"Bellow Inferno" by Jordan V

This composition had been collecting quite a bit of dust on the proverbial bookshelf. The original date of this recording harkens back to my high school days. I knew what I wanted the subject matter to be, but I was limited by the technology of my time. The year was 2004, and the girl that my brother was courting had just matriculated at Clemson University. During orientation at her all-female dormitory, they had a several-hour-long self-defense class. In this aforementioned class, she was taught that if some pervert was trying to purloin her probity she should refrain from hollering out the words "help" or "rape" because those who heard her would dart in the opposite direction of her voice. Rather, to receive immediate help, studies had shown it was more effective for the victim to scream "fire." ("Scream Fire" was the initial title for this piece.) Subsequently, when I went to orientation for my all-male dormitory, we were taught the dangers of alcohol. At the end of the session, they handed out rape whistles (if you pay close attention, you can hear two different whistles and a woman's scream buried in the mix.) This baffled me because the subject of rape had not been mentioned once. I felt that it was a missed opportunity to remind us that the act of rape is morally reprehensible. Furthermore, they could have imparted to us how to prevent such an ignominious incident from happening to some poor soul with various plausible scenarios (this is why I opted to include the audio clip "and we couldn't do nothing about it" from that cinematic masterpiece known as Goodfellas.) If I may quote the incomparable Kurt Cobain, "Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups that deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there." I'm cognizant of the fact that this is an issue most people are hesitant to discuss (thus my utilization of the sounds of crickets chirping and a man clearing his throat in a desperate attempt to change the topic at hand.) Nevertheless, doing nothing permits such turpitude to continue.
During the piece's first movement, you can hear a crowd yelling "Boooo." This is a reference to victim blaming which is quite common amongst the conservative crowd who are quick to pull out lines like "she shouldn't have been at a soiree imbibing" or "she shouldn't have been so scantily clad." Worse yet is when these standpatters resort to using the pleonasm "boys will be boys," as if this aforesaid tautology excuses the ignoble act. Towards the end of the descant, you can hear harmonicas and acoustic guitars being played in an attempt to imitate the soundtracks used in the old western movies starring John Wayne. This was done as such because a certain percentage of people who are enamored with The Duke are quick to dismiss testimonies made by rape survivors. As for the conclusion of the piece, I felt that my mansplaining in my music was a bit much and thought it was necessary to include mellifluous voices belonging to that of the fairer sex. It was the very least I could do considering that the vast majority of survivors are female.