An analysis of the Cocteau Twins

In Peircean Semiotics

By

Ethan Dixon

Intro to Semiotics

Spring 2002, A. Lavelle, instructor

University of New Mexico

1.0 INTRODUCTION

When listening to music any genre of music, usually coherent words are used to paint a picture or tell a story from the songwriter’s experiences. Usually the singer’s or singers’ vocal range and style are similar to something that has been done before or a variation of it. Unlike bands using conventional singers or familiar singing styles, there is one band that has had a huge degree of success under the radar of popular radio (for the most part) that has taken this idea of singing and thrown it out the window. When Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins sings in such a way, that is by using non-verbal-vocal noise (recognized as either qualisigns or icons), and the occasional word or two, her singing evokes different mental images, memories, colors, and emotions in different listeners.

2.0 AREA OF STUDY

From the Cocteau Twins album Milk and Kisses the song, "Ups", was selected to demonstrate and examine the signs created in Fraser’s non-verbal vocal singing. Fraser commented rather honestly on how she creates what she sings:

The song begins with a steady drumbeat and a catch guitar rift, while Fraser’s voice echoes otherworldly in the background. In this song, as is common in many of the Cocteau Twins recordings, Fraser uses various combinations of vowels and consonants to sing notes and tones that are for the most part unintelligible, and this track is no different. Fraser’s method of singing has not been widely explored by many artists —other than skit-scat jazz singing alá Ella Fitzgerald that has been popular in days past, or the occasional oohhs or ahhhhs that accompany pop music lyrics from time to time. It is as though Fraser is using her voice as a complimentary sound source to the rest of the musicians’ input, as if it is another instrument to be considered in the recording studios final mix-down.

2.1 Signs

Before delving into the vocal stylings of Elizabeth Fraser any further, an explanation of what a sign is according to semiotics is in order. A sign or "representamen (Nöth 1990:42)" is simply defined as any possible thing under the sun standing for any other possible thing. Semiotics is the study of signs. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 – 1914), known to some as the father of American semiotics, developed a system that can be used to acutely identify something used or interpreted as a sign in his concentrated effort to classify the many different types of signs that are used in society. Peirce studied semiotics the majority of his life. Although he was noted as being Americas greatest philosopher and a highly influential semiotician, the whole of his work is not easily accessible: "Access to Peirce’s semiotics is difficult because the founder of modern semiotics never wrote a coherent outline of his complete theory of signs (Ibid: 47)". Despite not having an outline of his final theory, what we do have of his theory on semiotics is quite clear from his collected writings, and correspondence. In relation to cognition of signs, Peirce classified everything as being in either the 1stness ("potentiality or possibility"), 2ndness ("otherness"), or 3rdness (in reference to mediation) levels of cognition (Nöth 1990:44). It is possible to classify a sign in accordance with the three different relationships. The first relationship trichotomy in Peirce’s sign typology is the sign in relation to the sign. The second is the sign in relation to the object that is emitting/causing the sign. The third is the sign in relation to the person or thing interpreting the sign, (i.e., "deciphering a code"). Table 1 gives a clearer understanding of the three trichotomies in relation to their 1st, 2nd, or 3rdness.

In considering music in the context of semiotics, many interesting studies have been conducted and essays written. In just how we can justify music as worthy of semiotic study, Henry Orlov writes:

"According to another proposition, the work of art, including the musical one, is

Music is full of signs that can be examined with the microscope of semiotics.

2.2 Fraser’s voice as a Rheme

Fraser sings in different keys and within different sequences of notes on the different songs she has contributed her voice to. The level that we as listeners are limited to as we hear it is that of solely 1stness. We hear her voice, and in reference to it being a sign, we are the interpretant. We interpret the sign that the object emits or produces. To our ears the sound of her voice is a Rheme. A Rheme is only stating the existence of the object to the interpretant, and in this case, the object is singer Elizabeth Fraser. A Rheme provides no true/false information to the interpretant. Another way a rheme can be defined is if we think of it in a textual structure. Consider a sentence written on a page:

2.3 Fraser’s voice as an Icon

To consider Fraser’s cool voice sailing high above the guitars and percussion in any of Cocteau’s songs and recognize that she sounds similar to a synthesizer hitting and sustaining those notes, in that sense, Fraser’s voice is noted in semiotic terms as being Iconic to a synthesizer, or an icon of it. Icon comes from the Greek word for "Image", and relates to the object as a likeness, in acoustical, aromatic, visual, or other sensorial manner. An Icon, much like a rheme, does nothing to confirm any true or false information.

2.4 Fraser’s voice as a Qualisign

In the first trichotomy of sign in relation to sign, in the above table, on the 1stness level is the word Qualisign. A Qualisign is the term that is given to a sign that only states that thing in itself. On defining what Peirce considered a Qualisign, Paul Bouissac noted:

In another way to explain it, think of the "blueness of blue" that is on a paint chip at the local paint store. You would use that Qualisign, (the "blueness of blue") to check that blueness to maybe a bookcase you are planning on painting to see if it would look good. Listening to Fraser sing, one would recognize the sign of her voice by the sensorial qualities it possesses.

2.5 Indexing an emotional state

Many differing attitudes can be revealed to the listener by the delivery of the lyrics in how singers present themselves as they sing. As an example, many of the hard-rock bands of recent years have had vocalists that have yelled or screamed their lyrics into the microphone rather than sing. This screaming can be said to represent the emotional state of the singer, or indexing how they feel in according to Peirce’s sign-typology, or indexing the anger or fierce hatred inherent in the songwriter’s creation.

An Index is a sign in relation to the object on the level of 2ndness, as noted in diagram 1. Index comes from the Greek word "dike" meaning to show. A book’s index tells of what page number you can find a particular subject. Another classic example of an index, in the semiotic sense of 2ndness, is a windmill. A windmill's blades will turn when gust of wind is present in the vicinity of the windmill. This action of the blades moving, indexes the presence of wind. The windmill does not give any additional information other than there is wind blowing in its direction. On the this level of an index given by the performer in how they sing, or even come up with the words to say, Fraser commented:

In another interview, Fraser made more comments on her singing, and the indexing of her emotional state when in the studio recording:

These indexes being delivered in combination with the sound iconicity of Fraser’s voice, and itself a qualisign of her voice, is a rather amazing thing. To give an example of this combination occurring, imagine that the Cocteau Twins are playing a concert in your hometown. Imagine further that Fraser has had an amazing experience prior to the show, and because of her awe at the experience she sings in harmony to a synthesizers riff, and makes it sound ebullient and extremely joyful because of what she has just experienced prior to the show. Her singing like the synthesizer on a harmonious higher or lower note would be iconic in nature, a qualisign unto itself, and the joyful delivery would be the index of Fraser’s mood as she thinks about the before show experience.

3.0 Responses

Several subjects, with different tastes in music and different backgrounds, listened to the Cocteau Twins’ song "Ups" and then were interviewed. One of the prerequisites in the selection process was that the subject would have no prior knowledge of the Cocteau Twins, either by having heard their songs before or seeing one of their music videos. Another prerequisite was that the different subjects were to be of a varied cultural background, as well as from different musical tastes. Their responses to the music when interviewed were each different to a degree, but had some common themes. For the majority of the subjects, the music seemed to be one of a relaxing mood. The main differences among the subjects were the mental images conjured up by listening to the songs.

3.1 Subject One

Subject number one was a young woman from Surname (Dutch Guyana) South America. She had lived in the US for a span of six months prior to this experiment, and was in her early twenties. She was in the US as a student pursuing here Bachelors Degree at UNM. While listening to "Ups", she expressed feeling as though she was up in the clouds and experiencing a peaceful sense of being, "like enjoying nature, as if running around in fields or the clouds (Kidjo: 2002)." She surmised her listening experience as one that made her feel like a little girl running and playing around in a field, enjoying the peacefulness of that kind of a scene or place.

3.2 Subject Two

Subject number two was a gentleman of middle age, who enjoyed listening to classical and Christian music. He hails from here in New Mexico and was a willing candidate for this experiment. Being an engineer at Sandia National Labs, he was not of the sort that listened to "different" music such as the Cocteau Twins, and was forthcoming with his opinion. His initial comment was that the music sounded "pretty strange (Edenburn: 2002)". He went on to comment that the music conjured scenes of traveling and things going by, but not any colors in particular. He felt as though he was traveling on a train and the landscape constantly changing as he peered through the window.

3.3 Subject Three

Subject three was a fan of country music, and spent most of his life in East Texas, listening to the music common in that area. He was of the early thirties age group, and like the other subjects, had no prior association with the Cocteau Twins. He is a non-traditional student who has returned to college in pursuit of a medical degree. When asked what he thought about while listening to the track, he commented that it made him think of "those middle-eastern dancers…(Gerber: 2002)." and feel relaxed and soothed by the sound of Fraser’s voice. He went on to comment that Fraser sounded somewhat like an opera singer against the non-symphonic music.

3.4 Subject Four

An off-duty ambulance driver/technician was willing to be subject number four for this experiment. She is of the "thirty-something" group of individuals residing here in Albuquerque, and enjoys listening to Christian Rock music as well as the ‘80’s music that has become popular in recent years. Her experience while listening to the Cocteau Twins lead her to comment that she liked the fullness in the tone and the prominent drums. She also commented that the music sounded operatic, but exclaimed that it did not sound American. With her eyes closed she commented that it sounded "outdoorsy, smooth and flowing (Kettleson: 2002)" and reported though it sounded relaxing on one hand, it was energetic due to the drumming.

3.5 Subject Five

Subject five was of the baby-boomers generation, enjoyed traditional and contemporary Jazz music and Christian worship music. Much like subject number two, he is a structural engineer and is not exposed to a wide range of music. New "age-y" was the initial comment on the music as it started, and found that the words, though unintelligible, were very nice to listen to. The mental image he held while listening was one of a serene setting. A view from a cliff overlooking a peaceful ocean, or views of incredibly beautiful scenery were the images in his mind’s eye. He also commented that the music gave him the feeling of "flying through the air (Schneider: 2002)."

3.6 Subject Six

Subject six is a student of the University of New Mexico's Media Arts program. A native Florida, he works part-time in the Zimmerman library shelving books when not in class or working on a film project. Like the other subjects, subject six had no prior exposure to any of the Cocteau Twins music, and was willing to experience their music for this study. On listening to the sample song "Ups", he stated:

4.0 In Conclusion

In the world of music, not many studies have been conducted on the semiotics in music, in relation to the music being able to express anything on the level of 1stness. Clearly in the music of the Cocteau Twins, Elizabeth Fraser's voice can be identified in terms pertaining to the 1stness level of Peirce's sign typology. On the Object to interpretant, or 3^rd level of the three trichotomies, Fraser's unintelligible lyrics are Rhematic in nature to our ears. We can ascertain no true or false information from what non-verbal vocal utterances or singing Fraser sings. In how her singing can be identified as iconic, in the sign in relation to the object, or second Trichotomy, Fraser sings as though she is an additional instrument, and thus is an icon of a synthesizer or other instrument. Going to the first trichotomy, the relation of the sign in relation to itself, istening to Fraser sing, one would recognize the qualisign of her voice by the sensorial qualities it possesses. The indexing of her emotional state as she delivers the lyrics, or even changes the lyrics according to her state of being, is of the 2ndness level as in the second trichotomy, the relation to the sign to the object. In all of these different ways one can identify Fraser's non-verbal vocal singing style. Going further, in researching what kind of imagery a listener evokes mentally, it is evident that the sounds Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins makes can install mental pictures that are at the same time each different to a degree, but had some common themes, of peaceful beauty.

Bibliography