Freshman English Final

Playlist Link:
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16661632523


1. Lean on Me - Bill Withers
The song "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers does not directly address the "Tough Guise" idea, but it certainly does oppose it. Many of the verses support this.

"Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long'
Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on"

In the chorus, they say, "when you're not strong" suggesting that everyone falls at some point. Men are "forced" by society and by each other, to remain strong at all times and to act powerful and in charge.

"Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show"

Here, the lyrics say that if you need help, don't reject it out of fear of being mocked, or out of fear of losing your pride, we all need to "borrow" other people's time and their counsel. No one can help you if you don't ask for help. In the movie "Tough Guise", it was mentioned that more than half of people in therapy are women, because they are socially permitted to do so, while men aren't.

"So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on"

In this verse, the lyrics suggest that no one is immune to negative emotions; that we need each other for support, not for competition like "Tough Guise" portrayed, not for pain, but for compainionship. It doesn't take much to ask for help, just your willingness to be helped.

The music is not fast or powerful at all. It is slow and emotional, with just a piano for much of the song. There is no commanding ring to the song; it's just a peaceful tune.

2. You Know my Name - Chris Cornell
The song, "You Know my Name" by Chris Cornell has lyrics that fit very well to the fight scene in Romeo and Juliet.

"If you take a life
Do you know what you'll give?
Odds are you won't like
What it Is."

This verse foreshadows what happens to Tybalt after he slays Mercutio; he ends up paying his life and disgracing the prince.

"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you
The odds will betray you
And I will replace you
You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you
It longs to kill you
Are you willing to die?
The coldest blood runs through my veins
You know my name"

In the chours, one can see much resemblance to Romeo and Juliet. When Romeo confronts Tybalt, there is no intervention in their fight. They are not alone, but no one is willing to get involved. Tybalt is know for his skill with a sword and in the movies, he is shown to be courteous to Mercutio and even Romeo when either of them loses their weapons, which saves them from death and allows them a shot at shaming or killing Tybalt. Tybalt triumphed over Mercutio, and Romeo triumphed over Tybalt, thus replacing him as "champion". Tybalts quest to reclaim the Capulets honor after "losing" it, because Montagues were present at the party, ended up turning on him when rage built up in Romeo, forcing him to kill Tybalt. In the Capulets' eyes, Tybalt died a martyr; he was awarded with the prize of respect, but he paid for it with his life. Romeo was determined to avenge Mercutio; with the blood of his friend upon his hands, his own became ice cold, he was driven to slay Tybalt.

Names are primary things used to describe a person, or they can be used to define the purpose or meaning of something. When Tybalt slayed Mercutio, Romeo felt that it was his duty to force Tybalt to join Mercutio in heaven, or maybe hell. Romeo's emotions suddenly had a purpose and a meaning, and when he manifested them to Tybalt, Tybalt then knew what Romeo was trying to mean to Tybalt, what "name" Tybalt could use to describe Romeo as in his state before and during their fight. In other words, one can interpret Romeo's monologue to Tybalt as saying; "Tybalt, you know what I want with you. You know my name; you know who I am. I am vengeance, I am here to kill you for Mercutio, or die trying."

3. Meant to Live- Switchfoot
The song "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot helps illuistrate life in Our Town.

"Fumbling his confidence
And wond'ring why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he's meant for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly"

These lyrics could be related to the scene where George and Emily are walking after school. In the scene, Emily mentions how George has changed so much in the past year; how he's become so different, and that she doesn't like it. George, who was nervous, suddenly comes to his senses and realizing that he has missed out on a lot, at least with Emily, and he ends up falling in love with her.

"We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside"

The chorus bears much resemblance to Emily in act 3 when she dies and converses with the other dead people she knew in life. She relives a day in her life, only to find that the living's ignorance of how happy life is is crushing her; she falls apart in front of her mother, but her mother doesn't seem to notice or care. She returns to the dead, who have become disinterested in the living, and she feels alone because she is the only one who can see the true values of life and care about them.

4. Imagine - John Lennon

John Lennon's song "Imagine" shares ideas withe the theme of "Race as Illusion".

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace"

A race is simply a group of people who have shared interests, habits or characteristics. I believe that race isn't an illusion, rather it's a twist of this definition. There is only ONE race, the human race, and Lennon is trying to illuistrate that this idea of everyone living in peace is more than possible. We, as a race, must recognize this and overcome the barriers we ourselves have set up. Lennon also cautions us of how challenging it is to even think of unification, because humans have defined themselves from each other, and redefining 6.5 billion semi-independent people can't be an easy task.


5. Mockingbird - Eminem

"Mockingbird" is a song that relates to Antigone in the sense that both have people trying to do the right thing.

"Haley I know you miss your mom
And I know you miss your dad
When I'm gone, but I'm trynna give you the life that I never had"

In the first verse, Eminem talks about how he wants to make his daughter's life better than his was, but later on in the song, when ever he tries to do the right thing, there are always consequences. In Antigone, Antigone attempts to give her brother an honorable buiral, but she suffers greatly for doing what she believes is the right thing.


"Lookin puzzled in a daze, I know it's confusin' you
Daddy's always on the move, mama's always on the news
I try to keep you sheltered from it, but somehow it seems,
The harder that I try to do that the more it back fires on me
All the things growin' up, as daddy that he had to see
Daddy don't want you to see, but you see just as much as he did"

Here, Eminem brings up his efforts to shelter his daughter from all the bad things in life, but everything seems to go wrong every time he tries to do something right. Antigone also wanted to "protect" her brother from the shame of an improper buiral, so she buried him, and by doing so, endangerd her own life. In both pieces, we were forced to see that doing the right thing is a choice, and that all choices have consequences.


6. California Girls- The Beach Boys

The song "California Girls" supplements how girls are viewed by society's male members.


"Well east coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there"


Here, in the song, it's all about looks, and how the boys like them. In the socilization of girls, we also notice that girls are supposed to be attractive and that it is shameful to be anything but that. Neither the song nor the socilization of girls goes deeper than the skin; both hold shallow ideas and opinions on girls, about what they look like rather than who they are. It is known that girls can be devastated when someone tells them they're ugly or fat, and that is emotionally unhealthy because it is insulting. We must treat girls (and boys) like people, not like blocks of clay trying to be sculpted into the perfect "image" society portrays.



7. Lights and Sounds- Yellowcard


I feel that the song "Lights and Sounds" by Yellowcard meshed with my freshmen year experience. The song starts off with:


"Hello you
How was the rest?
You made it through
But never the less
I got you, out on a wire
You be love and I’ll be a liar
Tell it all and fill up the air
But make it loud ‘cause nobody’s there
Nobody’s there
Nobody's there (yeah)"


It was the end of summer; the beginning of the school year and the stories of high school were loud in my head. Everyone was so excited, but there was no turning back, high school was going to be way harder. I knew it, but I was too excited to care. The sense of growth and accomplishment I got from completing middle school and how the teachers saed high school was going to be a great experience. I got overwhelmed soon enough, and I got frustrated. My parents wouldn't understand my dilemma; they told me I was too smart to be sinking, but I was nonetheless. No one would care, so I just lost my cool a few times.


"Make it new but stay in the lines
Just let go
But keep it inside
Smile big, for everyone
Even when you know what they’ve done
They gave you the end but not where to start
Not how to build, how to tear it apart
So tell it all and fill up the air
But make it loud ‘cause nobody’s there
Nobody’s there"


Still overwhelmed, I had to hide the ease of middle school, but I couldn't forget it. I pretended I was all better, but I wasn't. I had never needed to organize or focus on work for too long because it had all been easy. Teachers didn't teach me study skills early on, but in high school, they somehow expected me to know those skills very well. They told us what to do, but not how to do it. It was my fault, because I had oppurtunities to ask, but I didn't and instead, I got mad at everyone.


"Stop, turn, take a look around
At all the lights and sounds
Let ‘em bring you in
Slow, burn, let it all fade out
And pull the curtain down
I wonder where you've been
You've earned everything you've found
And painted faces frown
I'll say I knew you will...."


Finally, my lack of effort caught up to me, and my parents got ivolved. They told me that all the glory of high school came with hard work, and that I had to do something; that doing something was better than not doing work. I had changed, but I was still the person who deserved the oppurtunities I had, but that I had buired myself. They told me I could do it, and I finally believed them.