Jane.

I have written my song! I went with the idea of composing using quotes and ideas from Jane Eyre. I really found the idea of gender equality to be so important, even nowadays. It is such a huge issue that even in this day and age still affects all women and their rights. Although we have significantly more rights now than women did when the novel was written, I feel that the world still has such a long way to go before equality is achieved, especially in other countries.  In the novel, Jane demands to be treated as equal to Mr Rochester, as she says

"I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh - it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are!"

I love this about Jane's character, but not all characters are like this. I wanted to explore a character who was not able to stand up to this mistreatment.

I found that a lot of the novel was not entirely relevant to modern times, so I was faced with the decision of writing based in the 1700-1800's or to bring it up to date. I decided to make it modern by adding a sub story to the 'plot' of the song. I used the idea of equality presented in Jane Eyre, and used quotes from the novel to create a story about a girl who is being mistreated by a male in her life. The reason I felt that a sub story was needed is because the story of a girl not marrying someone of higher importance despite her love for him is not completely relevant to modern times.


The idea for my sub plot came from the earlier parts of the novel, where Jane is treated like a burden by her aunt. She is sent off to school where she isn't treated much better, and then is surrounded by death when a typhus epidemic strikes. Despite all of this, Jane goes on to have a successful career, and eventually is reunited with her love. I decided to explore a darker ending to my character's story, as Jane's story could have easily ended in a totally different way. Seashore also said 'A musician not only hears the music but often lives it out so realistically in his imagination'. I had to imagine this story before I could write about it. I also believe that the listener benefits from having a story to relate and react to. ‘Lyric analysis also tends to valorise certain forms of popular music, most notably blues, soul, country, and some varieties of rock and pop, notably those featuring singer-songwriters, such as Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, and Tracey Chapman. These are seen as ‘the authentic expression of popular experiences and needs’, whereas mainstream popular music song lyrics are largely seen in terms of mass culture arguments, and criticised for their banality and lack of depth.’ (Shuker 2001).

I wrote this in two sittings, one sitting where I wrote the musical lines and a second sitting where I completed the lyrics. I am what Seashore (1938) would call the 'Impulsive Type' of musician 'in which the drive or urge of emotion flares up'. This is because I will either write nothing, or write an entire song in one go.

I know what my flaws are by now, and there are a few thing I really need to focus on for this and my group performance. Firstly, I have been informed a few times that my words are not particularly clear when singing ballads, rock or pop. I have done a lot of Musical Theatre, and within that genre it is extremely important to make your words clear to tell the story. In pop music, this isn't always the case, and I am forever searching song lyrics online to see what the singers are saying. I think this part of pop music must have made an impact on me, as I don't focus on making the lyrics clear at all. I need to work on this as my song contains really strong, emotive lyrics, and the story must be heard to be understood.

Another flaw with my performance is communication. When I sing musical theatre I am great at portraying a story and communicating a message to the audience, but when I sing anything else, I really struggle, Especially when I play piano and sing, i'm scared of losing my place so I tend to focus on the music in front of me, rather than the audience. This is why I have chosen to create my own backing track, and sing with that. This way I can work on my communication, as well as spending time developing my backing music.‘The search for fidelity in sound recording reprised the concerns expressed during the development of formats, especially in debates over whether the authenticity, or sound ‘aura’, of the recording was comparable to hearing the piece in live performance’ (Shuker 2001). I agree that it would be more authentic to perform live, but because of the song's need for communication, my music will be recorded.

I'm really happy that our solo performance must be a composition, as I rarely get a chance to show my own written work. 'In comparison with the writing on other roles in the music industry, and the nature of the creative process in popular music, the role of the songwriter has received only limited attention.’ I do enjoy writing songs but don't always feel confident showcasing them, so i'm really happy that the composition is important within our module.