I’d Love To Change the World- Ten Years After
This song has a deep connection, particularly to the book Ishmael. I also feel a personal connection with this song to the book because after reading about how the human race is stretching and overusing the world, pushing it to its limit and sending us on a downward spiral toward annihilation, I felt very helpless. I know I should do something about this, I even feel responsible for it, but I don’t know how to go about fixing a crisis of this proportion. In the same way, the chorus says:
“I’d love to change the world,
But I don’t know what to do,
So I’ll leave it up to you.”
The lyrics go on to mention many natural and man-made institutions that are causing problems in the world, like war and economics, and it mentions how some lucky creatures are ignorant and impervious to this impending doom. I also notice a morality issue and connection to some themes I’ve explored in current events this year. If you know something bad will happen, do you have the obligation to prevent it? If everyone adopts this mentality of waiting for someone else to fix a problem, will it ever get done? This also is a form of fallacy, ignoring the facts until the truth is completely covered up. It’s a very dangerous mentality. The lyrics to this song are both frighteningly naive and truthfully innocent.
Invincible- Ok Go
I chose this song because of its connection to the book The Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s actually very sarcastic, but it really shows the way Gilgamesh thought of himself and his life before his fortunes took a turn for the worst. He thought himself to be a thing of the gods, and he was correct, in a way. The lyrics say;
“When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to go through you first.
I bet they won't be expecting that.
When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to deal with you first,
and now my money says they won't know about the
thousand Fahrenheit hot metal lights behind your eyes. Invincible.”
“When they finally come, what'll you do to them? Gonna decimate them like you did to me? Will you leave them stunned and stuttering? When they finally come, how will you handle them? Will you devastate them deliberately?”
In the beginning of the book, Gilgamesh was cocky. He was reckless, like when he angered Ishtar by throwing the animal flesh at her. He didn’t stop to think of the repercussions of his actions. This dangerous behavior eventually got his best friend killed and forced him to grow up. Gaining maturity from life experiences is a theme in much of the material we studied this year, particularly in the short story, Teddy. He was a child with the maturity and intelligence of an adult, and he probably thought himself invincible, as Gilgamesh did; Teddy thought of it because of his brain and Gilgamesh thought it because of his strength. But neither of their lives ended quite like they planned, and this dispelled all feelings of superiority.
Lonely Day- System of a Down
I chose this song because of it’s connection to The Epic of Gilgamesh. After the death of Enkidu, his best friend, other half, and possible lover, Gilgamesh felt truly alone in the world. He was taken out of his element and left to fend for himself in the world. He wanted to give up everything and die for Enkidu, then later he wanted to live forever to stop his pain and suffering. Neither one worked out quite as he had hoped. As an alternate plan, he examined his life and decided to do something meaningful and to make beauty from his pain. He built up his city Uruk into a stunning monument to his dear friend and made life better for its citizens. The lyrics say:
“And if you go, I wanna go with you.
And if you die, I wanna die with you.”
“Such a lonely day,
And it’s mine.
It’s a day that I’m glad I survived.”
In the same way, our experiences with PBL took us out of our element and left us to figure out our own solutions to the problem at hand. Just like the song says, we survived it and we sure were glad to have done so. If someone had told us exactly what we were supposed to present to Allstate, we would not have been enlightened to the way of the “real” world, the business world. It’s tough situations like the ones that make us feel alone in the world, with neither friend nor aid to give us reason to go on, and that make us grow as human beings.
In the Deep- Bird York
I chose this song because of it’s relevance to mainly Siddhartha. One of the main themes of the book is Siddhartha’s abandonment of his life as a prince to become enlightened, throwing himself into something new in pursuit of something better.
“Life keeps tumbling your heart in circles
till you... Let go.
Till you shed your pride, and you climb to heaven,
and you throw yourself off.
Now you're out there spinning...
In the deep.”
The lyrics continually refer to the “deep”, which I think signifies either religious belief and the chasm of interpretations by which people live their life, or the universal soul of Buddhism, Brahman. Siddhartha threw himself off of a metaphorical cliff into belief. This also reminds me of a central idea of the book Ishmael, that the world is tricked into thinking it’s flying when it’s really in a state of falling and has yet to hit the ground. Several philosophers shared this thought system as well.
In addition to the lyrics, the music and melody of the song lend themselves well to the overall feeling and connection to Siddhartha and Ishmael. Its slow and melodic rhythm lends a feeling of comfort and security, yet also has eerie undertones in the gentle sound of the piano under the main notes of the chorus. The eeriness signifies the unsure feelings that can accompany new experiences, aptly keeping the listener on edge while lulling them into a false sense of security.
I Will Follow You Into the Dark- Death Cab for Cutie
I chose this song to signify the feelings of the American play Our Town. The characters spend the duration of the play living their simple lives of moderation and enjoying simple pleasures. After Emily’s death and her trip back to her childhood, she realized painfully that nothing lasts. Everyone will die and there’s nothing we can do about it. All one can hope for is happiness while they live, which she found with her husband George. The song says:
“Love of mine, someday you will die,
But I’ll be close behind.
I’ll follow you into the dark.
No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white,
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark.”
This helped her find peace with her death. We examined this concept during the school year, and it led me to the conclusion that we are merely mortal. Even the most influential human cannot escape mortality for very long. I also can tie this into the Global Citizenship Project. The goal of doing good things for the world is to leave your mark while you’re here, to make someone’s life better while they’re alive. It’s all we can ask for.
Mad World- Gary Jules
This song strikes me with it’s similarity to the themes of Our Town. Grover’s Corners is a simple place and the citizens are all familiar to each other. The lyrics say:
“All around me are familiar faces,
Worn out places,
Worn out faces.
Bright and early for their daily races,
Going nowhere, going nowhere.”
These words imply that there is a comfort in the familiar, but there is also a waste of opportunity to get somewhere really memorable in life. The theme of pushing oneself to get to somewhere new and better also occurred in several of our novels; Siddhartha is one example. The song goes on to say two more important things:
“And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
That the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.”
“Children waiting for the day they feel good,
Happy birthday, happy birthday.”
Emily’s journey to her past did not turn out to be the best “dream” she’d ever had in that she enjoyed it, but it was the best in that she learned the most about her life when she was on earth. She saw the silly habits and limitations of mortals and how they dictated her life, as they should have done. Additionally, her trip to her birthday came up ironically in the lyrics of this unrelated song. It was a day she felt good, something she took for granted; they told her to pick the most unimportant day of her life, for it would be important enough.
Finally, the actual melody of the song fits perfectly with the message of Our Town; it’s simple, repetitive, monotonous (musically speaking, that is), and lacks major dynamics. Yet it is one of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever written. It’s simplicity is what makes it memorable and meaningful, just like life in Grover’s Corners. The smallness of one’s world doesn’t mean they are doomed to die unremembered.
Animal I Have Become- Three Days Grace
I chose this songs because of it’s connection to Life of Pi, as well as some topics explored in current events. One of the most memorable quotes from the book, in my opinion, was when Pi said, “It came as an unmistakable indication to me of how low I had sunk the day I noticed, with a pinching of the heart, that I ate like an animal, that this noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down of mine was exactly the way Richard Parker ate.” The song says:
“So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become.
Help me believe it's not the real me.
Somebody help me tame this animal.”
Being with Richard Parker for so long blurred the lines of what made Pi a civilized human being. He learned to coexist with his beastly friend by adapting to the adversity he faced. This is a central theme of history, that cultures survive by adapting to their environment. It was also discussed in Oedipus when he found that the animal inside him was the cockiness that caused him to slay his father and claim his mother as his trophy bride. He tried to tame that by stabbing his eyes, keeping him from seeing the suffering faces of those he had hurt. Some of the philosophers we studied shared the view of the importance of adaptation; Aristotle had a view of the physicality of form that changed the way the world thought about tangibility. Adaptation is a necessary part of life on earth.
So Deep In Love- Joel Auge
I chose this song because of its simple tie to the book Romeo and Juliet. The book is, first and foremost, a tale of love, despite being a tragedy. It is known as the greatest love story of all time and I think that simple idea of finding one you love can be lost in all the analysis of the story. The song says:
“I've fallen fast in love with you.
Oh, I've fallen fast in love with you.
Fastened to knowing more of you.
Gripping to what I know is true.
Yeah, I'm so fast in love with you.
Yeah, I've fallen deep in love with you.
Yeah I’ve fallen deep in love with you.
Deeper than any ocean blue.
Depth that no death can hold me to.
Yeah, I'm so deep in love with you.”
Love is a universal theme. I’ve found that we explored it quite a bit during our exploration of archetypes. You don’t get much closer to transcending culture, time, and space than the concept of true love. The song’s use of the word “fall” is also connected to archetypes, as one of the particular ones we explored was a character’s “fall from grace”. Love can even be a fallacy of thinking; it can trick the way you think and convince you to act outside of your normal behavior for someone else. Romeo and Juliet felt the most extreme passionate love, while Gilgamesh and Shamhat felt the most primal sexual form of love, and it seems every other novel character from this year fell somewhere in between. It’s importance and lifelong relevance lies in it’s ability to permeate any person or situation. There’s always room for a little love!
Andare- Ludovico Einaudi
I chose this song only for its connection to Romeo and Juliet. This is such a powerful book and one that I believe deserves a lot of examining. It doesn’t have any lyrics to connect to the plot line, but the notes and the melody of the song evoke emotions in the listener that are similar to the emotions evoked by the play. It starts with two piano keys being alternately repeated, setting the beat; it’s reminiscent of the tick-tocking of a clock. This symbolizes that time moves on, ever pressing forward, and also acts as the first Shakespearean sonnet of the play which warns the audience of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic end. The clocking is ticking down on their lives. Next, the cello and main piano line join in with a simple, yet deeply emotive melody line. The cello’s mournful harmonies along the strings seem like Romeo’s pining for Rosaline, and then his newfound love for Juliet. The higher pitched melodies of the main piano lines are Juliet returning the love, both of them coming together in a beautiful duet of love and affection, all the while the clock beat ticks on. The main piano then switches to a combination of eight sixteenth notes repeating in a descending in minor half steps, symbolizing the rise of action in the play with the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, as well as Romeo’s banishment. The piano jumps up a key while the cello goes into its own melody, acting as Juliet’s defiance to marrying Paris. They end the phrase together, showing that Juliet will keep her promise to be married only to Romeo. The “clock” is heard again. The piano with the main melody goes into a higher melody which shows Romeo receiving the news that Juliet is dead; meanwhile, the cello stays in the background with an independent melody, being Juliet and Friar Lawrence’s plan to drink the sleeping potion. The main piano goes into a series of chords which symbolize Romeo’s mixed feelings of pain and disbelief that his beloved Juliet is gone from the world. The cello mimics these with Juliet’s mixed feelings toward pretending to be dead in the Capulets’ tomb. The piano clock ticks are heard again. Then, the main piano goes into a series of fast repeated notes while the cello keeps its mournful melody separate. This shows the rise of action in the front of the tomb when Romeo slays Paris and Juliet’s independence from Romeo as she lies apart from him, seemingly dead. Some lower and lingering piano tones indicate the presence of more death on the horizon. Next, the series of eight sixteenth notes continues, only this time without the cello’s own melody, as Juliet appears to have left the realm of the living. The repetition of the melodic sequence from the beginning of the song shows that Romeo and Juliet still share the love they acquired at the start of the play. The cello pizzicato behind the piano is like the slowing of Romeo’s heartbeat as he drinks the fateful poison, having seen his true love dead. The low notes that follow are Juliet waking up to see Romeo dead at her side and the panic and grief that overwhelms her. The cello’s fast and repeated slur of notes across the strings are Juliet’s frantic heartbeat as she stabs herself with the dagger to be with Romeo once again. It slowly fades and turns into one long slow tone as the ticking is heard for the last time.
I think the most important reason this song fits with Romeo and Juliet is that I can picture the story unfolding with this as the soundtrack. At every turn of the piece, I see some part of the action occurring. It has the proper connotation of true love and passion mixed with the foreboding sign of impending doom.
Counting Blue Cars- Dishwalla
I chose this song to represent the English curriculum from this year, and also the Academy mentality as a whole. The song says:
“And ask many questions
Like children often do.
We said,
Tell me all your thoughts on God,
'Cause I would really like to meet her.
And ask her why we're who we are.
Tell me all your thoughts on God,
Cause I am on my way to see her.
So tell me am I very far -
Am I very far now?”
The idea of the Academy education is to question the world around you freely, like one does as a child. We have discussions and debates over things that matter to the world and are personally relevant to us. Several novels we read, as well as the religions unit in history dealt with the presence of god. Life of Pi, Siddhartha, and organized religion all addressed this issue thoroughly. We are all on a quest to figure out who were are as people and what our place in the world is; the learning and growing we do over the course of our adolescent years is crucial to becoming self-assured and successful adults. Religion is in some of our lives because it is a means to declare “who we are” until we know enough to decide that for ourselves. Or at least, this is what I believe…
Hundred- The Fray
This song is the one I chose to be my personal journey through freshman Academy English class. The one thing I’ve take away this year, my “aha” moment, if you will, is that we all must make decisions and judgments about the issues that are ubiquitous in our lives. I used to think I could go through life somewhat aloof from debate, not choosing a side and pigeon-holing myself into one way of thinking. Now I’ve learned that this is just impractical and unrealistic. Everyone has something that speaks to them more than another, and this causes natural preferences. The song says:
“The how I can't recall,
But I'm staring at what once was the wall
Separating east and west;
Now they meet amidst the broad daylight.
So this is where you are, and this is where I am,
Somewhere between unsure and a hundred.
It's hard I must confess.
I'm banking on the rest to clear away…”
“You right where you are, from right where I am,
Somewhere between unsure and a hundred.
And who's to say it's wrong?
And who's to say that it's not right,
Where we should be for now?”
The first verse is about how I cannot know for sure when this change exactly took place, but I found myself at a decision point, a wall, that I had to choose sides of. It ended up bringing my overall perspective together when I chose one argument because it gave me much more support for the one I truly felt, yet I maintained respect for the other side. The chorus seems like my new mentality; each person is in his or her place. They may not be totally sure of it just yet, but it is where they are and they have a jumping off place to build support for their personal choices. The second verse touches on how I had a serious mental battle about changing the way I think. I had to talk to my mother and some other close friends seriously and openly about my mentality of indifference and listen to their assurances that it wouldn’t make me a closed person. The third verse was the question that plagued me the whole time in my transition from being afraid of decisions to justly open-minded. I continually wondered, “What makes an opinion right? Is any one ever correct in the way they think?” After all, the majority is usually the judge, and everyone knows the masses can be wrong. I had to reconcile with these answerless questions and do what would help my perspective grow. I’m still unsure of whether I even have the justification to pass judgment on anything, but this is where I am and I’m staying here for now.
