Music Response

Out of all the music tracks we were given to listen to, Tori AmosҀ version of Home on the Range was the one song that really grabbed my attention. Perhaps it is because Home on the Range is a song I grew up hearing; as Vanessa mentions it is often used as a camp song and in schools so most children grow up hearing this traditionally рAmericanҀ song. The difference in lyrics, giving it a different American perspective, is what really struck me; AmosҀ version makes sure to emphasize the role the Cherokee people were forced into in establishing this рhome on the range.Ҁ I decided to look up the lyrics to the original song and through Wikipedia I learned that there are actually three commonly used versions. Out of those three only one version even mentions the Native American people:

The red man was pressed from this part of the West,
He's likely no more to return
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

Despite this passing mention the original song continues to emphasize рthe rangeҀ as the white manҀs beautiful home that they are proud to live on. AmosҀ song conveys not just the Cherokee perspective, but manages to encompass the general Indian sentiment towards this land that was forced upon them and the later colonization of the range land that was supposed to be theirs forever.

As for some of the other music I listened to, I thought LitefootҀs songs were interesting. The Hip Hop/Rap feel to them came as a bit of a shock when I first listened to some of their songs because I honestly did not expect to hear music with such a modern sound. I also like the Raiders song Indian Reservation because of the lyrics and the beat. Although thanks to Ben I now get the chorus, ӀCherokee people, Cherokee tribe, so proud to live, so proud to die!Ԁ constantly stuck in my head, thanks Benŀ