Zoot to Boot: Revisited

This week's readings and the discussions we had last class reminded me of work on the Zoot Suit that I did for my master's thesis "Zoot to Boot." I thought that themes such as nostalgia and cultural power of symbols and stereotype are as natural to the Zoot Suit as the feather in a fedora or a strip to high wasted and tight ankled plants. (: Hope you enjoy!

- Sarah Howard

Swinging Back: The Swing Revival and a New Home for the Zoot Suit

It is easy to see the zoot suit as an active part of the cultural framework of the 1940s and the Chicano Movement; however, much like the challenges facing the Chicano population as a whole, the symbol of the suit has not disappeared even as El Movimiento decelerated. The suit continues to be used as a part of the cultural dialogue within the United States, standing as a symbol of resistance as well as a point of nostalgia. In its most recent incarnations those who wear it signify an even more diverse number of meanings. As time passes those who employ the symbol divorce it more and more from its original associations and ascribe contemporary perceptions and desires upon it while retaining only those original understandings that serve their purpose. Like the Sleepy Lagoon Defence Committee and the Chicano Movement the suit is used in their period as a means to an end.

With the advent of the 1990s the zoot suit has become something of a renaissance or ‘retro’ outfit. While remembered by many as a product of the 1940s jazz culture and Chicano Movement, in today’s popular culture it is just as likely to be associated with the flashy attire of a pimp as with the Zoot Suit Riot. The eclectic turn the symbol has taken at the hand of cultural production has allowed the suit to be taken up by a wide range of people: some, such as the band Rage Against the Machine, adopt the suit as a badge of active resistance, others like those partaking in African-America street culture utilize it as a mark of hyper-masculinity and prowess, while finally some like the swing group the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies employ the suit as a reference to the 1940s.

To this day any swing aficionado, or youth who wants to make a statement at his prom can order a zoot suit at the local dress shop. There are entire websites and stores dedicated to the suits. But the tailors who sew these suits are not just creating outfits; they are selling a look, 1940s nostalgia. This sense of a constructed past plays a large role in the swing revival of the 1990s. This music revival is tuned into not only a revival of the distinct musical genre, but all that is associated with the up-tempo, “cool,” hep, swing scene. “Eddie Nichols, the leader of one of the first neo-swing groups Royal Crown Revue, evokes the nostalgia found throughout the scene. When asked... is he was living in the past,’ he states ‘guilty as charged...Give me a time machine and I’m gone. Everything was beautiful back then – the style, the clothes, the aesthetics.” (John Soeder, “Swinging Toward the Past” Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (12 October 1998), 8(E), in Charles Sharp, “Where is the riot in “Zoot Suit Riot” Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology, 10, (Fall 2001/Spring 2002): 38-51.) The zoot suit has been co-opted as a symbol of this commodified past, as a part of the “image” and “perception” of the 1940s.

Despite Nichol’s desire for a free and simpler past when “everything was beautiful,” the zoot suit does not lose its role as an “othering” agent. According to scholar Bell Hooks, “Neo-swing thrives off a constructed “other,” easily packaged and sold as lifestyle/culture.” ( Bell Hooks, Black Looks: Race and Representation (NY, NY: South End Press, 1982), 21-39; in Sharp.) As a part of this process musicians appropriate images of resistance and struggle and infuse them into their upbeat music and present a sterile and marketable medium.

While the zoot suit holds a prominent place within the swing revival as a fashion, the Zoot Suit Riot also plays a prominent role in the construction. For a medium that defines itself from the comodfication of the other and selling of a nostalgic representation of the past, the Riot provides an unmatched point of cultural literacy. One of the clearest examples of this process can be seen in the song by Steve Perry, made famous by the swing group the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, entitled “Zoot Suit Riot.” The song focuses on the events of the riot; however, unlike the work of the Chicano Movement the goal is not to perpetuate an understanding of the persecution of the Chicano population, but rather to further the perceived symbol of cool. “Perry is able to erase the political implications of his song, merely equating the riot with style.” (Sharp, Charles. “Where is the riot in ‘Zoot Suit Riot’” Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology 10(Fall 2001/Spring 2002): 42.)

Despite the call for nostalgia and the construction of a symbol free of the cultural baggage of the 1940s, “Zoot Suit Riot” does more than Perry and Sharp contend. The swing revival may be simply the perpetuation of a style, however, that style cannot be divorced from its true past. As a deconstruction of the song’s lyrics later in this section will indicate, the memory of the injustice, persecution associated with the riot, as well as the masculinity and power attached to the fashion, survive in the present within the “seemingly” innocent song.

“Zoot Suit Riot.” uses the cultural memory of the Zoot Suit Riot to enlist conceptions of masculinity and power and inverts the understandings in a creative and effective way.

“Who's that whisperin' in the trees?
It's two sailors and they're on leave
Pipes and chains and swingin' hands
Who's your daddy? Yes I am”
(Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Zoot Suit Riot, Mojo Records, 1 July 1997.)

Within the first stanza the song places the sailors in a position of power. They are placed in a location of height, “whisperin’ in the trees” and placed within their hands are “pipes and chains.” However, the song is sung through the perspective of the zoot suiters and not the sailors. The position of authority is taken back by the zooters, who have maintained the controlling voice throughout the song, with the line “Who’s your daddy? Yes I am.” The line invokes images of sexual domination, potency, and authority through a masculine image of strength.

The focus on masculinity as a banner of superiority and “coolness” returns a few lines further in the song:

You got me in a sway
And I want to swing your dove
Now You sailors know
Where your women come for love
(Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Zoot Suit Riot, Mojo Records, 1 July 1997.)

The lyrics assert that the sailors, a group known for their sexual prowess when on land, lose their women to the zoot youths. The youths are exercising their power over the sailors through sexual potency.

The real power of this song is its ability to turn the Zoot Suit Riot inside out. The Riot is transformed into a show of power on the part of the youths and a party they create. The story of oppression has been re-appropriated and inverted as a means of empowerment. The audience becomes a part of the party and elevated to the same level as the masculine zooters.

You’re in a Zoot Suit Riot
You’re in a Zoot Suit Riot
You’re in a Zoot Suit Riot
(Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Zoot Suit Riot, Mojo Records, 1 July 1997.)

Even with its heavy message, the song retains an extremely upbeat swing tempo throughout and when one does not pay special attention to the words the song can be understood as a celebration of jazz and swing. The song is meant to be danced to. The audience participates in the resistance of the zooters through dance.

Despite the ability of the song to flip the Riot on its head and the use and manipulation of the masculinity ascribed to the fashion throughout its history the song remains a clear product of the swing revival. The political and cultural messages that are able to shine through are packaged and sold. The idea of the song is not to actively engage the issues presented by the Riot but rather to perpetuate an easily recognizable event of 1940 and sell a popular image of the period.