BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE - Music as medicine

11. January 2018

Buffy Sainte-Marie

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE - Music as medicine

Music as medicine, sung texts as help in almost all situations in life? Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Canadian of Indian descent, is convinced that in this way it is possible to present complex themes in a very brief way: "A protest song of three minutes can be more effective than a book of four hundred pages." History had shown that this kind of song had been support for many kinds of peaceful resistance, had contributed to unity and solidarity. Like "Universal Soldier", of which many people still believe that the Scottish troubadour Donovan, whose version is the best known, wrote it himself: "This title left a deep impression on thousands of soldiers, students and families during the Vietnam War. It has changed the lives of people, many of whom still thank me today, more than fifty years later."

Enthusiasm for protest

She has not added new text elements related to political and social developments of the past decades to the play. This was done by the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit 2009, "to give it more relevance in today's world," as Klara and Johanna Söderberg emphasize. Songs like "Universal Soldier", insisted Buffy Sainte-Marie on the other hand, "are timeless, they stand for themselves". So also "Now That The Buffalo's Gone", which doesn't appear on the CD, but - like six other titles - can be downloaded via a included code. The song was written in 1964 in response to the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Pennsylvania, which led to the expulsion of the Seneca Indians from the land they had been assured by a treaty signed by the first US President George Washington in 1794. Sainte-Marie: "Although the song is very emotional, it is one hundred percent factual. Listeners, most of whom had never given much thought to Indians, were surprised by the story I told in this way. I thought many people would perhaps join the protests if they learned of the greed, the injustice with which the natives of America were and sometimes are treated." A look into history shows that exploitation in America did not begin with the African slaves, but much earlier with the oppression of the natives: "When the Spaniards came, they made all people slaves and stole their land. They were even asked to do so by a letter from the Pope, the 'Doctrine Of Discovery' [from 1494; note]."

The Canadian doesn't see the point of protest songs in making a hit or a quick dollar: "It's about how useful such a song is to make the world a better place, to turn rough feelings into well-meant words that reach people. Protestsongs also always arise out of a positive attitude. If one of my songs serves a movement to support those in need, I'm happy."

Lest mehr im eclipsed Nr. 197 (02-2018).