written by naomi gonzalez
After our encounter with Frank Zappa, not only were we curious about the meaning behind the monument itself, we also wondered about the status of Western (largely English language) pop and rock music today in Lithuanian pop culture. As mentioned in Victoria’s Frank Zappa blog post, this monument was created as an outpouring of the liberalizing freedom Lithuanians felt after finally being rid of the Soviet yoke. So I got to wondering, ‘its been a few decades since the fall of the USSR–does English language music still have a foothold in Lithuanian daily life? Or has the Lithuanian language been spread into musical pop culture today?’
I explored this question in a couple different ways: 1) just being out in Vilnius and in cafes, businesses, and restaurants; and 2) interviewing some Lithuanian locals–in this case, our Energy Professors Jurate Jaraita-Kazukauske & Andrius Kazukauskas. At this point, I was still warming up to being in Lithuanian–being in Europe!!!--for the first time ever, so I took it slow and sought out cafe after cafe and…it was honestly very relaxing! But I did notice as I was gleefully cafe-hopping around Vilnius that I was hearing a lot of the pop music I had just left behind in the middle of suburban Colorado. Post Malone, Joji, Taylor Swift–even “Take me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver made itself known! It seemed kind of wild to me, especially since mixed into all these modern pop songs, there were 70s and 80s throwbacks (like John Denver) making themselves known in the mix–and not one hint of Lithuanian being spoken.
So now, it was time to investigate this phenomenon deeper: interviewing the locals! 😎 Below are the questions I asked them, with their paraphrased answers. I did run into a slight issue, however: I didn’t get the chance to ask them about the Zappa statue and, thus, wasn’t really able to get a good read on whether or not English language pop and rock music still hold the status of ‘symbol of freedom’ that it once did. Nevertheless, what I got was a fascinating look into the way that the average Lithuanian (from around Vilnius, anyway) listens to music!
Do you typically hear english-language music in businesses?* They do tend to hear American pop music in cafes and restaurants.
Do you typically listen to english-language music yourself?* Yes; most radio stations in Lithuania play english-language pop music. In fact, there is only one Lithuanian language radio station that they know of called “Lietus Radijas” and it’s not popular within their household or in general. The station plays a mix of older music and some contemporary music.
*The question and responses shown are not verbatim. Naomi Gonzalez conducted this interview on 7/14/23.
I’ve linked that radio station Professor Jurata mentioned here–check some of these songs out!
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