Beat It! Powerpuff Girls

Does my piece have meaning? First, I should at least explain the roots and inspiration for my composition before I even decide to drag you within that conversation. I was home for Thanksgiving break, when it hit me. I walked into the kitchen where my little sister was washing dishes, the tv was on so it wasn’t silent. The channel was Boomerang – this station plays old Cartoonnetwork shows that were prominent for us 90s babies, but leave some of the new millennium kids a little lost. My little sister was part of the group that would watch Boomerang. When I walked in, a new show was about to come on so I sat down to start watching. It turned out to be one of my favorite childhood shows – the Powerpuff Girls. When you’re young, you’re not too strongly affected by society’s gender roles. I would make the great assertion that any 90s child with access to a tv with a cartoon station has watched the Powerpuff Girls – I even played some of the video games. Back to the point, the intro caught my ears – specifically the drum beat. I emulated it by patting my legs and knew it needed to be in my piece. 

From there, I did nothing until I got back to school. That scene happened Friday night I think. When I got back, I remembered how I had an idea with an Xbox controller to simulate the drums in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and thought Michael Jackson and the Powerpuff Girls could potentially go great together. 

Looking at the history of its creation, it almost came to together by chance. Looking at the music score, there’s a lot of room from interpretation – which follows my art philosophy that there’s the interpretation of art by the artist and by the audience. I left room for the different players to personalize their parts. The main part that allows that is the person who plays the PPG narrator – they can use any voice they want, pick and choose what lines to say and what not to say, and they even hold the power to say when the piece is finished.

Part of me wants the audience to magically pick up on the two inspirations, but aside from the narrator, it won’t be that easy to tell. The works that inspired the piece are known to many people, not necessarily personal to me. It should be relatable. If not. I’d gladly show someone how it works out.

I may add the instructions to this piece later on. The only thing missing from the score is the narrator's parts.