all dressed in black
Beat up shoes and a big straw hat
He's never early, he's always late
First thing you learn is you always gotta wait I'm waiting for my man
Up to a Brownstone, up three flights of stairs
Everybody's pinned you, but nobody cares
He's got the works, gives you sweet taste
Ah then you gotta split because you got no time to waste
I'm waiting for my man
Baby don't you holler, darlin' don't you bawl and shout
I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
I'm feeling good, I'm feeling oh so fine
Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time
I'm waiting for my man


Oh, what a pretty song I thought the first time I heard it. I was sitting in my DANC 171 class, and today's lesson was all about ballet. We watched this movie, Amelia, by Edourad Lock, a French-Canadian choreographer.
The song seemed sad and poignant. A lonely young woman waiting for her lover. Well that's what I thought.
Then my friend, Renee' sitting next to me laughed a little. "Oh I like this song," she said," The original is by the Velvet Underground."
That's weird
"It's about his drug dealer."
oh.

Certainly changes the perspective of a song when you hear something like that.
It is interesting how the whole meaning of a song can change in regards to its context or what sort of images are juxtaposed with it. In this case, the dancers and the overall sad mood of the film had led me to believe I was hearing one thing, while the original version and the lyrics sang a different tune (hahahaha. pun intended.) Their original implies something seedy and purely rock and roll.
In art classes we learn about appropriation-to take exclusive possession of-in this sense we had been told, not to borrow someone else's work, but to steal it.
how nice
Well, that surely sounds awful, you might say; however, the intention is not to plagiarize or claim someone's work, but rather to use what they have and change it so completely you have made it your own.
And I can safely say in the case of Amelia's, I'm Waiting for My Man, thorough appropriation has been achieved.