In the process of researching, it was not as easy as I’d expect it to be when it came to looking up information on Ed Sanders. Although he is still alive, there isn’t a lot of information on the web regarding his life and his journey. Many websites provided the same or similar information, which made it quite aggravating. Researching required a lot of time and patience that I didn’t have, but in the end, it was a well worth experience because I had the chance to research on a singer whom I have never heard of before.
Through research, I found out that Ed Sanders was not simply a poet or a musician in the movie Polis is This: Charles Olsen and the Persistence of Place, but a man of greater accomplishments. He is a social activist, environmentalist, and a novelist publisher combined with being a poet and a singer. The first couple times of researching only led me to finding basic information and his bibliography, but some of the facts that I learned, made me want to understand this man even more. I was most intrigued by the fact that his first poem was written in jail by writing on toilet paper and it was 30 pages long. He was arrested for protesting against nuclear proliferation in 1961. Rather than feeling worthless or captivated, he created a work of literature and art in jail. This gave me the feeling that he wasn’t just any person, but one who defies normal expectations. In poetry, he does not only write poems, but combines it with music and is able to take it to another level. With music, poetry can be expressed in motion. Ed Sanders is one of which who attempted to bring poetry and music together.
On youtube.com, there were a few videos of Ed Sanders. One specific video caught my attention. The video Ed Sanders-Henri Matisse exposed an interview with Ed Sanders, followed by a clip of how Ed Sanders brought poetry in motion. In the video, Ed Sanders talks about his own personal music instrument inventions such as the “Talking Tie” or the “Pulse Lyre”. The “Talking Tie” is basically a tie that has keys on it like a piano. The “Pulse Lyre” is a pair of gloves for two fingers and it also has keys on it like a piano. Both are electronically wired to be played. My first reaction was “genius!” I have never seen such creations in my life. I have always had an affinity for music so to see such inventions; it really made me want to watch the video. I didn’t only watch it once, but I ended up watching it over and over again because I thought it was surprisingly interesting. Somehow the musical accompaniment of the reciting of the poem had a little of a hypnotic effect on me because I couldn’t stop watching nor could I stop from attempting to figure out the meaning of the poem, The Cutting Prow. There was a certain mystery to this man.
Afterwards, I found this song by the Fugs, a 5-member rock band formed by Ed Sanders and his friend, Tuli Kupferberg, which demonstrated more of Ed Sander’s character. In general, the band wrote satirical songs about sex, drugs, and politics. For example, “Kill, Kill, Kill for Peace” by the Fugs is a song that satirizes and expresses strong opinions regarding politics and the Vietnam War. My mind focused on the lines “Kill’em Kill’em strafe those gook creeps! The only gook an American can trust is a gook that got his yellow head bust” the most. Immediately, I thought of racism and the Vietnam War. This song enlightened me in a way because it made me think about political issues.
My creative project was based on this song. I felt that this song depicted strong feelings and opinions of Ed Sanders that should be acknowledged. Looking back at the beginning of the research, Ed Sanders was identified as a social activist who participated in protests against nuclear proliferation. To me, I felt that he was one who attempted to change the world. His strategy was through music in my opinion because it was where he had the ability to break free and to say what he wanted to say. This stood out to me because his lyrics made me think about the Vietnam War. Ed Sanders believed in demanding for a better world. In my visual display, there is a nuclear explosion occurring in the middle of the paper to show an example of a political issue. The explosion is then framed by the lyrics of the song “Kill, Kill, Kill for Peace”. I wanted to show my version of “poem in motion” because I think that words or phrases are constantly revolving in our heads, reminding us of what is important and our values. Music notes are swirling all around the nuclear explosion because I wanted it to symbolize the power of music and what it can do. Music has a way of impacting people because all music expresses ideas. Once it reaches humanity, many conflicts can be solved. Through Ed Sanders, I’ve learned that with a little creativity and motivation, music can create a better world if we demand for it to happen.
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