Deadening of the Soul

Mad World by Gary Jules (originally by Tears for Fears)

For song, click here.

For lyrics, click here.

Over the past year or two, the song "Mad World" by Gary Jules has repeatedly showed up on my Pandora radio station. Although I never really paid attention to the lyrics, the melody always brought a strong melancholy feeling. Once I read the lyrics, I realized how dark of a song it was. The words are almost depressing, but I still love the song. I felt that it would be very interesting to analyze this song and decipher what the singer wanted the listener to feel and understand about the world. I interpreted the song to have a strong claim about our fast, modern world.

I believe that this song is about the way routine and work deadens people's spirits. It seems to be sung from the perspective of an outsider; someone who isn't ingrained into modern society. The song is about the repetitiveness of life, the dullness of living a lifestyle without surprises. "Worn out places, worn out faces... going nowhere, going nowhere," Jules sings in a sad melody. I think this symbolizes how systems and plans can make places seem to lose their place; a loss of character and singularity. People, too– he seems to be saying that routine works the life and joy out of humans. While this might be a little exaggerated, I think that it's true that a steady pattern in life can make us a little bit dull. Jules also says this: "No expression, no expression... no tomorrow, no tomorrow." I think that by this he is showing how routine can make life seem never-ending. He suggests that people going to work every day are expressionless, that they are no longer people– just automated bodies doing work. He is also saying that with this never-ending routine there are no surprises. Nothing new, nothing surprising, nothing special.

The music also plays a big part in delivering this gloomy message. It has a repetitive pattern, and the notes are low and calm. Jules seems to be declaring his claim in a tranquil, composed manner– even though the lyrics seem like they could be fluctuating in tone, more erratic. I listened to the original version of the song by Tears for Fears, but it seemed less touching because of this varying melody. Jules' music was deeper. As Willie Nelson said, "Music... is the one thing that can instantaneously travel to your soul." I think that Jules used this philosophy to create a beautiful piece of music that also transmitted an important message.

I feel like what Mad World says about routine is true, and it's inspired me to let more spontaneity into my life. I don't want to be expressionless and worn out, I want to live a life full of surprises! I'm usually kind of closed-minded, and this song woke me up to the drab life I'm living. I think that everyone should be open-minded, or else the world might be the horrid, boring, never-ending world that Mad World describes. We need to live as insiders and outsiders, in order to see the world from different perspectives and understand how others think and feel about things.

~Adrian

Rift of Inequality

I just read the article "Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery" by Joseph E. Stiglitz, which is about economic growth and inequality in America. Here's my take on what Stiglitz was saying in his article. The article starts out talking about the 2012 Presidential election. In this election, each side debated important economic issues: the uneasiness of the current economy and the growing divide between the 1% and the rest– an inequality of outcome and opportunity. Politicians talk about these things as separate events, but they are closely intertwined. Inequality restrains economic growth. The extent of the country’s inequality is a serious threat to America’s population. After 40 years of increasing inequality and the largest economic downturn since the Depression, America still hasn’t done anything to help. The middle class is too weak to support consumer spending, which has historically driven the USA’s economy. Inequality is continually increasing, making more than 1/5 of the children in America poor– which puts us behind countries like Bulgaria, Latvia, and Greece. Income and wealth are now the main goal in America; no longer the dream of a better life that attracted immigrants so long ago. Even if the economic part was ignored, this type of inequality is putting stress on social and political life. Despite Obama’s commitment to help all Americans, the recession has put a damper on political support and increased unemployment rates. As prices plummet, so has wealth– many are left with negative net worth, and student debt is now about $1 trillion. The Presidential Administration should’ve started rebuilding the economy from the bottom up, allowing people to pay off debts and keeping the youth in school. The Bush administration is mostly to blame– his steep tax cuts and wars in Iraq widened the division between rich and poor. As Obama’s second term begins, everyone must face the fact that the country cannot grow quickly, be it economically, socially, or politically. Everyone must ask themselves how much growth they would be willing to sacrifice for a little more equality and opportunity.

I think that Stiglitz felt strongly about his topic. He truly wanted the reader to know how intertwined economic recession and inequality are, and how each affects the other in a sort of never-ending loop. He used very strong, convincing sentences and words (almost exaggerated) that made me stop and think about what he was saying. "Skyrocketing inequality," "Severe... cycles that make our economy more volatile," and "Stifling and squelching our economical growth" were a few of the sentences that stood out to me. Although the article was mainly about money and the economy, it was still very thought-provoking. 

The article made me think about inequality and how great rifts are formed between people because of race and economical situation. Those who have more money and security feel confident taking their own path in life and seize good opportunities. Those who don't can be left behind; they can be, even today, often socially disregarded. They can't take the risks that others can, and therefore can't help the economy and society grow as much. I think that this shows how much we need to consider others and hold everyone as equal to ourselves. No matter what situation someone is in, they have feelings, thoughts, and dreams that everyone should encourage to grow. If they feel small or uncared for, they will almost always end up pushed below the surface. What are your views on this topic? Please leave a reply.

~Adrian

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Stiglitz, Joseph E. "Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery." Opinionator. The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.

Voicing Your Beliefs

My post today is on an article about the recent death of Aaron Swartz. "The Inspiring Heroism of Aaron Swartz", by Glenn Greenwald, tells of his exploits in activism, as he was a strong advocate for internet freedom. The famous computer programmer committed suicide on Friday at age 26. At a young age, Swartz played key roles in the creation the RSS software and popular website Reddit. When Reddit was purchased, he received a large sum of money which helped him become a legend before he was 18. However, he had little interest in using this to his own advantage. Instead, he worked only and always for his conception of the public good. These ideals included internet freedom, civil liberties, and making information and knowledge as available as possible. He was strongly against SOPA, a bill that would have let the government exercise censorship over the internet. In 2008, Swartz worked against Pacer, a site that provides access to court documents for a per-page fee. He was offended that people had to pay to access public documents. Helped by a friend, Swartz started a program to download millions of these documents and release them to the public. For this, he was investigated by the FBI, but never charged. In 2011, was arrested for supposedly targeting JSTOR, a company that distributes articles written by academics and sells them to subscribers at high prices. The program’s profits did not pay the scholars who wrote the articles, intsead benefiting the publishers. Swartz was offended by this and he allegedly trespassed into an MIT computer-wiring closet to download millions of these articles.