Blog #1 Lance Johnson

         
   It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your background is, or where you’re going in the future, the simple fact remains that humans are connected by music.  History has shown that music is not only something to listen to but rather a way to be intertwined with other people and various cultures.  The musical group that I chose for this project is Florida Georgia Line, an up-and-coming country band.  The songs that I analyzed were Cruise, Round Here, and It’z Just What We Do.  I chose to analyze these particular songs due to the fact that they are some of the newer songs from this band as well as the fact that they are some of my favorite.  The way in which I analyzed these songs were both from the interpretive perspective and the critical perspective.  The interpretive perspective is viewing society, in some occasions a specific culture, as being taught or educated.  This perspective focuses on “Contextual patters of communication behavior” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p. 91).  What this means is rather than being related to a perception by an entire group the view of this culture heavily relies on the appropriate relative setting.  Conversely, a critical perspective shares both a view on culture as a group and encompassing cultural limitations that otherwise may exclude some aspects in other areas.

               There were quite a few similarities as I looked at the lyrics between these three songs.  First of all, it is clearly evident that this is a country band.  Not only by listening to the songs can anyone decipher this, but the lyrics visibly reflect their genre.  Not every artist sings about driving a truck through a farm town; however this is a portion of the perspective in this artists’ songs. A second theme that all the songs have in common is the central focus is having a good time.  Whether it is driving in the summer with the windows down or enjoying your Saturday night, all of the songs encompass in some way the idea of having a good time.  Further, a third theme in all three songs is analogous to the critical perspective in the idea that fun is ever-changing.  Wherever a group of people are at may depend on the activities they do to have fun; however it also depends on the culture of the group and those that make up the group.  I think this is an underlying message in between the lines for these songs.  Moreover, I think that my cultural connection to in conjunction to this music is quite interesting.  This results from rarely spending time in the country yet I still can connect with this music from the times I have been in the country.  It is so peaceful, quite, and relaxing that it’s incredibly enjoyable.   

            I think both of these perspectives are useful in their own respective situations and everything can be analyzed in either perspective.  However, I think that for these to be improved there has to be a common ground between shared and learned culture, as viewed in interpretive perspectives, and conflictual nature of cultural boundaries. (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, pp. 91,94).  I believe that combining these two perspectives has its advantages.  With that being said I also believe that the interpretive perspective and ethnography has more strength of an argument than being critical. I believe this because being critical in too focused on individuals, especially when we single out certain individuals.  I believe a cultural view more adequately articulates the connection between culture and communication because it is more focused on a society as a whole rather than a few specific people in a culture.

            

References

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2012). Intercultural communication in contexts (6^th ed).   Boston, MA: Mcgraw Hill
FlaGeorgiaLineVEVO. (August 29, 2012) Florida Georgia Line - Cruise.  Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PvebsWcpto