Author's Note- The seeds for The Songs No One Else Hears were planted some time ago when I was writing 50 Apps That Every State Needs. One of the stories was about Spotify and involved America watching to what his states were currently streaming and making assumptions about their day. This story caused me to file away little notes about the musical history of different places on the globe or make note of songs that seemed to particularly fit the personality of different personifications. In the end I did a lot more research then I could have ever planed into writing this series of shorts. Hopefully you will enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you.
Disclaimer-Even after writing Hetalia stories for a couple years I still do not own it, though I do find it extremely entertaining when my take on the States, Provinces, and Territories pop up in other peoples work. ;)
Written to the tune of Maple Leaf Rag, Fig Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, Magnetic Rag, and Kitten on the Keys.
Tickling the Ivories
America had taken his first piano lesson in the December 1883 from a little old lady who lived three blocks from the White House, and he had taken to it like a duck to water. At first he played the classics, the ones by European composers that everyone was expected to be part of every pianist portfolio. He could play Beethoven and Bach with the best of them, but the more he played the more dissatisfied he felt with the Old World's approach to music.
It wasn't until the world's fair of 1893 that the nation found a form of music that he could truly call his own. The young African American composer on the stage pounded out a song called the Maple Leaf rang to a delighted audience. It was upbeat and complex with a steady rhythm that just begged the listener to get up and dance. The classics be damned, that night America realized that ragtime was the type of music he really wanted to be playing.
America wasn't exactly sure how he managed to convince Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime Writers, to let him study at his knee. It was most defiantly not culturally acceptable. Listening to a black musician was one thing, but interacting outside of the public space of the music hall was something that polite society frond upon. America didn't care though. He felt that people were people no matter what color their skin (even if he had failed to convince several of his states about that), and Scott Joplin was a remarkable person.
Through the first decade of 20th century ragtime thrived in the dance halls and high society parties of America, but like any fad its popularity began to fade. By the mid 1910's it became clear that the musical style's patron saint was heading on a downward spiral. The last time that America saw Scott Joplin alive he was in 1913. One look into the composer's eyes and you knew he was fighting against time. He was just finishing one last masterpiece, the uncharacteristically mournful Magnetic Rag. The King of Ragtime Writers would not write again. The effects of syphilis would drag the composer into a downward dementia and insanity. He died in 1917 at the age of 49 and laid to rest in an unmarked grave.
By that point the country did have much time to morn its lost composer. The Great War in Europe was threatening to pull America into the fight. The rest of 1917 and 1918 would bring nothing but sorrow to the North American continent. Between the deaths in the trenches due to gas, cold, and guns and the horrendous deaths at home from the Spanish Flu, many people wanted to turn their back on everything that had happened before the war. The memory of what they had lost was to strong. So the faced forward and partied through the roaring twenties to the sounds of jazz.
Yet even though the nation tried to erase part of its musical past, ragtime refused to be forgotten. Too many people had sheet music hiding in their piano seats, too many figures remembered the quick sequence of notes that use to make the crowd tap their feet along with the melody. By the time WWII arrived the nation was once again ready for upbeat piano rags to help them forget their worries for a dance or two. While ragtime would never reach return to being the music the entire nation listened to, it would never disappear from the national stage again.
Today America didn't give a second thought about the fact that after a hard day of paperwork when his mind was exhausted but his body desperately bored he would sit down at the well-loved piano in the hall and tickle the ivories for a while. It was a great way to blow off steam and besides he had to keep his fingers in practice. For even though the rest of the world thought of Austria the master of the instrument, that was only because they hadn't heard America play 'Kitten on the Keys'.
Historical Note-Ragtime evolved from African American music subculture, but became main stream in the late 19th century. Reaching its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918 the new style of music began to have a lasting worldwide influence on the musical scene. Today ragtime time is not only played in the United States alongside the Jazz and Blues, but it has become part of the musical heritage of Sweden, France, and Russia.
End Note- Well I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of The Songs No One Else Hears. If you have a particular country, state, province or territory that you would like to see pop up in your inbox please leave me an IM or a review with your suggestion and then be sure to subscribe to this story so you know when the next instalment comes through. The same goes for a particular type of music. If something comes to mind let me know and I will research its history.
Next Chapter- The Music of the Early Morning- It is sometimes difficult for look beyond New York's stern look and red pen. What they don't realize is that he sings just as loud as anyone else in the shower.