Urban Narrative Project

                             Hey guys, so for my Urban Narrative Project I wanted to focus on the streets of Winston-Salem. I wanted to write and record a song about my experiences within and outside the city. I wanted to explore some of the different themes of the city that we worked on this year such as: the city being a breeding ground of evil and sin, hiding the truth and portraying falsehoods, and the city being lonely. So I tried to include these themes within my song, and at the same time portray a unique and mysterious beauty that I feel the city has. Here is the first draft of my song titled "The City"...

https://soundcloud.com/user966462/the-city

and here are the lyrics-

The City

Head out into the city,

Found a reason to be pretty.

Singed and danced, and danced and swirled,

And all of this was for a girl.

Man, she looks oh so pretty! How can I keep up this sham…

The streets are dark and deep and cold, they leave me feeling so alone.

(Chorus)

People around me, Carry on without me. They dance and sing, and twirl and live,

their separate lives without me. People around me, wouldn’t care to find me

if they knew how lost I was.

Gotta leave the city, God I feel so shitty.

I danced too much, and sang too much, and now I don’t know who to trust.

I tried to get away, at least just for today.

But when there’s so much work to be done, how can I go and play.

The streets are dark and deep and cold, they leave me feeling so alone,

But I don’t care which way I go, because I am feeling to dang bold!

(Chorus)

Oh How I tried to hide myself, but the streets neglect to tell.

Oh How I tried to hide my rage, but the streets leave me feeling just the same.

(Chorus)

And finally here is the fixed and updated final version of the song. Thank you. 

https://soundcloud.com/user966462/the-city-final

                                                                        I Citizen Statement

                       I never thought that I would notice how much significance and impact the area in which I live in effects my life. Or how much a city could affects life, and shapes the lives of the people that live in it. It was even more intriguing to look at writers and films that both talked and explored the city as a place of evil sin, or loneliness, or a place that hides the truth, along with much more. From all of these examples I would definitely adventure to note that the city, and to be more specific, I say any city can have all of these traits and many more. I have come to a greater understanding that the city has an effect on the people that live there along as the people having an effect on the city. There cannot be one without the other.
                      I was really struck by a lot of the work that we came into contact with within class, the New York Documentary- that explored the building, creation, and history of the big apple, Open City by Teju Cole- that really shared a glimpse of the sorrow, loneliness, and disconnect that a person can feel while at the same time being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people. We also explored a lot of Richard Sennett and his facts about the city. The final exploration that really interested me was that of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and my walking and exploring of the city pursued me to invest in writing songs about my experiences within the city, and the streets of the city.
                        The New York documentary really showed a lot of the themes that we focuses on within the class. The biggest one that I can connect to is the fact of secret and lies. I said earlier that one thing about the city is that it can be viewed as a breeding ground of sin and evil. The New York documentary showed a lot of the secrets that early New York had that not many people know about. Many include the slave trade, treatment of immigrants, Robert Moses, and Jane Jacobs and how they lied and played games to get what they wanted. Teju Cole's Open City shared a lot about loneliness and separation a person can feel within a city. I think I was most interested in this, because I along with our doctor in the story, have felt this loneliness and desperation. Even though Winston-Salem and New York are two totally different cities, I still could connect to this.
                           I have learned a great deal, and continue to be aware of things in my life as I journey to different cities. There are so much information out there about cities and what they mean, and there is information to say that they are bad, and plans for the future of cities. But I question what is good about a city? I know that there is good traits about cities: such as communication, industry, and Artistic life. I plan to take these themes into my work as I finalize the writing of my songs about Winston-Salem.