City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Berköz, Levent Donat (2012). A gendered musicological study of the work of four leading female singer-songwriters: Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, and Tori Amos. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the unspecified version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/1235/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. 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City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] A Gendered Musicological Study of the Work of Four Leading Female Singer-Songwriters: Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, and Tori Amos Levent Donat Berköz Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy City University London Centre for Music Studies June 2012 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………… 2 LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………… 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………… 7 DECLARATION ………………………………………………………………… 9 ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………… 10 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………….. 11 Aim of the thesis…………………………………………………………………. 11 Selection of case studies………………………………………………………….. 12 Literature review…………………………………………………………………. 15 Methodology, sources and structure of chapters…………………………………. 19 Why French Feminism…………………………………………………………… 23 Jacques Lacan, The Symbolic order, the phallus and jouissance………………… 27 Research questions and an overview of the thesis……………………………….. 35 CHAPTER 1……………………………………………………………………… 39 Weaving the Loom’s Desire: Laura Nyro in ‘Timer’, ‘Once It Was Alright (Farmer Joe) and ‘December’s Boudoir’………………………………………… 39 1.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 39 1.2. Kristeva and the semiotic……………………………………………………. 50 1.3. Words for a Serious Playground…………………………………………….. 54 1.4. Music for a Serious Playground………………… ………………………….. 64 1.5. Nyro’s ‘Confession’: The cover art for Eli and the Thirteenth Confession…. 79 1.6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 84 2 CHAPTER 2……………………………………………………………………… 88 ‘Out of the City and Down to the Seaside’: Joni Mitchell in ‘The Dawntreader’, ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ and ‘Shadows and Light’………………………………… 88 2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 88 2.2. Luce Irigaray and the multiplicity of the female body and text……………… 95 2.3. ‘Something truthful in the sea’: Joni Mitchell the poet………………………. 100 2.4. ‘Songs like tiny hammers hurled at bevelled mirrors in empty halls’: Joni Mitchell the composer………………………………………………….. 114 2.5. ‘She weaves a pattern all her own’: Joni Mitchell the painter……………….. 124 2.6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. 135 CHAPTER 3………………………………………………………………………. 142 ‘Swapping Places’: Kate Bush in ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Babooshka’ and ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’……………………………………… 142 3.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 142 3.2. Womanliness as a masquerade and écriture féminine……………………….. 150 3.3. Writing the feminine………………………………………………………… 155 3.4. Composing the feminine…………………………………………………….. 165 3.5. Visualizing the feminine…………………………………………………….. 177 3.6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 189 CHAPTER 4……………………………………………………………………… 197 Songs Under a Black Sun: Tori Amos in ‘Silent All These Years’, ‘Pretty Good Year’ and ‘Hey Jupiter’……………………………………………. 197 4.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 197 4.2. Theorizing female melancholia……………………………………………… 203 4.3. Writing the silence…………………………………………………………… 212 3 4.4. Composing the silence………………………………………………………. 227 4.5. Visualizing the loss………………………………………………………….. 241 4.6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 254 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………… 265 APPENDIX A: THE LYRICS OF ‘TIMER’, ‘ONCE IT WAS ALRIGHT NOW (FARMER JOE)’ AND ‘DECEMBER’S BOUDOIR’…………………………… 275 APPENDIX B: THE LYRICS OF ‘THE DAWNTREADER’, ‘LADIES OF THE CANYON’ AND ‘SHADOWS AND LIGHT’…………………………………… 281 APPENDIX C: THE LYRICS OF ‘WUTHERING HEIGHTS’, ‘BABOOSHKA’ AND ‘RUNNING UP THAT HILL (A DEAL WITH GOD)’…………………………………………………………………………….. 287 APPENDIX D: THE LYRICS OF ‘SILENT ALL THESE YEARS’, ‘PRETTY GOOD YEAR’ AND ‘HEY JUPITER’………………………………………….. 293 APPENDIX E: THE MUSIC OF ‘TIMER’……………………………………… 298 APPENDIX F: THE MUSIC OF ‘DECEMBER’S BOUDOIR’………………… 304 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………… 306 4 List of Figures Figure 1.1. The opening page of ‘Timer’ .......................................................... 69 Figure 1.2. The chord A + E + G# + B .............................................................. 74 Figure 1.3. The chord C9 resolves to F ............................................................. 75 Figure 1.4. The chord Cmaj9 in ‘Emmie’ ......................................................... 75 Figure 1.5. The opening bars of ‘December’s Boudoir’…………………........ 77 Figure 1.6. Bars 7-15 of ‘December’s Boudoir’……………………………..... 77 Figure 1.7. The front cover of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession…………….. 81 Figure 1.8. The back cover of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession…………….. 83 Figure 2.1. Bars 5-12 of ‘The Dawntreader’………………………………….. 118 Figure 2.2. Bars 31-35 of ‘The Dawntreader’………………………………… 118 Figure 2.3. The opening bars of ‘Ladies of the Canyon’……………………… 119 Figure 2.4. Bars 5-8 of ‘Ladies of the Canyon’…………………………..…… 120 Figure 2.5. Bars 1-16 of ‘Shadows and Light’………………..………………. 122 Figure 2.6. Bars 25-27 of ‘Shadows and Light’…………..………………....... 122 Figure 2.7. The cover art for the album Song to a Seagull …………………… 125 Figure 2.8. The cover art for the album Ladies of the Canyon………………... 128 Figure 2.9. The cover art for the album Hissing of Summer Lawns…………… 131 Figure 2.10. Joni Mitchell in the booklet of Hissing of Summer Lawns………... 133 Figure 3.1. The opening line of ‘Wuthering Heights’ presented by the piano and celeste……………………………………………… 167 Figure 3.2. The chords A, F, E and C# repeated three times throughout the verse.……………………………………………… 168 Figure 3.3. The chords E♭min7, G♭major and Fsus4 repeated three times throughout the bridge……………………………………..... 168 Figure 3.4. The coda of ‘Wuthering Heights’ ………………………………… 169 Figure 3.5. Screenshots from Kate Bush’s video for ‘Wuthering Heights’.….. 180 Figure 3.6. Screenshots from Kate Bush’s video for ‘Babooshka’ …………… 183 Figure 3.7. Screenshots from Kate Bush’s video for ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ ......................................................................... 186 Figure 4.1. The opening line of ‘Silent all These Years’ presented by the piano ………………………………………………………. 229 Figure 4.2. The return to the opening line (after the chorus) in ‘Silent all These Years’ ………………………………………....... 229 Figure 4.3. The use of four descending notes in the main melodic line of the verse (‘Silent all These Years’) …………………………… 230 Figure 4.4. The melodic line of the chorus in ‘Silent all These Years’ ………. 231 Figure 4.5. The single B of the middle eight in ‘Silent all These Years’ .……. 232 Figure 4.6. The opening line of ‘Pretty Good Year’ ………………………….. 233 Figure 4.7. The accompaniment of the first verse............................................... 233 Figure 4.8. The successive use of a major second in the vocal line and a perfect fourth in the accompaniment of the chorus of ‘Pretty Good Year’ ……………………………………………….. 235 Figure 4.9. The opening of the middle eight with a figuration built on a minor second, and the incessant use of a single note (B natural) in the vocal line ………………………………………. 236 Figure 4.10. The opening chords of ‘Hey Jupiter’ ……………………………... 238 5 Figure 4.11. The melodic cell that consists of a major second and a minor second heard in the second part of ‘Hey Jupiter’s first verse …………………………………………………………. 238 Figure 4.12. The use of a melodic line heard in the verse and also in the chorus.............................................................................................. 239 Figure 4.13. The cover art of Little Earthquakes and screenshots from the video of ‘Silent all These Years’ …………………………………. 244 Figure 4.14. Screenshots from the video of ‘Pretty Good Year’ ……………….. 248 Figure 4.15. Screenshots from the video of ‘Hey Jupiter’ ……………………… 251 6 Acknowledgments I would first like to express my extreme gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Christopher Wiley, whose support, guidance, patience and intellectually generous readings have made this thesis possible. I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the Centre for Music Studies of City University London in granting me a scholarship which has enabled this research. I would like to thank Canan Maxton, Bilge Erengul and Talent Unlimited for believing in my project and giving me a scholarship. My thanks also go to Mufide Bicakci, Hamra Sarici, Petek Gunay, Serdar Akman and Caglayan Arkan for their support. I would like to express my appreciation to my friends Serkan Delice, Veysel Essiz, Keith Beresford, Gulcin Ozkisi, Alkan Akinci, Emre Dundar, Jean Philippe Calvin, Fatos Ustek, Dogus Simsek, Basak Ertur, Alisa Lebow, Bugra Hikmet Ogan, Serpil Inci, Cuneyt Cakirlar, Ozlem Unsal, Elif Akcali, Irem and Billur, Simon Hutta and Pinar Celik Warsi. I am also grateful to a very close friend, Barbara Rampoldi, for her kindness and support. I want to say a special thank you to a very special family, Caroline, Adrian, Stacey and Spencer Pinkus, who always supported and encouraged me on this journey. 7 I would also like to thank my cousins Taciser Alganer and Birgan Iseri, my sister, Idil Kazak, and my brother, Sarp Bayer. Finally, the biggest thank you is reserved for my mother Canan Berkoz, and my aunt, Ilhan Ozcan for always being there for me and believing in me, and my beautiful grandmother Macide Bicakci who instilled in me a love for music. This research is dedicated to Ilhan Ozcan who makes life more beautiful and meaningful with her light and knowledge. 8